How to Find Land
How to find land suitable for development opportunities – 9 things to consider for off market land sourcing and land acquisition.
1
Parcel size: most land sourcing software products include HM Land Registry title boundaries for England & Wales. For Scotland most use Registers of Scotland INSPIRE IDs and associated title deed numbers. These visual data layers include area measurements for every parcel of registered land and, in the case of LandHawk, can be used as search parameters. For example only show parcels between 2 and 10 acres.
2
Proximity to relevant infrastructure: for example substations, pylons and overhead lines for renewable energy projects, rail and road connections for residential development and bus stops for care homes.
3
Proximity to relevant points of interest and facilities: for example schools, shops, pubs and restaurants, ATMs, fitness and sports centres. Also parks, hospitals, pharmacies and places of worship.
4
Free from potential environmental constraints: for example flood zones, nature reserves, priority habitats, ancient woodland. Also RSPB reserves, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), among others.
5
Free from potential planning constraints: for example listed buildings, scheduled monuments and world heritage sites. Also greenbelt, special areas of conservation, agricultural land classifications and all of the environmental considerations listed above.
6
Planning history: most land sourcing software products include a database of current and historic planning applications. This allows developers to assess planning decision-making trends within their target geographic areas.
7
Potential yield based on trend data: for example previous price paid information, benchmark land values, comparables data including tenure and property type, and indices of depravation.
8
Consider an accumulation of factors: it is important to not view each potential constraint in isolation but rather as a whole within the context of the overall parcel or parcels. For example, a small percentage of flood zone in the corner of a parcel that is much larger than the scheme requires might allow mitigation. However when taken together with an overhead line running through the centre of the parcel, and a section of ALC2 in the bottom corner, this might not leave sufficient usable land to support the proposed development. In this sense the location and distribution of the constraints also play a vital part in assessing whether there is sufficient land free from those constraints.
9
Weigh up risk and prioritise opportunity: use risk weighting profiles to organise potential opportunities in order of low, medium and high risk (with other gradation in between if required). This allows rapid prioritisation of the best and most likely to succeed land, ensuring these landowners are approached at the earliest opportunity. Land sourcing software products such as LandHawk offer these risk profiles as standard.