How to choose a land promoter: 12 questions to ask before you sign.

Why the choice matters

A promotion or option agreement usually runs for years, often between 5 and 20. For most of that time you can't sell the land elsewhere or sign with anyone else. The promoter decides how and when to approach the council, pays for the reports and the application, and runs any appeal. If it is weak, slow or short of money, those years can pass with nothing to show for them.

Promoters are not all the same. Some get planning on most of the sites they take on. Others hold land for years and get nowhere. The difference shows up in the public record, so ask for it, and check it.

The 12 questions

1. How many sites like mine have you taken through planning in this council area? Ask for addresses and planning reference numbers, so you can look them up. Experience with the same council and the same kind of site counts for more than a big national total.
2. How many of your applications were approved? And how many sites did you drop before applying? A high approval rate means more if the promoter isn't only picking easy sites.
3. How often do you appeal, and how often do you win? Appeals add cost and years. A promoter that wins most of its appeals has judged its sites well.
4. Who owns your company, and how is it funded? Promotion is expensive and slow. Ask for the latest accounts and check Companies House for charges over the company's assets.
5. When will you submit a planning application, and what happens if you don't? Look for dated milestones and your right to end the agreement if they're missed.
6. How long is the term, and when can it be extended? Extensions while an application or appeal is live are normal. Open-ended extensions are not.
7. Who pays the planning costs, and is there a cap? The promoter should carry the cost and risk. Check what it can recover from the sale, and whether interest is added.
8. What is your fee, and what comes off before the split? Ask for a worked example with round numbers showing what you'd receive.
9. Is there a minimum price, and who decides when to sell? A minimum price protects you from a sale at a level you'd never accept.
10. Can you pass this agreement to another company? Check what happens if the promoter assigns the agreement or is itself sold.
11. Will you pay my reasonable legal and agent fees? Promoters normally contribute. Ask whether there's a cap and whether it's taken back from your proceeds later.
12. Can I speak to two landowners you've worked with? Ideally one where planning succeeded and one where it didn't. How a promoter behaves when things go wrong tells you a lot.

Comparing two offers: a worked example

The headline percentage is rarely the whole story. Take a 20-acre field that sells for £8 million once it has planning permission. Two promoters make offers. These are illustrative numbers, not market rates.

Promoter A: £8,000,000 less £400,000 of costs leaves £7,600,000; its 15% share is £1,140,000, leaving you £6,460,000. Promoter B: £8,000,000 less £900,000 leaves £7,100,000; its 12% share is £852,000, leaving you £6,248,000. The lower headline share pays you £212,000 less, and B's longer term and missing minimum price add risk on top. Every figure is before tax, VAT and sale costs.

Check the record yourself

You don't have to take a promoter's word for any of this. Most of it is public:

• Search the council's planning register for the promoter's name as applicant.
• Look up appeal decisions on the Planning Inspectorate's appeals portal.
• Read the company's accounts, charges and owners on Companies House.
• Check whether its sites appear in the council's call-for-sites documents and Local Plan allocations.

Our Hampshire league table will do this work for every promoter active in the county.

Warning signs

• Pressure to sign quickly, or an exclusivity letter before heads of terms are agreed.
• Reluctance to name past sites or put you in touch with other landowners.
• No contribution to your professional fees.
• A vague planning strategy with no dates.
• Very long terms with automatic extensions.
• A young company with no filed accounts and no parent behind it.

Running a fair comparison

1. Appoint your adviser first. A land agent who knows promotion agreements can approach promoters for you and keep the comparison even.
2. Ask two or three promoters for heads of terms. Give each the same information about the site, and ask for the same points in the same format.
3. Compare what you would receive, not the headline percentage. Use the same sale price, the same costs and the same tax assumptions for each.
4. Check each promoter's record against the 12 questions, and take up references.
5. Agree exclusivity only once heads of terms are settled, and only for as long as the solicitors need to draft.

Get the right advice

Appoint a land agent who specialises in promotion and option agreements, and a solicitor who does too. Since 1 March 2026, members of RICS advising on these agreements must follow its professional standard Land agreements for development purposes. Ask any agent you're considering whether they're RICS-regulated.

Next, read how the two main agreements differ in option or promotion agreement?, and the costs to watch in tax, VAT, costs and legal traps.

Questions landowners ask

This guide is general information, not legal, tax or valuation advice. Every site and every agreement is different, so take advice from qualified professionals on your own situation before you sign anything.