What happens next

We'll write to you within 5 working days of receiving your application. We'll tell you the name and telephone number of the development officer dealing with your application.

It can take at least 6 months to complete the sale.

We are not obliged to sell land and our decision is final.

How we make a decision to sell

We've summarised the process on this page. You can also download the full procedure as a written document or flowchart:

Our procedure for selling small areas of land
PDF ‐ 132.05 KB
Our procedure for selling small areas of land: flowchart diagram
PDF ‐ 52.03 KB

Support for sale

We'll contact you within 28 days of providing a contact to let you know whether or not we support the sale of the land. We'll explain how we've assessed your application against the eligibility criteria.

If we support the sale, you'll need to pay £550 plus VAT before we move onto the next step.

Consultation

As soon as we receive payment we'll start a 28 day consultation period.

We have a responsibility to consult with people who may be affected by the sale of council-owned land. We'll ask for comments on the impact of the sale of the land from:

  • local residents
  • housing officers responsible for the management of the estate
  • ward councillors for the area
  • the Cabinet Member

We'll write to you within 7 working days of the close of consultation to update you on the progress of your application. We'll also tell you if we need more information from you to justify the sale.

Valuation of the land

When we have all the information we need, we'll begin valuation of the land to work out the sale price. We'll need to agree this with you before we can make a final decision to sell the land.

This can take up to 3 months.

Preparing the decision report

When we've agreed the price of the land with you, we'll request authority to the sale from either a Chief Officer, the Leader of the Council or Cabinet.

We'll let you know when the decision is made.

Conveyancing - legally changing ownership

How long this takes will vary for each site. It's usually a minimum of 9 weeks from the date the report is agreed.

Our Legal Services team will contact your solicitors to complete the conveyancing process for the sale of the land. The development officer will remain your single point of contact until the sale is completed.