Brownfield land in Durham County Council
Durham County Council has published 69 brownfield sites on its statutory land register — land the council itself has assessed as suitable for housing. Together they cover about 159.9 hectares with an estimated capacity of 4,103 dwellings.
Rank these sites with constraints netted off →
Largest sites on the Durham County Council register
| Site | Hectares | Max dwellings | Planning status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Former Electrolux site, Merrington Lane Ind Est | 17.03 | 425 | permissioned |
| North East Industrial Estate | 16.93 | 390 | not yet |
| Tanfield Lea Industrial Estate | 15.46 | 365 | permissioned |
| S4: Seaham Colliery Site | 14.75 | 332 | not yet |
| Dale Road Industrial Estate | 11.98 | 340 | permissioned |
| Former DCMA and Land at Mainsforth Ind Est | 10.30 | 258 | permissioned |
| Durham Road, DL13 3HZ | 4.75 | 149 | not yet |
| Land North of Greenfield Industrial | 4.30 | 98 | not yet |
Source: Durham County Council brownfield land register, published via planning.data.gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Figures are the council’s own.
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 Durham County Council 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. 4,103 is what Durham County Council thinks the 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 Durham County Council
- Development sites for sale Durham County Council
- How much brownfield land is there in Durham County Council?
- Where can I build houses in Durham County Council?
- Durham County Council 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.