Brownfield land in Sunderland: 129 sites on the register
Part of development land in Tyne and Wear — 695 sites across 5 councils.
Sunderland City Council has published 129 brownfield sites in Sunderland on its statutory land register — land the council itself has assessed as suitable for housing. Together they cover about 212.8 hectares with an estimated capacity of 8,358 dwellings.
Rank these sites with constraints netted off →
Largest sites on the Sunderland register
| Site | Hectares | Max dwellings | Planning status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Former Groves Site, Woodbine Terrace, Pallion | 31.21 | 700 | not yet |
| Ryhope and Cherry Knowles Hospital | 27.67 | 640 | permissioned |
| Philadelphia Complex | 17.29 | 250 | permissioned |
| Phases 2-6, Chester Road | 16.72 | 396 | permissioned |
| Stadium Village, Sheepfolds Central | 6.72 | 265 | not yet |
| Lambton Lane, land at | 4.63 | — | not yet |
| Derwent House, Washington Town Centre | 4.43 | 48 | permissioned |
| Lambton Lane, land at | 4.43 | 252 | not yet |
Source: Sunderland City Council brownfield land register, published via planning.data.gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Figures are the council’s own. 11 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. 10 of the 129 sites (8%) state no dwelling capacity, so the capacity figure covers the 119 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 Sunderland 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. 8,358 is what the council thinks Sunderland’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 Sunderland
- Development land in Sunderland
- How much brownfield land is there in Sunderland?
- Where can I build houses in Sunderland?
- Sunderland 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.