Land News Archive

A good model for future farmland value trends

18th December, 2009

It's been an uncertain year for farmland values. There have been plenty of buyers worried prices will rise again, while sellers have held back, fearing the icy fingers of recession will nip farmland prices. So where now? Ian Ashbridge reports on new forecasting model. Read full article.

Time to make the most of housing potential

27th November, 2009

Landowners should be actively promoting land for development ready to make the most of the economic upturn, according to land agent Bidwells. Read full article.

Increase in Land for Sale Prices

Tuesday 26th August, 2008

Agricultural land prices surged at the fastest pace in the RICS' rural market survey's history during the first half of 2008, with the average price rising by 24% in the first half of 2008 and by 47% year on year. Agricultural land rose by 32% in the first half of 2008. Read full article.

Land for Sale Demand for Horses

Tuesday 26th August, 2008

Farm land prices are at an historic high, and land which is deemed suitable for horses will always fetch a premium price. Read full article.

Bio-fuel

Friday 22nd August, 2008

As farmers can't produce any more agricultural land, the competition between food and fuel producers is fierce. Read full article.

Green Belt homes in five years

Thursday 30th August, 2007

Bulldozers could appear on Green Belt land south of Oxford to start work on a massive housing estate within five years. Read full article.

Think-Tank urges Green Belt housing

Wednesday 15th August, 2007

The government must consider building on the greenbelt if it is to meet its house building targets, a think-tank claims. Read full article.

Green Belt threat in Bedford sparks summit

Thursday 5th December, 2006

Plans for a house-building boom which could mean up to 43,000 homes springing up in the South Beds and Luton area by 2031 have sparked a vital conference on the South Beds Green Belt. Read full article.

New Homes Plan for Hertfordshire

Wednesday 29th November, 2006

Public meetings are to be held shortly in a bid to raise awareness of plans that could see thousands of new homes built in the Green Belt in Hertfordshire. Read full article.

Green Belt hotel given green light

Thursday 21st September, 2006

A proposed new hotel in London Colney was given the green light by Hertsmere Borough Council this week. Read full article.

Crawley to experience massive development

Wednesday 6th September, 2006

Crawley Council has been over-ruled by the Government who gave building permission for the largest residential development in the town's history. Read full article.

Greenbelt Threat

Thursday 24th August, 2006

300 acres of Green Belt south of St Albans in Hertfordshire could be developed as part of a new rail freight depot. Read full article.

Land development in Hertfordshire

Thursday 17th August, 2006

165 acres of Green Belt land in Hertfordshire could be used to build new homes and establish a village green. Read full article.

Brownfield sites causing confusion

Wednesday 9th August, 2006

The Campaign to Protect Rural England has identified the best and worst performing councils in allowing new homes to be built on brownfield sites. Read full article.

Green belt land threatened by housing

Wednesday 2nd August, 2006

Campaigners are claiming that a significant increase in house building in the West Midlands' countryside threatens green belt land. The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) fears that increased pressure from the government will turn swathes of green belt land into battlegrounds for housing development. Read full article.

Farmland and Green Belt housing proposal

Monday 17th April, 2006

Farmland and green belt land should be reforested or turned into housing, a new report suggests. Read full article.

Greenfield land under threat

Friday 1st August, 2003

New homes are likely to be built on greenfield land in the Broxbourne borough under sweeping plans to build thousands of dwellings in the M11 corridor, a Government spokesman has revealed. While the numbers involved are far from clear, Broxbourne's Tory MP Marion Roe said the "lack of information" about how the scheme would affect the district left her "extremely worried". Read full article.

Thames Housing Plan

Thursday 31st July, 2003

A massive London housing plan, annexing 40 miles of the Thames riverbank and stretching into Kent, Essex and Bedfordshire, was announced by John Prescott yesterday. Read full article.

Self build land the next big thing?

Friday 6th June, 2003

Prices of self build land in South East England continue to defy all belief, with figures up to £1 million in the most sought-after areas. Read full article.

Surrey Green Belt Housing Estates

Wednesday 28th April, 2003

Regional dictats will dump housing estates on Surrey's Green Belt land, or impose an incinerator on Guildford, irrespective of local wishes. Read full article.

UK Land Prices rocket

Monday 7th April, 2003

The price of residential land for sale in the UK has increased a staggering eight-fold over the last 20 years. A shortage of residential land, combined with buoyant demand for new properties lies behind rising prices, says a recent Halifax survey. Unsurprisingly, the most expensive land is in London and the South East, with the cheapest being in Wales and the North. Read full article.

Development Plots of Land

Thursday 3rd April, 2003

Dozens of sites in the St Albans area may be removed from the Green Belt, as councillors struggle to find space for housing development. Read full article.

Prescott will blight greenfield land

Wednesday 19th March, 2003

Up to half a million homes will be built on greenfield land in the South East of England over the next 30 years. Read full article.

Farmland in London could be built on

Tuesday 10th March, 2003

Nearly 60,000 acres of farmland, enough to build up to 700,000 homes, lies within 16 miles of Trafalgar Square and could be built on to reduce the housing shortage in the South-East, according to a report published today. Read full article.

200,000 affordable homes in South East

Saturday 22nd February, 2003

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister sets targets for the number of homes it wants to see built in each region of the country by a specific date. Under a guidance note he issued two years ago, local authorities in London and the South-East are already committed to allow the building of 62,000 new homes a year for the next 20 years. This target has now been increased by a further 10,000 new homes a year. Read full article.

Green Belt land in Epping under threat

Thursday 13th February, 2003

Worried residents packed a Waltham Abbey pub for the first stage of their fight to stop houses being built on almost four acres of Green Belt land in the town. Read full article.

Greenfield land in Kent vanishing

Thursday 6th February, 2003

Ashford town’s population of 60,000 is expected almost to double over the next 30 years. To house the required numbers, large expanses of greenfield land, owned by the Church Commissioners, will have to be used; Ashford has little or no brownfield land left unoccupied. Read full article.

Residential Building Land Report 2002

Friday 1st November, 2002

Excerpts from the Residential Building Land Report by the Valuation Office Agency, 2002. Read full article.

Prescott launches homes explosion

Thursday 18th July, 2002

The Government today ordered homes to be built on land designated as Green Belt in a massive project to overcome the housing shortage in the Home Counties and around London. Read full article.

Who will save the garden of England?

Monday 15th July, 2002

Chancellor Gordon Brown launches an attack on the planning controls which have protected the countryside and the character of South East England for the past 50 years. Read full article.

Time to buckle down on green belt?

Tuesday 9th July, 2002

By far the most effective possible solution to London and the South-East's housing shortages and high prices would be the release of more land for development. Put brutally, is the green belt sacrosanct? Read full article.

Fight launched against Green Belt plans

Monday 8th July, 2002

Ministers are to pump £1 billion into a building programme in a bid to provide affordable housing for nurses, police officers and other key public-sector staff in the South-East. Read full article.

Deepening Housing Crisis

Tuesday 19th March, 2002

Shortage of homes over next 20 years threatens deepening housing crisis Britain is heading for a property shortage of more than a million homes by 2022 unless the current rate of housebuilding is dramatically increased, according to reports from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). Read full article.

Greenbelt land starting to buckle

Sunday 27th January, 2002

Since the 1940s, the Metropolitan green belt has sat like an impregnable buffer around London, protecting property prices with its promise of permanent open fields safe from developers. But are the cracks beginning to appear? The Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) warns of "death by a thousand cuts" in the face of the relentless demand for new homes. Read full article.

Green Belt land for houses

Wednesday 9th August, 1999

John Prescott has given the go-ahead for developers to send bulldozers onto the green belt land and build 10,000 houses, raising the size of Stevenage by a third, almost joining it to neighbouring Hitchin. Read full article.