Skip to content

Wanted in Rochester

Development land wanted in Rochester

We are looking for development land in and around Rochester: plots, fields, brownfield sites and buildings.

Rochester lies about 8 miles north of Maidstone in Kent. We also cover Chatham, Strood, Gillingham and the villages between them. We are based in Great Barr, Birmingham, around 130 miles from Rochester, and we travel to see sites across England and Wales.

Kent ranges from the Medway towns, Dartford and Gravesend on the Thames to Maidstone, Ashford, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells and the coastal towns of Margate, Ramsgate, Folkestone and Dover. West Kent is largely Metropolitan Green Belt, while the Kent Downs and High Weald National Landscapes cover much of the countryside. Sites typically include edge-of-town fields, orchards and farmland, farm buildings, infill plots and brownfield land in the towns.

Since 6 August 2026, non-major development on sites of 0.2 hectares or less in England has generally been exempt from mandatory biodiversity net gain, unless priority habitat is affected. That makes many small sites simpler to bring forward.

Some land in Kent 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 Rochester

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 Rochester 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

We are interested in sites with planning across the Rochester 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

Near Rochester, land without planning is worth discussing where it adjoins existing homes or has been put forward to the council's plan.

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

Brownfield land

Brownfield land in Rochester 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

Around Rochester, 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 Rochester, 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 Rochester 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

Around Rochester, 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 Rochester, 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

In Rochester, industrial land that has drifted out of use can often be reimagined as homes, subject to the council's view on employment land.

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

Redundant buildings

Across Rochester, 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 Rochester 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 Rochester, 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 Rochester 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

If your land near Rochester appears in the council's plan or its site assessments, send us the reference; it changes the conversation.

Ways to sell development land in Rochester

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.

The next steps

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.

Development land in Rochester: common questions

Do you buy development land in Rochester?

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

Is Rochester too far from our Birmingham base?

No. We are based in Great Barr, Birmingham, about 130 miles from Rochester, and we look at land right across England and Wales.

How quickly can you look at a site in Rochester?

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.

How long does a sale take?

It depends on the route. An outright purchase of land with planning can move relatively quickly; land that needs planning permission takes longer. We are honest about timing for each site.

Got land that could take new homes?

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

Submit a site 0800 088 6248

Call free Submit a site