Selling Land in Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire has six district councils: Cheltenham, Cotswold, Forest of Dean, Gloucester, Stroud and Tewkesbury. Gloucestershire County Council handles highways, schools, minerals and waste. The districts decide housing applications. Cheltenham, Gloucester and Tewkesbury plan together through the Joint Core Strategy, adopted in December 2017, and are now preparing a joint Strategic and Local Plan.

• Three councils below 75%. Cheltenham delivered 56%, Gloucester 63% and Cotswold 68% in the Housing Delivery Test 2025. Each is treated as having evidenced unmet housing need under policy S5 of the August 2026 NPPF, though constraints still apply and S5 does not apply in the Green Belt.
• Stroud needs an action plan. At 85% it is below the 95% line and must publish an action plan, but it is not below 75%.
• Tewkesbury and Forest of Dean are over target. Tewkesbury delivered 219%, largely on sites planned to meet the needs of Gloucester and Cheltenham. Forest of Dean delivered 128%.
• The Cotswolds cover a large share of the county. Most of Cotswold district and the escarpment above Cheltenham, Gloucester and Stroud are in the Cotswolds National Landscape.
• The Severn runs through the middle. Its flood plain shapes what can happen around Gloucester and Tewkesbury more than almost anything else.

The Cotswolds National Landscape

The Cotswolds is the largest National Landscape in England, and its western escarpment overlooks Cheltenham, Gloucester and the Stroud valleys. Major development inside it is only allowed in exceptional circumstances, and the unmet need policy does not override that protection. Land in the setting of the escarpment is judged on its effect on views. A site just below the scarp edge may be harder than one on the far side of a town.

The Wye Valley and Malvern Hills

The Wye Valley National Landscape covers the western edge of the Forest of Dean along the river. A small part of the Malvern Hills National Landscape reaches into the north of the county near the Worcestershire and Herefordshire borders.

Green Belt Between Gloucester and Cheltenham

A Green Belt separates Gloucester and Cheltenham, mostly in Tewkesbury borough. The Joint Core Strategy released parts of it for large sites on the edges of Cheltenham. Land that remains could qualify as grey belt if it does not strongly contribute to Green Belt purposes. Stopping neighbouring towns merging is one of those purposes, and it carries real weight in the narrow gap between the two. Our grey belt guide explains the test.

The Severn Flood Plain

The Severn, the Avon at Tewkesbury, the Leadon and the Frome all have wide flood plains. Tewkesbury and Gloucester both flooded badly in 2007. Land in Flood Zones 2 and 3 faces the sequential test, and in the Severn vale that often rules out large parts of a holding. Sites with enough ground in Flood Zone 1 are still worth assessing. Our guide to flood risk and development land sets out how councils decide.

Cotswold Beechwoods

New homes within 15.4 km of the Cotswold Beechwoods Special Area of Conservation, near Painswick and Cranham, must contribute to a strategic mitigation scheme. The charge is set per home and is modest, but it applies across large parts of Stroud, Cotswold and Tewkesbury, and it should be allowed for in any appraisal.

Gloucestershire has more live routes to planning than most counties, because three councils are below 75% and several plans are being written at once. The main ones are:

1. An application in a council below 75%. In Cheltenham, Gloucester and Cotswold, land outside settlements is treated as meeting unmet need under national policy S5, as long as it is outside the Green Belt and National Landscape and the other constraints can be met.
2. The new plans. The Strategic and Local Plan, the Cotswold Local Plan 2026 to 2043, and new plans in Stroud and the Forest of Dean all need sites. Our guide to call for sites and local plans explains how land gets considered.
3. Grey belt. Between Gloucester and Cheltenham, some Green Belt land may qualify, subject to the Golden Rules.
4. Previously developed land. Old yards and commercial sites, including in the Cotswolds, where small brownfield schemes can be acceptable.
5. Sites near stations. National policy now supports homes within walking distance of well-connected stations. Whether it applies depends on the station and its service.

The chance is real in parts of Gloucestershire, but so are the constraints. A good application needs landscape, flood, highways and ecology evidence, and that costs money. Under our agreements we pay for it. See our guide to the NPPF 2026 for the policy changes.