Insights

If your land has development potential you typically have two broad options:

• Sell your land now

• Promote your land through the planning process before a future sale.

 

The right approach depends on a balance of:

• risk tolerance

• timescale

• desire for control

• value objectives

 

This is essentially a trade-off decision, and neither is inherently “better”.  

 

The core distinction

 

• Selling now

  • Provides certainty on value and timing

  • Transfers planning risk to a developer

  • Is likely to capture far less of the potential upside value

• Promoting land

  • Seeks to secure planning before sale

  • Involves time, uncertainty and cost

  • Potentially achieves materially higher value

 

In practice, there are variations (e.g. options, subject to planning sales, overage), but these sit along the same spectrum of risk, timing and value.

 

When selling is typically appropriate

 

Selling is generally more appropriate when the landowner:

• Prioritises:

  • certainty of outcome

  • shorter, or defined timescales for capital release

  • simplicity

 

• Has limited appetite for:

  • planning risk

  • long-term involvement

  • ongoing contractual involvement with third parties

 

• Selling is often most appropriate where:

  • planning prospects are either very strong (so risk is minimal), or

  • very limited (so there is little benefit in promotion)

 

When promotion is typically appropriate

 

Promoting the land is generally appropriate if the landowner:

• Wants to maximise the land value rather than secure an early sale

• Accepts that there is a risk promotion will not succeed

• Is comfortable waiting for a receipt

• Is willing to be aligned with a promoter

• Benefits from professional input through the planning process

• May want to retain some influence over the promotion

 

Promotion suits sites that have reasonable planning potential but require strategic work to unlock value.

 

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What most landowners underestimate

 

• Planning outcomes are inherently uncertain – even the most logical sites can be refused.

• Timescales are often longer than anticipated – promotion typically takes multiple years.

• Value depends on market conditions at point of sale, not today. Land values are linked to wider market conditions at the point of sale.

• The structure of an agreement and alignment of interests with a promoter matter as much as headline percentage.

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Situations that require careful consideration

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• Policy-constrained sites:

  • Greenbelt, heritage, floodzones, access

• Sites dependent on local plan or policy changes

• Situations where landowners have:

  • multiple competing offers

  • neighbouring land ownership

  • complex ownership structures or family tax considerations

 

Conclusion / practical framing

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There is no universal answer as to whether to sell your land or retain it and promote it. Ultimately it depends on your risk appetite, tolerance for uncertainty, timescales and the site-specific context.

 

We advise landowners to take early and impartial advice to test assumptions, understand their objectives and compare options on a like-for-like basis.

 

We typically advise landowners on:

• assessing whether promotion is appropriate

• comparing offers and structures

• understanding likely value and risk

 

If helpful, we are happy to provide an initial view on a confidential, no-obligations basis.

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