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Wanted in Rickmansworth

Development land wanted in Rickmansworth

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

In Hertfordshire, Rickmansworth sits about 20 miles south-west of Hertford; Watford and Chalfont Saint Peter are its nearest neighbours on our list. Our base is in Great Barr, Birmingham, about 87 miles away, and we buy land throughout England and Wales.

Hertfordshire is a county of medium-sized towns, including Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, St Albans, Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield and Hitchin, with many villages between them. Most of the county lies within the Metropolitan Green Belt and the Chilterns National Landscape covers the west, so grey belt, previously developed land and infill sites are especially important. Larger growth is usually planned as urban extensions and new communities through local plans.

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.

Some land in Hertfordshire is designated Green Belt. If your land is within it, it may still qualify as grey belt or previously developed land under national policy, subject to the Golden Rules.

Land we want in Rickmansworth

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

Residential development land

In and around Rickmansworth we are interested in land that sits naturally alongside existing streets, where new homes would read as part of the place.

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

Land with planning permission

We are interested in sites with planning across the Rickmansworth area, including smaller consents that larger housebuilders may pass over.

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 Rickmansworth 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

Former works, depots and yards in and around Rickmansworth can make good housing sites once the ground and neighbouring uses are understood.

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

Infill plots

Around Rickmansworth, infill plots are often side gardens or gaps left between older houses; the street's character usually sets the design.

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

Garden and backland plots

Around Rickmansworth, 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

Around Rickmansworth, paddocks and fields beside existing homes can have real potential, even where they have been grazed or farmed for generations.

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

Strategic land

Around Rickmansworth, strategic sites tend to be the big fields between the built edge and the main roads, where a whole new neighbourhood could be planned.

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

Small sites

In Rickmansworth, small sites are often the leftover pieces: a side garden, an old garage block or a gap where a building once stood.

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 Rickmansworth 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

Across Rickmansworth, empty offices, shops and former pubs can find a new life as homes when the building and the planning position line up.

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

Barns and rural buildings

We look at barns and rural yards around Rickmansworth and give a straight view on whether conversion or replacement is realistic.

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

Garage courts and yards

We are looking for garage blocks and small yards around Rickmansworth, whether they are fully let, partly let or empty.

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

Sites with lapsed or refused planning

Sites around Rickmansworth 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 Rickmansworth, 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.

How we could buy your land in Rickmansworth

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

Get in touch
Tell us where the land is and what you know about it.
Site review
We look at the land, its planning position and anything that could affect it.
Proposal
We put our proposal in writing, with no obligation to accept.
Exchange and completion
If you go ahead, contracts are exchanged and the sale completes on the agreed terms.

Your questions answered

Is Rickmansworth too far from our Birmingham base?

No. We are based in Great Barr, Birmingham, about 87 miles from Rickmansworth, and we look at land right across England and Wales.

How quickly can you look at a site in Rickmansworth?

For most sites we can give an initial view once we have the location and a plan. Detailed checks follow if the land looks suitable.

Do I need to pay anything to have land in Rickmansworth assessed?

No. Our appraisal is free and there is no obligation to sell to us.

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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