In the latest edition of CLA Land & Business magazine, Colin Muller, Chief Executive at Muller Property Group, talks about the growing list of demands being made by UK councils regarding land development, the difficulties this is causing and what applicants can do to improve their chances of success.

In the past, landowners have traditionally often waited for councils to announce a ‘call-to-arms’ for potential redevelopment sites before beginning and submitting their plans.

However, with council areas in the UK now required to have 5-year rolling plans in place to ensure the continuous supply of suitable local land for housing and employment purposes, Colin believes waiting for councils to make such requests is too late.

Colin points to the increasing complexity of land development applications for this, and the sizeable list of demands being placed on applicants to ‘prove’ the suitability of their land.

“Gone are the days of a landowner or owner’s agent simply putting a plan into place in the belief it will be considered”, states Colin.

He goes onto to argue that the only way to combat these growing demands is for landowners to ‘get to grips’ with such processes much earlier than in the past, stating, “It’s a fact that landowners now need to be actively engaged in formulating a strategy at least four or five years ahead of local plans coming to an end.”

To be successful, Colin says that sites must be promoted better, harder and in more detail, adding that people with land on the edges of existing towns and villages should, ‘get the ball rolling’ towards obtaining planning permission as soon as possible.

Colin concludes that landowners are best seeking the advice and services of land promotion experts, such as Muller Property Group, as early into the process as possible in order to maximise their chances of being successful.