The UK residential land market has been dominated by the major housebuilders since 2009, but the past year has seen a significant rise in the number of deals involving small and medium-sized housebuilders and housing associations, according to latest analysis from Savills.

These smaller players are also building more homes, supported by government funds and more accessible finance now available to those able to demonstrate a good track record, the firm reports in Spotlight: UK residential development land.  

Build to rent developers and investors are also increasingly active in the market, particularly in key regional cities. Some 16,000 build to rent homes are now complete in the UK, with 21,000 under construction, according to Savills and the British Property Foundation, boosting the appetite for land.  

Urban land is in high demand
Buyers are primarily focused on the leading regional cities, driving up urban land values. Price growth averaged 1.0% in the second quarter of 2017 and 4.0% annually. By contrast, greenfield land values are flat, rising just 0.2% in the quarter and 1.0% annually.