Had a letter about your land? Five checks before you reply.
The short answer: if you have had a letter about your land from a developer, don't sign anything until you have checked them. Five free checks will tell you whether they can actually get planning permission: their appeal record, who pays if it fails, a home they have built, their Companies House history and their past planning applications. We are a family-run developer in Hertfordshire and the South East, and we send these letters ourselves, so this is the checklist we would want you to use on us.
Why am I getting a letter about my land?
If you own a field, a large garden or a paddock in the South East, you have probably had one. A neat letter, sometimes handwritten, saying a developer would love to talk about your land.
There is a reason they keep coming. Finding land has become a business in its own right. There are now courses that teach people how to source development sites, write to landowners and secure options, often promising that you can do it with little money of your own. Some of the people who take those courses go on to become good developers. Plenty never get a single planning permission.
So the letter itself tells you very little. A letter costs about 80p to send. Getting planning permission is the hard part, and that is what you actually need to know about the person writing to you.
How did a developer find my land?
Most landowners assume someone drove past. Usually they didn't. Ownership, planning history and boundaries for almost every parcel in England are now searchable on land-sourcing software.
We use LandInsight from LandTech, which pulls ownership, planning and property data into one map. Another widely used platform is Searchland, which lets developers search for sites and send letters to the owners straight from the same system. Both are built from public sources such as HM Land Registry, Ordnance Survey and council planning records.
There is nothing sinister in this. It is how most developers, large and small, find land now. But it does mean the same tools are open to an experienced developer and to someone who finished a weekend course last month. The letters look the same. The checks below are how you tell them apart.
How do I check a developer who wants to buy my land?
Run these five checks before you reply. All five are free, and most take ten minutes.
1. Search the appeals database
The Planning Inspectorate publishes planning appeals on its Appeals Casework Portal, and you can search by site address or postcode. Look for the company name and the names of anyone who signed the letter.
Why appeals? Anyone can get an easy application through. Winning at appeal after a council refusal is what shows you somebody really understands the planning system. A developer with no appeals at all is not necessarily a bad sign, but one who has fought and won a few has been tested.
2. Ask who pays if it goes wrong
A planning application on even a small site needs surveys, ecology reports, highways and tree assessments, consultants and application fees. If it is refused, an appeal adds more. On a small site that easily runs to tens of thousands of pounds.
Ask two plain questions. Who funds all of this? And what happens to you, and to your land, if permission never comes? You want the answers in writing.
3. Ask for an address
Not a render or a mood board. An address somewhere they have actually built, where somebody now lives. You can go and look at it, and you can look up the planning history behind it.
If nobody will give you one, that is your answer.
4. Look them up on Companies House
Companies House is free to search. Check:
When the company was incorporated: last year, or twenty years ago?
Whether accounts are filed on time, or overdue and dormant
Whether there is anything meaningful on the balance sheet
What else the directors have run, and what happened to those companies
A young company is not a problem on its own. Every developer starts somewhere. But a new company with no history, no assets and directors who have dissolved several others should make you slow down.
5. Check your council's planning portal
Every planning application is public, with the decision attached. Search your local council's planning portal, and those nearby, for the developer's name. You will see what they have applied for, what was approved and what was refused. It is the most honest CV a developer has.
What are the red flags in a developer's offer?
Pressure to sign quickly. Good land does not disappear in a week, and neither do good developers.
No named planner or architect. Someone has to design the scheme and argue for it. Ask who.
A long option with no performance milestones. If they can sit on your land for years without having to submit anything, they might.
You carrying the costs if it fails. The risk of planning should sit with the people who say they are good at it.
Permission guaranteed. Nobody can guarantee a planning decision. Anyone who says otherwise is either inexperienced or not being straight with you.
Being steered towards their solicitor. Always use your own. Many developers will contribute to your legal fees, which is normal and worth asking about.
We send these letters too. Check us first.
We would be the wrong people to tell you to ignore developer letters, because we write them. We are a family-run developer working across Hertfordshire, Essex, Buckinghamshire, Surrey and Cambridgeshire, and a lot of our sites started with a letter just like the one on your table.
So run all five checks on us. Search our appeals. Look us up on Companies House. Ask us for an address and go and see it. If a letter is worth answering, it will survive the checking.
If you would like to know what your land could become, or you just want a straight answer about a letter you have received, find out more about selling your land to Millen. There is no obligation, and we will tell you honestly if we think your land is better suited to someone else.
Want the five checks as a printable list? Get in touch or comment CHECK on our latest Instagram post and we will send it over.
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to reply to a developer's letter about my land?
Yes. Replying or asking for a call does not commit you to anything. Just don't sign any agreement, including heads of terms, until you have run the checks above and taken advice from your own solicitor.
What is an option agreement?
An option gives a developer the right, but not the obligation, to buy your land within a set period, usually once planning permission is granted. You normally receive a fee up front. Look closely at how long the option runs and what the developer must do within that time.
Do I need my own solicitor to sell land to a developer?
Who pays for the planning application?
It depends on the deal, so ask before you agree anything. With most option and promotion agreements the developer funds the surveys, reports and application. Make sure the agreement says clearly that you are not liable for those costs if permission is refused.
How can I tell if my land has development potential?
Start with your council's local plan and the planning history of nearby sites. You can also ask us for an estimated value. We will give you a straight answer, even if it is that your land is better suited to someone else.
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