Brownfield land in St Albans City and District Council
St Albans City and District Council has published 42 brownfield sites on its statutory land register — land the council itself has assessed as suitable for housing. Together they cover about 33.6 hectares with an estimated capacity of 1,535 dwellings.
Rank these sites with constraints netted off →
Largest sites on the St Albans City and District Council register
| Site | Hectares | Max dwellings | Planning status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Griffiths Way | 8.52 | 92 | permissioned |
| Former Ariston Site (incl Pioneer Youth Club) | 2.63 | 55 | not yet |
| EMP9 (northern part) St Albans Road (adjacent to the Council depot) | 2.40 | 100 | not yet |
| West of St Peters Street | 2.13 | 60 | not yet |
| Morrisons car park | 1.65 | 76 | not yet |
| The Red House Harpenden Memorial Hospital | 1.62 | 34 | not yet |
| Sphere industrial estate | 1.35 | 120 | not yet |
| Abbey Station | 0.94 | 40 | not yet |
Source: St Albans City and District 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 St Albans City and District 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. 1,535 is what St Albans City and District 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.
Run St Albans City and District Council through the site finder →
Questions this page answers
- Brownfield land register St Albans City and District Council
- Development sites for sale St Albans City and District Council
- How much brownfield land is there in St Albans City and District Council?
- Where can I build houses in St Albans City and District Council?
- St Albans City and District 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.