Land without planning permission wanted in Devon
Development Land Wanted buys land without planning permission in Devon and right across England and Wales. Owners and agents are both welcome.
Having no planning permission does not rule land out. Many good development sites start as fields or yards with no consent. We look at local policy, access and constraints, then explain the options, including deals where we take on the planning work.
- Size
- Any
- Planning
- None yet
- Areas
- England & Wales
- Ways we buy
- Conditional, option or JV
Is your land in Devon the kind we want?
Devon has no Green Belt, but Dartmoor and part of Exmoor National Parks and the East Devon, North Devon, South Devon, Blackdown Hills and Tamar Valley National Landscapes cover a large share of the county. Growth focuses on Exeter, Plymouth, Torbay and the market towns, with many villages beyond. Edge-of-town greenfield land, farm buildings and smaller infill plots are the usual sources of new housing sites.
- Land the owner has put forward to a local plan or call for sites
- Plots within towns and villages that have never been built on
- Sites with a road frontage or a realistic access
- Land of any size, including single plots
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.
Before we make an offer in Devon
Timescale
Getting permission can take months or years; we are honest about that from the start.
Access and highways
Without a safe access, even well-located land is unlikely to get consent.
Your involvement
You can sell now, sell subject to planning, or grant an option; each asks a different amount of you.
Where an English council cannot show a five-year supply of housing land, or its Housing Delivery Test result falls below 75%, the August 2026 NPPF can give policy support to suitable housing outside settlement boundaries.
National policy in England now recognises "medium development" of 10 to 49 homes on sites up to 2.5 hectares, and asks councils to allocate at least 10% of their housing on sites of one hectare or less and a further 10% on sites of one to 2.5 hectares.
Devon has no designated Green Belt, so the main policy questions near Devon are usually the settlement boundary, landscape and access.
Parts of Devon fall within Dartmoor National Park, Exmoor National Park, East Devon National Landscape, North Devon National Landscape, South Devon National Landscape, Blackdown Hills National Landscape and Tamar Valley National Landscape. Protected landscapes carry strong policy protection, so land in or next to them needs particularly careful assessment.
Land without planning permission wanted in towns across Devon
How we could buy your land in Devon
Outright purchase
Possible where we are comfortable taking the planning risk ourselves.
Outright purchaseSubject-to-planning contract
The most common route: we fund the application and complete once permission is granted.
Subject-to-planning contractOption agreement
You grant us the right to buy within a set period, usually for an option premium, while we pursue planning.
Option agreementJoint venture
For owners who want a bigger share of the upside in return for more risk.
Joint ventureFrom 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
What if planning is refused?
That depends on the deal. Under a conditional contract we can usually decide whether to appeal, re-apply or walk away; if we walk away you keep your land.
Do you buy land with no planning outright?
Sometimes. If we are confident about the planning route we can buy outright, which gives you certainty sooner but reflects the risk we take on.
Can an agent introduce land in Devon 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.
Do I need to pay anything to have land in Devon assessed?
No. Our appraisal is free and there is no obligation to sell to us.