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Wanted in Exeter

Development land wanted in Exeter

Development Land Wanted buys land of every size in Exeter and the villages nearby.

Exeter is the county town of Devon. Nearby places we also cover include Exmouth, Tiverton and Newton Abbot. We are based in Great Barr, Birmingham, around 144 miles from Exeter, and we travel to see sites across England and Wales.

The A30, A38 and M5 corridors and the main line from Exeter to Plymouth carry most of Devon's planned growth, including new communities east of Exeter. In coastal towns, flood risk and coastal change can affect sites, while nutrient neutrality advice has applied in the River Axe catchment on the Dorset border.

In England, the revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 17 August 2026 replaced the old "tilted balance" with new settlement policies: development within a settlement should normally be approved unless the harm substantially outweighs the benefits, while land outside a settlement can gain support in defined circumstances.

Devon has no designated Green Belt, so the main policy questions near Exeter are usually the settlement boundary, landscape and access.

Land we want in Exeter

Edge-of-town meadow with timber survey stakes and orange marker pegs, houses along the far boundary

Residential development land

Sites on the edge of Exeter or the villages nearby can be worth a conversation, especially where they are well connected by road and bus or rail.

Vacant fenced development plot with a council planning notice tied to a lamp post and terraced houses beyond

Land with planning permission

For consented land around Exeter, the first things we read are the decision notice, the conditions and any legal agreement attached to the permission.

Gently sloping green field next to an English village with a church tower behind a hawthorn hedge

Land without planning permission

Plenty of land around Exeter has never had permission. What we look for first is whether new homes would fit with the existing pattern of the place.

Cleared former industrial yard with cracked concrete, a palisade fence and an old brick warehouse wall

Brownfield land

Brownfield land in Exeter tends to be well located for homes; the questions are usually about contamination, demolition and neighbours.

Overgrown empty plot between two Edwardian semi-detached houses on a suburban street

Infill plots

Infill gaps in Exeter's established streets can be among the easiest small sites to bring forward when the design respects the neighbours.

Long rear gardens behind 1930s semi-detached houses with a gravel access lane along the bottom

Garden and backland plots

Around Exeter, garden land is most promising where a lane already runs behind the houses or two or three neighbours can sell together.

Horse paddock with post-and-rail fencing and a field gate on the edge of a village at evening

Farmland and paddocks

We are looking for farmland near Exeter with a realistic access, ideally land the owner has already put forward to the local plan.

High aerial view of large farmland fields beside a market town, a ring road and a river lined with willows

Strategic land

Larger landholdings on the approaches to Exeter are where strategic land usually comes from, particularly near transport links.

Corner plot of rough grass at a suburban road junction with houses along both roads

Small sites

We want to hear about plots for a few homes anywhere around Exeter, including ones a larger builder has already turned down.

Vacant single-storey industrial units with grey roller shutters and an empty tarmac forecourt

Commercial and industrial sites

We look at yards and units across Exeter where the business use has run its course or the site sits awkwardly among houses.

Disused two-storey 1960s brick office building with an empty weed-cracked car park among houses

Redundant buildings

We are interested in buildings around Exeter that have outlived their original use, whether they would be converted or replaced.

Traditional red-brick barn with clay tile roof beside a modern steel portal-frame barn on a farmyard

Barns and rural buildings

In the countryside around Exeter, redundant barns and yards can sometimes become homes, depending on the building and the route available.

Row of lock-up garages with faded up-and-over doors around a tarmac court behind 1960s houses

Garage courts and yards

Garage courts tucked behind homes in Exeter are often ideal for a small number of new houses or bungalows.

Overgrown fenced plot with brambles and saplings behind a weathered hoarding between houses

Sites with lapsed or refused planning

Sites around Exeter with an old refusal can be worth a second look, especially where local or national policy has since changed.

Desk with a printed local plan proposals map showing coloured site boundaries and a housing layout sketch

Allocated and promoted land

Around Exeter, allocated sites and land put forward to the council are usually the furthest along, so they can often move faster than land at an earlier stage.

Ways to sell development land in Exeter

01

Outright purchase

We agree a price and buy the land, with no planning condition attached.

Outright purchase

02

Subject-to-planning contract

We agree a price now and complete once a satisfactory planning permission is granted.

Subject-to-planning contract

03

Option agreement

You grant us the right to buy within a set period, usually for an option premium, while we pursue planning.

Option agreement

04

Joint venture

You contribute the land, we fund and manage planning and delivery, and the proceeds are shared as agreed.

From first call to completion

Tell us about the land
Use the form or call us with the location and a rough outline of the site.
Free appraisal
We review title, planning and constraints and tell you honestly what we think.
Written offer
If the site suits us, we set out an offer and the way we propose to buy.
Solicitors take over
Your solicitor and ours agree the contract; we keep you informed throughout.

Frequently asked in Devon

Do you buy development land in Exeter?

Yes. We buy development land in Exeter and throughout Devon, as well as elsewhere in England and Wales. Tell us where the land is and we will give you a free appraisal.

Is Exeter too far from our Birmingham base?

No. We are based in Great Barr, Birmingham, about 144 miles from Exeter, and we look at land right across England and Wales.

Which planning rules apply to land in Exeter?

As Exeter is in England, national policy comes from the National Planning Policy Framework, revised in August 2026. Local policies in the council's development plan also apply.

Are you an estate agent?

No. We are a buyer. Development Land Wanted is a trading name of S&K Property Investments and Improvement Ltd, part of the S&K Group, and we buy land for our own developments.

Got land that could take new homes?

Free, no-obligation site appraisal. We buy directly, with or without planning.

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