Two things changed in 2026 that move the arithmetic on land, and a great deal of advice still in circulation predates both. Biodiversity Net Gain was rewritten on 6 August 2026, with a new exemption for sites inside a 0.2 hectare red line and the self-build exemption removed. And from 6 April 2026 agricultural and business property relief is capped — 100% relief on the first £2.5 million, and 50% above it. If your land plan was built before Christmas, it needs rerunning.
The regulations changed on 6 August 2026. Sites within a 0.2 hectare red line are exempt unless onsite priority habitats are affected, wholly temporary permissions of five years or less are exempt, and the self-build exemption is gone. Applications already submitted keep the old position. We tell you which side of that line the site sits.
A site with no adequate access is not a site. We establish the legal right of access, its width and its permitted use, whether a ransom strip exists, and whether the highway authority will accept the junction — before anyone spends money on a scheme.
On most land sales the overage is worth more than the argument about price. Trigger, duration, percentage, valuation basis, deductions for cost and planning gain, and whether it binds successors. We get it right at heads of terms because it cannot be fixed afterwards.
Our fee is paid by the vendor. No acquisition fee and no retainer — and no reason for us to be quiet about a title problem that will surface in due diligence anyway.
Immediate development, a promotion or option play, a strategic hold, or an operational site for freight or storage. Each runs into different diligence and a completely different tax position on exit.
Title and rights of way, access and highways position, planning history and designations, BNG exposure under the current rules, ground conditions and previous uses, and services capacity.
Conditional contracts, options, promotion agreements, overage and clawback. Where the value depends on a consent nobody has yet, the structure is the deal — and it is far more negotiable than a headline price.
The amended regulations introduced a new exemption for small sites: development is exempt where the area within the planning application red line boundary is no more than 0.2 hectares, unless the development would negatively affect onsite priority habitats. The measurement is the red line, not the developable area, which means how the application is drawn can decide whether BNG applies at all.
Wholly temporary development permitted for five years or less is now exempt, provided the whole development is temporary and the land is reinstated within the period. The separate self-build and custom build exemption has been removed for applications submitted on or after 6 August 2026, though such schemes may still fall within the small sites exemption. And for minor development, onsite habitat creation and registered offsite gains can now be considered together, so applicants no longer have to exhaust onsite options first — statutory credits remain the last resort.
From 6 April 2026, agricultural property relief and business property relief no longer give unlimited 100% relief from inheritance tax. The 100% rate now applies to the first £2.5 million of combined agricultural and business property, with 50% relief above that. The allowance is transferable between spouses and civil partners, giving a couple up to £5 million, and it refreshes every seven years.
Two related points. Trusts holding qualifying property before 30 October 2024 each get their own allowance, while trusts created after that Budget by the same person share one allowance allocated chronologically. And the option to pay inheritance tax by ten interest-free annual instalments has been extended to cover all assets qualifying for either relief, which changes the cash-flow question even where the tax itself is unavoidable.
A site without adequate legal access is not a development site, whatever the planning position. Three things need to be established separately: that a legal right of access exists, that it is wide enough and permits the use you intend rather than only agricultural or residential access, and that the highway authority will accept the junction and any visibility splay required.
Where a third party controls a strip of land between the site and the public highway, they control the development. The convention in valuing such a ransom strip has long run to a substantial share of the uplift released — the figure most often cited derives from the approach taken in Stokes v Cambridge, and while it is a starting point rather than a rule, it gives an idea of the exposure. Establish who owns every metre between the site and the highway before you commit, not after a promoter has spent a year on the application.
On any land sale where a future consent might increase the value, the overage provisions matter more than the price. Six things need deciding and all six are negotiable: the trigger (grant of permission, implementation, or disposal with the benefit of it), the duration, the percentage of uplift, the valuation basis, the deductions allowed for costs, section 106 and CIL, and the security — a restriction on the title, a legal charge, or a positive covenant with a chain of indemnity, since positive covenants do not run with freehold land.
The two most common failures are a trigger drawn so tightly that a variation of an existing permission escapes it, and security that does not survive a sale by the buyer. Neither is fixable once the transfer is executed. If you are the seller, spend on the drafting rather than on the negotiation over headline price.
Three structures dominate strategic land, and landowners frequently sign the wrong one. Under an option, a developer takes the right to buy at a future date, usually at a discount to market value, and the developer’s interest is in keeping the price down. Under a promotion agreement, a promoter funds the planning process and takes a share of the eventual sale proceeds on the open market, so their interest is aligned with yours in getting the highest price — but you sell to a third party rather than to them.
A conditional contract is a sale that completes when a defined condition is met, usually a satisfactory planning permission, and turns on how ‘satisfactory’ is defined. Alignment of interest is the question to ask of all three: under an option the developer profits from a lower price, under a promotion agreement they profit from a higher one, and under a conditional contract the definition of the condition decides who carries the planning risk.
Land let for operational use is a different asset from land held for development. Rail freight sites, open storage yards and roadside plots turn on access, surfacing, drainage and consent for the use — storing goods in the open is a material change of use, and land previously agricultural or vacant needs permission for it.
Then the liabilities. Surface water discharge and drainage consents. Contamination, where Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 pursues whoever caused it first but reaches the current owner or occupier where the original polluter cannot be found. And on a lease, the reinstatement obligation at the end — on a yard that can mean removing surfacing and hardstanding you inherited, so establish it in writing at heads of terms rather than discovering it in a terminal schedule.
It depends on the site and on when the application was made. Since 6 August 2026 development is exempt where the area within the planning application red line boundary is no more than 0.2 hectares, unless onsite priority habitats would be affected, and wholly temporary development permitted for five years or less is also exempt. The self-build exemption was removed on the same date. Critically, applications received before 6 August 2026 keep their original requirements even if validated later, and a section 73 variation generally follows the original permission. Establish which regime applies before you price a scheme.
From 6 April 2026, 100% relief applies to the first £2.5 million of combined agricultural and business property, with 50% relief above that. The allowance is transferable between spouses and civil partners, so a couple can shelter up to £5 million, and it refreshes every seven years. Be careful with older commentary: the original announcement set the figure at £1 million and it was raised to £2.5 million on 23 December 2025. Anything written before then understates the allowance substantially. The instalment option has also been extended to all assets qualifying for either relief.
It is land controlled by a third party sitting between a development site and the public highway, or between the site and services. Whoever owns it can block the development, and the convention in valuing that position has long run to a substantial share of the uplift released — the commonly cited proportion derives from the approach in Stokes v Cambridge, and it is a starting point for negotiation rather than a fixed rule. The practical answer is to establish ownership of every metre between the site and the highway before committing, because the price of the strip rises sharply once a promoter has invested in an application.
The question to ask of either is whose interest is aligned with yours. Under an option a developer acquires the right to buy at a future date, usually at a discount to market value — so their interest is in the price being lower. Under a promotion agreement a promoter funds the planning process and takes a share of the proceeds when the land is sold on the open market, so their interest is in the price being higher, though you sell to a third party rather than to them. A conditional contract sits between the two and turns entirely on how a satisfactory planning permission is defined.
Usually the overage rather than the price. Six elements decide what it is worth: the trigger, the duration, the percentage of uplift, the valuation basis, the deductions allowed for costs and planning obligations, and the security. The two most common failures are a trigger drawn tightly enough that a variation of an existing permission escapes it, and security that does not survive an onward sale by the buyer — which matters because positive covenants do not run with freehold land. None of it is fixable after the transfer is executed, so it is worth spending on the drafting.
