Selling land in Bristol
A plan awaiting the inspectors, a council behind on homes and a city short of sites. What that means for your land.
The local plan
A plan waiting for the report, a delivery test result far below the line
The development plan today is still the Core Strategy of 2011 and the Site Allocations and Development Management Policies Local Plan of 2014. The Bristol Local Plan 2022 to 2040 was submitted on 25 April 2024. Hearings ran from February to April 2025 and a consultation on main modifications ran from 27 April to 12 June 2026. The council sent its responses to the inspectors on 29 July 2026 and the inspectors' report had not been published at that date (Bristol City Council examination page, read October 2026). The plan sets a requirement of 1,925 homes a year or 34,650 over 2022 to 2040.
What that means for an owner. The government's Housing Delivery Test result for 2025, published on 17 August 2026, was 41 per cent, down from 59 per cent the year before. Below 75 per cent the presumption in favour of sustainable development applies to housing applications. The council's own Housing Delivery Test Action Plan of June 2024 gave 3.75 years of housing land and its examination note to the inspectors gave 4.14 years, against the five it should hold. In the city, most land is in use, so sites are small and the case for each rests on the site's detail: access, neighbours, heritage and flooding.
We buy or sell to builders who want small city sites where homes sell well. Bristol has a council behind on delivery and a short supply of land, which is the combination that gives a well argued site a fair hearing. We have read the plan, the delivery test result and the council's own supply figures.
Bristol City Council's online planning register shows applications by address or postcode, with the officer's report and the decision. Search near your land to see what was approved or refused there.
What we are looking for here
Infill, backland and redundant sites
Large gardens and backland
Land behind a street of houses with a way in from the road, in the suburbs of the city.
Yards, garage courts and depots
Small previously developed sites with a road frontage that the plan treats as the right place for homes.
Buildings no longer needed
Former workshops, chapels, offices and shops where conversion or redevelopment may be allowed.
Questions landowners ask
Straight answers
Has the Bristol local plan been adopted?
What does a delivery test result of 41 per cent mean for my site?
Do you buy small sites in Bristol?
Free land review
Tell us about your land
Tell us the postcode. We do the checks at our cost and telephone you within ten days.