Option agreements for land in Stevenage
If you own land in or around Stevenage, option agreements is one of four ways you can sell it to us. Here's how it works and when it makes sense.
An option agreement gives a buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy land within a set period, usually once planning permission is obtained. The landowner receives an option fee up front and, if the option is exercised, a price normally based on market value with permission, less agreed deductions.
- Free appraisal and written offer
- Independent advice encouraged
- We fund the planning work
Selling land near Stevenage?
Free, no-obligation appraisal.
Land around Stevenage
Our appraisals for Stevenage start with the SG1 postcode district and the OS grid square TL22, then widen out to Hitchin, Letchworth Garden City and Welwyn Garden City, all within about 7 miles.
Most of the county is Metropolitan Green Belt, which makes land with genuine development prospects scarce and keenly contested.
| Town | Stevenage |
|---|---|
| County | Hertfordshire |
| Country | England |
| Postcode district | SG1 |
| OS grid square | TL22 |
| Nearest towns we cover | Hitchin (5 mi), Letchworth Garden City (5 mi), Welwyn Garden City (7 mi) |
| Distance from Watford | About 19 miles north-east |
| Planning system | National Planning Policy Framework and local plan |
| When you're paid | Option fee now, price when the option is exercised |
| Planning costs | Ours, sometimes recoverable from the price |
Is an option agreement right for your land?
- Larger fields and blocks on the edge of towns and villages
- Land being considered in a local plan review
- Holdings where several owners need to work together
- Sites with technical issues that need time to resolve
If your land could be allocated in a future local plan, an option keeps it moving towards development without you funding the work.
What to check in an option agreement
Purchase price
Often a percentage of market value with permission, less agreed costs.
Term
How long we have to secure permission and exercise the option.
Deductions
Which planning and infrastructure costs come off the price before you're paid.
Exercise triggers
What has to happen before we can buy.
Land near Stevenage that an option agreement suits
Land with planning permission in Stevenage
Rarely needed once consent exists, but can suit phased sites.
Building plots in Stevenage
Rarely needed for single plots.
Small sites in Stevenage
Useful if land needs assembling from more than one owner.
Brownfield land in Stevenage
Can suit larger brownfield sites with a longer planning route.
What happens next
Send us the address
A postcode, a plan or a what3words location is enough to start.
We do the homework
We read the title and planning record and check flood risk and access.
You get a written offer
With the main figures behind it, so your adviser can check it.
Solicitors complete the sale
Exchange and complete, or exchange now and complete when planning is granted.
Rules that apply in England
Planning framework
Planning decisions in England follow the National Planning Policy Framework, revised in August 2026, and the local plan, prepared by the council or, in a national park, the park authority. Plans are reviewed periodically, which is when new housing sites are usually allocated.
Section 106 and CIL
Larger schemes often need a Section 106 agreement for affordable housing or contributions, and councils that have adopted the Community Infrastructure Levy charge it per square metre of new floorspace.
Awkward details we deal with
You're worried about the deductions
Ask for a clear list and a cap on what can be deducted. We'll explain each one.
You'd like your advisers' costs covered
Many option agreements include a contribution to the landowner's legal and agent costs. We'll tell you if ours does.
Useful to send us
- A rough size, in acres or hectares
- A plan, or a screenshot from an online map
- Your title number, if you know it
- Any planning applications or letters
What people ask us about an option agreement
How long do options last?
It varies with the site. Several years is typical for land needing local plan allocation, often with extension rights.
Can I sell to someone else during the option?
Not usually. The option binds the land, and it's normally registered against your title.
What's the difference between an option and a promotion agreement?
Under an option the buyer has the right to buy the land. Under a promotion agreement a promoter gets permission and then sells the land on the open market, taking a share of the proceeds. We offer options, not promotion agreements.
Do you cover the villages around Stevenage?
Yes. Villages between Stevenage, Hitchin and Letchworth Garden City often have the kind of edge-of-settlement land we're looking for.
More land we buy in Stevenage
- Development land
- Land with planning permission
- Land without planning permission
- Large strategic sites
- Green belt and grey belt land
- Land for affordable homes
- Farmland and agricultural land
- Paddocks and equestrian land
- Barns and rural buildings
- Building plots
- Garden land and backland
- Infill plots and gap sites
- Small sites
- Garage sites
- Brownfield land
- Redundant commercial and industrial land
- Inherited and probate land
- Landlocked land and access problems
- Outright purchase
- Subject-to-planning sale
- Joint ventures
- All land in Stevenage
- Option agreements in Hertfordshire
Find out what we'd pay for your land near Stevenage
A free appraisal tells you what we'd pay and why.