Land assembly

Land assembly is the term used to describe the combining of multiple adjacent land parcels into a single, larger site to enable more comprehensive redevelopment. It is commonly used when multiple landowners collaborate to promote a strategic site through local plans, or in urban regeneration projects where higher density development is proposed.

Landowners may have a stronger chance of securing planning permission as a whole parcel than with smaller, fragmented proposals and as such it can be a strategic development approach. Though larger sites often incur higher costs for infrastructure such as roads, utilities, and drainage, the benefits of greater development potential and viability often outweigh these. There may also be further support for such larger scheme from government initiatives, such as for example the Labour governments drive to build 1.5 million homes, its new homes accelerator and its new towns taskforce. Which, it its interim report indicated that new towns should be a minimum of 10,000 homes.

A relatively well known issue, back in 2018 under the Conservative government a £1.3bn Land Assembly Fund was established for Homes England. The Government offered money to help public bodies clear a path through land ownership problems to get more homes built. The Communities Secretary at the time James Brokenshire described how issues such as complex land ownership, contamination, and infrastructure requirements, “can present real barriers to building homes where they are needed most”. The fund at the time intended to help release land to deliver 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s.

In its guidance document 'Effective use of land' first published in 2019, the government highlights the importance of Land Assembly describing some of the powers and tools it has to support this where necessary. "What tools can local planning authorities use to assemble land in support of their planning and development objectives? Local planning authorities have a range of tools to support proactive land assembly. These include:

• Powers to acquire land compulsorily or by agreement;
• Powers to dispose of land in their ownership; and
• Powers to override easements and other rights in land.

The effectiveness of, and justification for, the use of these powers can be enhanced by having up-to-date plans, which articulate a vision and objectives for the future development of an area and policies to help achieve them."

In general, particularly in the private sector, successful land assembly will depend on close cooperation and well-structured agreements between landowners. Collaboration and equalisation agreements can help ensure infrastructure costs are shared fairly and that future proceeds are distributed transparently, avoiding disputes once planning is achieved. Clear upfront agreements on costs and profit-sharing are critical for maintaining trust and aligning interests.

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• Conveyancing.
• Glossary of property law terms.
• Green belt.
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• Land.
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