Selling Land in Wiltshire

The county has two unitary councils. Wiltshire Council covers everywhere except Swindon, including Salisbury, Chippenham, Trowbridge and more than a dozen market towns. Swindon Borough Council covers Swindon and the villages around it. Each council decides its own planning applications and makes its own plan.

• Both councils are below 95%. Wiltshire delivered 93% and Swindon 87% of the homes they needed in the Housing Delivery Test 2025. Both must publish action plans. Neither is below 85% or 75%.
• Old plans. The Wiltshire Core Strategy was adopted in January 2015 and Swindon's plan in March 2015. The Core Strategy's plan period runs to 2026.
• Wiltshire's new plan was withdrawn. After the inspectors raised serious concerns, the council voted on 19 May 2026 to withdraw its Local Plan Review and start again under the new system.
• Three National Landscapes. The Cotswolds in the north west, the North Wessex Downs in the east and Cranborne Chase in the south west.
• Special rules in some areas. Phosphate neutrality in the Hampshire Avon catchment, a recreation strategy for Salisbury Plain and a bat strategy around Trowbridge and Westbury.

National Landscapes

The Cotswolds National Landscape covers the north west of the county around Castle Combe and Box. The North Wessex Downs cover the chalk downs around Marlborough, Pewsey and the Kennet valley. Cranborne Chase covers the downland south west of Salisbury. Major development inside them is only allowed in exceptional circumstances, and land in their setting is assessed for its effect on views.

Salisbury Plain

Salisbury Plain is the largest military training area in the UK and is protected as a Special Protection Area for ground-nesting birds, particularly the stone curlew. New homes within 6.4 km of the protected area, including in Amesbury, Tidworth, Ludgershall, Warminster, Westbury and Devizes, fall under a recreation mitigation strategy. The Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site also covers land west of Amesbury and around Avebury.

River Avon Phosphates

The Hampshire Avon, which flows through Salisbury, is a Special Area of Conservation, and new homes in its catchment must show they will not add phosphorus to it. Wiltshire Council runs a strategic mitigation scheme, charged per kilogram of phosphorus, and homes in the affected catchments must be built to use no more than 110 litres of water per person per day. Smaller parts of the county drain to the River Lambourn and the Somerset Levels, where similar rules apply, and a small area drains to the River Test, where nitrogen rules for the Solent apply. These costs affect viability, so we check the catchment early.

Bats Around Trowbridge and Westbury

Woodland around Trowbridge and Westbury supports bats linked to the Bath and Bradford on Avon Bats Special Area of Conservation. A mitigation strategy adopted in July 2025 sets out zones and financial contributions for new homes. Some land close to the main roost is effectively off limits. Elsewhere, a scheme can usually proceed with the right mitigation.

Green Belt and Flood Risk

A small part of the Bristol and Bath Green Belt reaches into west Wiltshire around Bradford on Avon. The Bristol Avon flows through Malmesbury, Chippenham, Melksham and Bradford on Avon, and the Hampshire Avon, Wylye and Nadder meet at Salisbury. Our guides to grey belt and flood risk explain how each is assessed.

Neither Wiltshire nor Swindon is below 75%, so the unmet need policy does not apply. But both plans are old, and Wiltshire has had to start its new plan again. That makes the next two to three years an important window for putting land forward. The main routes are:

1. The new Wiltshire Local Plan. The council has only just begun. Land put forward with good evidence at the early stages has the best chance of being considered. Our guide to call for sites and local plans explains the process.
2. Neighbourhood plans. Wiltshire has a large number of made neighbourhood plans, and many allocate sites. A parish updating its plan can be a realistic route for smaller sites.
3. The new Swindon Local Plan. Land on the edge of Swindon and in the surrounding villages will be tested through it.
4. Previously developed land. Former farmyards, workshops and commercial sites, which national policy supports inside and outside settlements.
5. Sites near stations. National policy now supports higher density homes within walking distance of well-connected stations. Whether Swindon, Chippenham or a smaller station qualifies depends on its service and travel-to-work area.

Wiltshire needs patience and a partner who understands its extra layers of mitigation. Those costs are real, but under our agreements they are not yours to pay. Our guide to biodiversity net gain covers the separate 10% requirement.