Premier Land - Land Wanted

The Land Office is in regular contact with developers of all sizes who are constantly seeking sites for long and short term development. Our understanding of the demand for land helps us to guide landowners on the optimum use and potential value of their site.

Here is a summary of some of the key development opportunities, if you have property in any of these categories please contact The Land Office immediately so we can start the process of appraising your site.

Wide plots - Your wide garden may provide space for a single house to be built next door, without compromising the existing property. If so, we can assist you with the planning process and even find a developer willing to bear the risk of a planning refusal to save you architect's fees and the cost of applying for planning permission.

Sometime the side garden may not be wide enough without your neighbour selling part of his garden too. In these cases we can negotiate with your neighbour to save you embarrassment and we're able to help to agree a fair share of the profits for participating landowners.

With houses prices having risen so much faster than building costs over the last 20 years, it has become viable, in some cases, to demolish and replace an existing property. This is generally most likely where a bigger house can be built in a prime location or where a better property or more than one property will replace the existing house. It is quick to assess these situations so if you have a house on a wide plot and you wonder what can be done, it is worth giving The Land Office a call.

Automotive Sites - changes in the car industry often means the car showroom, workshop or petrol forecourt is located in such a good location that it has a higher value for residential development, than it has to the existing business, making relocation or even retirement a very attractive prospect for the site owner.

This former car showroom and petrol station is being developed for around 31 retirement flats giving the site a very high land value. Have you got a valuable site like this?

We can review the planning potential and identify a shortlist of appropriate developers to bid discretely for a site. This can minimise gossip and disruption for an existing business while our commercial associates help you identify an alternative site, if required. If you prefer a lot of publicity, we can easily promote a site Nationally and where appropriate arrange an auction. We always discuss the marketing strategy with clients and weigh up the various options with you. Your initial enquiry will be dealt with in strict confidence and we recommend you call Lance Trendall of The Land Office to discuss your site.

Back gardens - our patience and tenacity may be the secret ingredient that makes a successful outcome possible when assembling a development site from a number of long back gardens. These sites can take years to put together as some homeowners may be reluctant to come on board. Our laptop presentations can convince neighbours to join in with a scheme to allow us to assemble better sites. We have developer clients who are willing to purchase long term options and keep working to put a site together and obtain planning, all at their expense while you go on enjoying the long garden until planning is granted.

Because of the long term nature of these schemes, we urge home owners to take action now so you see the benefit of the planning gain; it is heartbreaking to move house and see your successor make the small fortune that you missed.

Non conforming uses - you may be able to picture a commercial building, perhaps a small factory or workshop, in an area of Victorian terraced cottages or semis. These light industrial units were more acceptable in the Industrial Revolution than they are today. We can guide the owners on planning for modern town houses, cottages or flats more in keeping with the residential area. Our associates can identify more suitable commercial sites with safer access, better internal layout, parking and services. The owners of such buildings are invited to contact us and if you know the owner of a building like this in your neighbourhood, do pass on the details and we'll make an approach to see if we can make your residential environment more pleasant.

Factory to Flats
The Balfour Court development of flats was built on an old factory site and provides an attractive and well landscaped contribution to the street-scene; a big improvement on the old factory.

Barn conversions - our client list includes very successful developers with specific experience in the sympathetic conversion of farm buildings and creating wonderful homes. Specialist skills are required for the planning and conversion process, we can point you in the right direction and maximise the value of your assets. As planning can take time, act now to get the process started by calling The Land Office today.

Green Belt land - our existing clients include 'land promoters' able to take a stake in large green belt sites as a reward for pursuing the long term goal of changing the land's status in the area's District Plan to obtain planning permission for residential or commercial development. If your site is viable, we can guide you to the most appropriate partners so you know they will invest their time and expertise to benefit you both.

If you have a substantial green belt site please get in touch so we can introduce you to one of our contacts to see if they will consider taking the site on for promotion.

Retirement Flats - the changing demographics means the demand for retirement flats is growing. These developments can succeed on sites in central locations where other uses may fail due to negotiating lower parking requirements for housing for the over 55s and warden assisted apartments. Contact us to discuss your site to see if it might be suitable for a development in this buoyant market sector.

Brownfield land - the UK Government is giving priority to development of what they call brown field land, before they turn their attention to releasing green-belt sites. Brown field sites are likely to be favoured but expert negotiation will still be required to maximise the planning achieved.

Definition of a Brownfield Site - NEW DEFINITION JUNE 2010
OLD DEFINITION: "A brownfield site is any land or premises which has previously been used or developed and is not currently fully in use, although it may be partially occupied or utilised. It may also be vacant, derelict or contaminated. Therefore a brownfield site is not necessarily available for immediate use without intervention." (Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. V43 (1). pp49-69. Jan 2000)

NEW DEFINITION - JUNE 2010 - The Government policy on planning has removed 'garden land' from the Brownfield category. The Government intention seems to be to prevent flats being built in gardens in some residential areas. Their statements implied that the Planning Officers couldn't stop these planning applications, which is simply incorrect. All our new Government needed to do was to add new guidelines to the policy so the current planning system could continue its good work. The planners can use arguments such as: bulk, mass, density, inappropriate design, scale, out of keeping etc to refuse applications in garden land already. It is a shame the Government has acted so hastily and caused chaos and uncertainty for land owners and developers who are now unsure where they can and can't build.

A quarter of new homes in the UK are built on previously used garden land, so the Government is risking putting a brake on 25% of the land supply at a time when we have a shortage of homes and the building industry is making a recovery from one of the worst recessions in recent times.

At The Land Office we are watching to see how policy is applied and how the chances of planning change under the new policies.

Lance Trendall, Managing Director of The Land Office, has refused to take no for an answer and subsequently won planning at Appeal when his planning applications have been turned down. We urge you to choose an agent with the same first-hand experience, determination and drive. It may be the only way to achieve your desired success.

When you are considering the potential of your garden, possible development site or even the premises of your family business call The Land Office and 'Discover the Difference'. We'll work well together and look forward to sharing another successful outcome with you.

Developers are invited to consult The Land Office for sales and marketing advice on the sale of new homes to get experienced backing for your sales initiatives. The quicker we sell your homes, the more sites you can develop to maximise your profits. Check out the work of our preferred illustrator to see how excellent presentation might help your scheme at planning stage and increase sales performance.

The Land Office, The Studio, 22 Station Road, Harpenden, Herts AL5 4SE
Harpenden: 01582 461581

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