The price of building land per acre will swing in value, depending on several variants. These include planning status, density, sales values, build costs, obligations (CIL/S106), BNG, abnormals and title. Using recent market indices and government appraisal data, typical guide bands in 2025 and 2026 look like this (illustrative, not a valuation):
- Unallocated / no permission: often option value only. Where traded, ~£50k–£250k per acre depending on allocation prospects and risk.
- Allocated land (no consent yet): ~£150k–£600k per acre, wide variation by region and density.
- Outline / RM / Full permission (suburban): ~£350k–£1.5m+ per acre; prime, higher-density sites and strong-value postcodes can exceed this.
- Urban infill / higher density: £750k–£2m+ per acre when constraints are modest and densities are strong; prime London can be multiples of these figures.
Why is the worth of building land so wide? Well, the price of building land per acre will vary, because one acre with 8 houses is worth far less than an acre carrying 40 apartments, and abnormals (ground, access, utilities, contamination, flood, heritage) can swing outcomes by hundreds of thousands.
At Intelligent Land, we can increase that land value further, identifying opportunities to increase the worth of your building land. Click here to find out how we do that.
Savills’ and Knight Frank’s development land indices show quarterly ups and downs through 2023 to 2025 rather than a single national “price”, while government Land Value Estimates provide localised benchmarks for a ‘typical site’- with a policy appraisal floor of £370,000 per hectare (≈£150k per acre) outside London as a low-end indicator.
What actually determines building land value per acre?
Planning & policy
- Status: allocation → outline → reserved matters → full planning permission each de-risks and typically lifts value.
- Density and mix: more net saleable units per acre (subject to design codes) generally raises value.
- Obligations: CIL/S106, affordable housing %, and now mandatory 10% Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) in England affect residual land value. BNG has been mandatory for most major applications since 12 February 2024 (with small-sites phasing later in 2024). Nutrient neutrality still applies in affected catchments.
Site & technical
- Access/highways, services, utilities, ground conditions/abnormals, flood risk/SuDS, topography, contamination, ecology/trees and heritage all alter costs and therefore land value.
Market & delivery
- GDV (local sales values), build costs (tracked by BCIS/ONS), finance, developer profit, absorption/phasing, and tenure mix (open market, affordable, PRS) drive the residual. Recent BCIS and ONS data show tender prices and output price indices moving modestly in 2024–2025 after sharp inflation in 2021–2023.
Legal & commercial
- Title defects, ransom strips, easements, overage/clawback, options/promotion agreements change both certainty and net receipts.
How to value building land: the residual method (step-by-step)
1) Inputs:
GDV (prices x units), base build (BCIS + location), externals/abnormals, professional fees, contingency, S106/CIL & BNG delivery, finance, developer profit.
BCIS
2) Residual Land Value (RLV):
RLV = GDV – (Total Costs + Profit). Divide by net developable acres for £/acre.
3) Sensitivity:
+10% sales values or +4 units/acre can add six figures per acre; a newly discovered abnormal (e.g., deep drainage or contamination) can remove it.
4) Worked mini-example:
- 1-acre infill: 12 houses @ £375k = GDV £4.5m. Costs (build, externals, fees, S106/BNG, finance) £3.6m. Profit £0.6m (c. 15% GDV). RLV ≈ £300k per acre.
- 10-acre edge: 280 units @ £275k = GDV £77m. Costs £63m. Profit £11.5m. RLV ≈ £2.5m across 10 acres → £250k/acre (lower per-acre due to infrastructure, open space and roads).
(Illustrative only; every site differs.)
UK building land prices: the last ten years (2015–2025)
There is no single published “price per acre on building land” time-series for the whole UK, but two robust sources track how values moved and how localised benchmarks compare:
1) Market indices (movement over time)
- Savills Development Land Index shows UK greenfield land values broadly flat to gently rising through late-2024, +0.5% in Q4 2024 and -0.1% in Q1 2025, with urban land down 0.7% in Q2 2025 (-2.3% YoY) amid higher costs and selective demand.
- Knight Frank Residential Development Land Index reported Q2 2025 declines, with urban brownfield slightly down and greenfield values down around 5% year-on-year, citing planning delays and viability pressures.
Takeaway: compared with the 2015–2019 cycle, the 2021–2023 build-cost spike and 2023–2024 rate rises compressed residuals; 2025 is more stable but selective, with permissioned, de-risked sites outperforming. For more details, read our guide on how to maximise land value.
2) Local authority benchmarks (what a ‘typical site’ looked like)
- Government Land Value Estimates for Policy Appraisal (latest full England release 2019) provide residential values per hectare by local authority for a “typical” site, plus a policy floor of £370,000 per hectare outside London (~£150k/acre). These are not transaction prices, but they are a consistent benchmark and useful for cross-area comparisons and viability conversations.
- A consolidated Land Values dataset (Data.gov.uk) hosts three years of these estimates, allowing broad comparisons across 2014/2017/2019.
How much is 1 acre of building land worth? (four real-world scenarios)
Important: the following are illustrative bands of the worth of building land assuming typical costs, mainstream density and policy compliance. Use them to understand orders of magnitude – not as valuation advice.
1) Allocated edge-of-settlement (no consent yet)
- Typical band: £150k–£600k per acre.
- Value levers: density headroom, access solutions, utilities capacity, affordable % and timing of obligations.
2) Outline permission, suburban, modest abnormals
- Typical band: £350k–£1.0m per acre (can be higher in the South East).
- Value levers: switch to mixed tenure to boost absorption; refine unit mix; push RM to unlock finance certainty.
3) Urban brownfield infill, higher density
- Typical band: £750k–£2.0m+ per acre depending on build costs, remediation and sales values.
- Value levers: de-risk contamination, optimise massing, secure grant/affordable deals to support viability.
4) Unallocated / high-risk strategic land
- Typical band: option premiums or £50k–£250k per acre on unconditional trades are not unusual where allocation prospects are credible, but many such acres transact at option/promoter structures rather than cash land deals.
- Value levers: promotion strategy, evidence-led case for allocation, transport packages, nutrient/BNG strategies.
These ranges align with index-reported softness in 2024–2025 and historic local authority benchmarks (per-hectare) once translated to per-acre and adjusted for risk, density and costs. Always check current build costs (BCIS/ONS) and BNG/nutrient requirements in your LPA before setting a price.
Policy headwinds that move the value of building land per acre in 2025 / 2026
- BNG 10% (England): Now a standard condition of permission; strategy (on-site vs off-site units/credits) affects cost and programme.
- Nutrient Neutrality: Still live in affected catchments; credits/mitigation or design solutions required unless/until superseded by new legislation.
- Costs & Viability: BCIS indicates tender prices up ~2–3% YoY (2025); forward guidance expects further cumulative increases over the next five years – plan for contingency.
- Planning reform & market sentiment: Recent quarters show selective buyer demand for de-risked land; greenfield and urban indices both eased in Q2 2025.
How to increase your building land value per acre
- Planning levers: optimise density within design codes; evidence viability to negotiate affordable/CIL; time applications with BNG and nutrient strategies that reduce uncertainty.
- Technical levers: front-load surveys (GI, utilities, flood) to remove “unknown unknowns”; design access/servicing early to cut risk pricing.
- Commercial levers: restructure overage, cure ransom with alternative access/utilities routes, consider phased disposals to specialised buyers (open market, affordable, PRS).
- Delivery levers: mix tenures to boost absorption and support higher density (often the single biggest driver of £/acre).
To increase the worth of your building land further, our Land Value Accelerator (LVA) Method™ will help. You could be leaving millions on the table with your development site – the LVA Method™ is our proprietary system that scientifically analyses and enhances land value across multiple dimensions simultaneously.
Unlike traditional planning consultants who focus solely on securing permissions, we integrate specialised algorithms across planning, legal, technical, biodiversity, marketing, and value optimisation to deliver significant value uplifts – often worth £1M+ in just 72 hours.
To book a consultation, click here.
Where deals go wrong (and how to avoid it)
- Over-promising density and under-estimating abnormals.
- Ignoring BNG/nutrient obligations until late.
- Title traps (ransom/easements) discovered post-heads of terms.
- Unrealistic profit and finance allowances that later collapse the residual.
- Out-of-date costs—always refresh BCIS/ONS inputs before committing.
How Intelligent Land lifts value fast (Land Value Accelerator™)
Intelligent Land unlocks hidden millions in land value by combining proprietary AI with 30 years’ planning expertise. We don’t just advise; we accelerate building land value outcomes.
The Land Value Accelerator™ (LVA Method™)
- Review Planning Permissions – planning position, density headroom and policy levers.
- Undertake Research – technical, legal, BNG, ESG and viability risks.
- Scenario Testing – AI-driven models to optimise density, mix and obligations.
Outcome: We often identify £1m+ value uplift within 24 hours on complex sites—by reframing constraints, re-phasing infrastructure, or proving a more viable mix that stands up to policy and the market.
FAQs
- How much is building land worth per acre in the UK?
It depends entirely on planning status, density and local values. In 2025, illustrative bands run ~£150k–£600k/acre for allocated land and ~£350k–£1.5m+/acre for consented suburban sites, with higher-density urban land exceeding £2m+/acre in strong markets. Check local benchmarks and current indices. - How much is 1 acre of building land worth right now?
Use the residual method with current BCIS/ONS costs, local sales comps, and policy/BNG obligations. The answer is site-specific. - Why does building land value per acre vary so much by region?
Because GDV and density vary and so do costs and obligations. Government appraisal data shows large gaps in per-hectare benchmarks between local authorities. - What’s the difference between greenfield and urban building land prices?
Recent indices show both easing in Q2 2025, with urban marginally down and greenfield down year-on-year amid viability challenges. - How do BNG and nutrient neutrality change land value?
They add cost and programme risk unless addressed early (on-site habitat creation, off-site units, or credits). 10% BNG is mandatory and nutrient neutrality remains in designated catchments. - How do I calculate building land value per acre (residual method)?
Start with GDV, subtract all costs and target profit to get Residual Land Value, then divide by net developable acres. Refresh costs/values before making offers.
