Herald Land - UK Land Investment Expert

Herald Land has strict criteria that any site must meet before we consider it to be within our definition of what constitutes land. For our clients, investment land represents a simple and potentially highly profitable investment. It entails buying and holding land with a view to future increases in its value.

Over the years land as an asset has steadily increased in value. Even when the stock market has plummeted and interest rates have remained low, the value of land has proven to be one of the most robust and resilient investments. This perhaps isn't entirely surprising. After all, land lies at the heart of everything. It's one of the fundamental assets of the world.

UK Land in the South East of England has risen by 262%, between 2001 and 2010.
*Source - The Agricultural Land and Property Report, 2001 and 2010. The Valuation Office, www.voa.uk/dvs

With demand for new housing outstripping supply, Herald Land believes there is an excellent opportunity to benefit from acquiring land.

To provide the required 4.2 million homes over the next 20 years, more land will have to be made available for housing. To achieve this, local authorities have been set new targets by central Government.

When land is rezoned for future residential development there is a dramatic increase in its value and until the demand for housing is matched by the supply, the value of land will continue to increase.

In January 2006, the Valuation Office, HM Revenue & Customs, reported that since late 1983 residential land has increased from an average of £174,000 per hectare to an average of £2,520,000 per hectare in England.

Latest Government housing targets have been set at 209,000 homes per year for the next 20 years - that's 4.2 million homes to be built.

Increased life expectancy and the influx of new immigrants has given the United Kingdom a growing population resulting in an unprecedented demand for new homes. The need for housing is compounded by the reduction in the size of households (families living together). In particular, the high demand for homes in the South East of England has led to spiralling house prices and to an acute affordability issue for key workers such as teachers, nurses, the police force and other public sector employees.

In simple terms, demand for housing in the UK is outstripping the current supply and to improve this situation the Government is setting new, higher house building targets for local authorities. There is agreement across the housing sector that the lag between supply and demand remains dramatic.

John Slaughter, Director of External Affairs at private sector trade body, 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."

Sarah Webb, Director of Policy and Practice at housing professionals' body, the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: "Yes, we are building more housing, but we are not building enough to cover the backlog from underinvestment in previous years, and not enough to keep up with today's demand."