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Wanted in Chichester

Development land wanted in Chichester

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

As the county town of West Sussex, Chichester anchors the area we cover here, along with Bognor Regis, Emsworth and Hayling Island. Our base is in Great Barr, Birmingham, about 128 miles away, and we buy land throughout England and Wales.

Water neutrality advice that held up many schemes around Crawley, Horsham and Chichester was withdrawn from 1 November 2025, though water efficiency remains important. Chichester Harbour and the coastal plain bring flood risk and mitigation considerations, while the Brighton Main Line and A23 corridor focus growth around Crawley and Burgess Hill.

In England, a planning permission normally has to be implemented within three years unless the council sets a different period, and councils aim to decide minor applications within eight weeks and major ones within thirteen.

Parts of West Sussex are Green Belt, though not every town has any nearby. We check early whether a site is inside it and, if so, whether a grey belt or previously developed land case could apply.

Land we want in Chichester

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 Chichester 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

If you hold a consent in or near Chichester, send us the decision notice and the approved drawings; that is usually enough for a first view.

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

Land without planning permission

For land on the edges of Chichester with no consent yet, the first questions are access, flood risk and how the council's current plan treats the area.

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 Chichester 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

Infill gaps in Chichester'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 Chichester, 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

Fields that wrap around the edges of Chichester and its neighbouring villages are the farmland we most want to talk about.

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 Chichester 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

In Chichester, 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

Older business land around Chichester, especially units now surrounded by housing, is the kind of commercial site we would like to discuss.

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

Redundant buildings

We are interested in buildings around Chichester 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

We look at barns and rural yards around Chichester 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 Chichester, 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 Chichester 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 Chichester appears in the council's plan or its site assessments, send us the reference; it changes the conversation.

Choosing how to sell

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.

How a sale to us works

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 Chichester: common questions

Is Chichester too far from our Birmingham base?

No. We are based in Great Barr, Birmingham, about 128 miles from Chichester, and we look at land right across England and Wales.

Can an agent introduce land in Chichester to you?

Yes. Estate agents, land agents and planning consultants can introduce sites with the owner's consent. Any fee is agreed in writing before details are shared, confirmed by the owner in writing and paid only on completion.

Which planning rules apply to land in Chichester?

As Chichester 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.

Do I have to pay you anything?

No. Our appraisal is free and we never charge landowners a fee. On option agreements we also pay your reasonable legal costs, up to a cap agreed in the heads of terms. Under options and joint ventures, agreed planning and promotion costs may be recovered from the price or proceeds; any recovery is capped and set out in the heads of terms.

Got land that could take new homes?

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

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