Brownfield land in Bedford: 169 sites on the register
Bedford Borough Council has published 169 brownfield sites in Bedford on its statutory land register — land the council itself has assessed as suitable for housing. Together they cover about 556.3 hectares with an estimated capacity of 8,021 dwellings.
Rank these sites with constraints netted off →
Largest sites on the Bedford register
| Site | Hectares | Max dwellings | Planning status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wixams New Settlement LPH14 H31, Wixams (Land focused on the Elstow Storage Depot) | 189.72 | 1062 | permissioned |
| Stewartby Brickworks, Green Lane, Stewartby | 54.35 | 1000 | not yet |
| Former Stewartby Brickworks, Green Lane, Stewartby | 54.35 | 1000 | permissioned |
| RAF Cardington and adjoining land Shortstown | 45.76 | — | permissioned |
| Stewartby East, Stewartby Brickworks, Green Lane, Stewartby | 28.09 | — | not yet |
| Stewartby West, Stewartby Brickworks, Green Lane, Stewartby | 26.26 | — | not yet |
| Ford End Road excluding Brewery, Bedford | 24.41 | — | not yet |
| Ford End Road, Bedford | 24.41 | 700 | not yet |
Source: Bedford Borough Council brownfield land register, published via planning.data.gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Figures are the council’s own. 19 further entries repeat the area of a site already listed (councils often record a whole site's area against each phase), so that land is counted once. 101 of the 169 sites (60%) state no dwelling capacity, so the capacity figure covers the 68 that do — the real total is higher.
What a brownfield register actually is
Every local planning authority in England is required to keep a register of previously-developed land it considers appropriate for residential development. Part 1 lists all such sites; Part 2 sites carry permission in principle.
What it is not: an entry is not planning permission, and it is not an offer to sell. The council assessing a site as suitable says nothing about whether the owner wants to sell it or what a scheme would actually get approved. England has no zoning — the Local Plan and the Use Classes Order decide what is achievable.
The registers are public and free. They are underused mainly because each authority publishes its own separately, in its own format, so comparing more than one area by hand is painful.
Working the Bedford register properly
- Net off the constraints first. Green belt, Flood Zone 3 and listed buildings kill more register sites than anything else. Check before you fall in love with a line on a map.
- Treat the dwelling figure as the council’s opinion. 8,021 is what the council thinks Bedford’s register could take — your scheme, your design and the Local Plan will move it.
- Price it off recorded sales. HM Land Registry Price Paid gives you what actually sold nearby; work the residual land value from there rather than from an asking price.
- Find the owner. Register sites are rarely advertised. Ownership status is listed, and Land Registry title records do the rest.
Questions this page answers
- Brownfield land register Bedford
- Development land in Bedford
- How much brownfield land is there in Bedford?
- Where can I build houses in Bedford?
- Bedford land availability assessment
GoSiteHunt is an advertising and analysis platform, not a real estate agent or planning consultancy. Everything here is indicative screening from public data — not a valuation, not planning advice, and never a substitute for the council’s own records or your own professional advisers.