Brownfield land in City of York Council
City of York Council has published 125 brownfield sites on its statutory land register — land the council itself has assessed as suitable for housing. Together they cover about 184.4 hectares with an estimated capacity of 9,450 dwellings.
Rank these sites with constraints netted off →
Largest sites on the City of York Council register
| Site | Hectares | Max dwellings | Planning status |
|---|---|---|---|
| British Sugar Corporation Ltd Plantation Drive | 39.62 | — | not yet |
| British Sugar Corporation Ltd Plantation Drive (CYC Boundary) | 38.64 | 1100 | permissioned |
| York Central Leeman Road | 35.00 | 2500 | permissioned |
| The Retreat 107 Heslington Road York YO10 5BN | 15.00 | 120 | not yet |
| The Cocoa Works Haxby Road (Phase II) | 4.70 | 302 | permissioned |
| Hungate Development Site (Blocks D, F, G & H) | 4.10 | — | permissioned |
| Former Gas Works 24 Heworth Green (Phases I & II) | 3.54 | 607 | permissioned |
| The Cocoa Works Haxby Road | 2.35 | — | permissioned |
Source: City of York 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 City of York 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. 9,450 is what City of York 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 City of York Council
- Development sites for sale City of York Council
- How much brownfield land is there in City of York Council?
- Where can I build houses in City of York Council?
- City of York 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.