In the context of investment, UK land can be categorised as
1) land not designated for residential development
2) land designated for residential development
3) land with planning permission for residential development (after it has been designated for residential development).

Strategic land is a land not designated for residential development but which has a medium-to-long term potential to be designated (re-zoned) for such a development. Usually, it is a located in the area of high housing need, adjacent to existing housing and close to local amenities and infrastructure (transport links, water, electricity, etc).

The UK land designated for residential development can be worth around 80% of land with a planning permission and 20 times more than strategic land.

For example, land at Raunds offered by Strategic UK Land Ltd, costs up to GBP 14/sq. m, whereas land designated for residential development in the same area worth around GBP 198/sq m, and building land in the area - GBP 247/sq m (according to the Government's Valuation Office Agency, in January 2007, in Northampton area the value of building land was GBP 2,470,000 per hectare. We assume that designated land is worth around 80% of building land).

Rapid population growth, increasing inward migration, rising number of households, and continued economic expansion fuel demand for housing in the UK whereas annual housebuilding has actually fell by 60% since late 1960s (source: "Sustainable communities: Building for the Future" - publication of Office of Deputy Prime Minister). John Slaughter, Director of External Affairs of the House Builders Federation, said, "There still remains a shortfall of 50,000 homes per year, a problem which if not addressed will only exacerbate the current affordability crisis".

Due to growing housing shortage and looming affordability crisis, authorities need to designate more and more land for residential development. Kate Barker, the economist commissioned by Gordon Brown to address planning delays, called for an urgent review of Green Belt boundaries. She suggested that some of it could meet housing needs (source: Timesonline.co.uk December 6, 2006: "Brown's economist calls for homes and shops to be built on the Green Belt".

In fact, under the last Government, building even on the most "untouchable" Green belt land has already increased by 60% (source: Telegraph.co.uk, 28.12.05).

In relation to the above, opportunities arise to acquire strategic UK land, which has a future re-zoning potential, with a view to profit from such possible re-zoning.

Under pressure to deliver more housing, the Government has recently overhauled its planning system which became more flexible and enables development plan documents, such as housing and site allocations, to be reviewed and updated at more regular intervals.

As these plans are usually reviewed every 3-5 years, UK land investments should be viewed as medium-to-long term investments. Land re-designation (re-zoning) and planning permission are not guaranteed, and due to this uncertainty, for longer-term investors opportunities arise to buy a land at very low prices.