CloseJames Merchant · 07950 040777
129 High Street, Teddington
Turning development land into the right deal
We identify what residential land could become, establish what it is worth and put together the transaction that realises it, for landowners, institutions and developers across London, Surrey and the South East.
Landowners, institutions and developers.
Understand what your land could be worth.
We establish its development potential and value with you and explain the routes open to you.
For landowners →A considered approach to land disposal.
We advise institutions disposing of development land, from valuation and sale strategy to competitive process and exchange.
Institutional disposals →Opportunities worth looking at.
We originate residential land opportunities for developers acquiring across our markets, and help structure the terms that get them to exchange.
Acquisitions →The right outcome starts with understanding the opportunity.
Development land rarely has only one possible route. We establish what a site could become, what it may be worth and how that value is best realised before committing to a particular structure or buyer.
For some sites, that means a well-run sale to the right part of the market. For others, it may mean securing planning first, assembling adjoining land or structuring a conditional agreement, option or partnership.
Our role is to understand the opportunity, determine the right commercial route and then make it happen for you.
The right structure can be worth as much as the right buyer.
Development land is valued by what it could become, not by what it is today.
We assess your site as a developer would, looking at planning potential, sales values, build costs and risk, so you understand what it could be worth before deciding what to do with it.
Understand the potential
We review planning, title, access, local values and likely capacity, and give you a realistic idea of what could be achievable on your land.
Compare the routes
Selling now, agreeing a subject-to-planning deal or creating more value through planning can produce very different outcomes. We explain the implications for value, risk, certainty and timing so you can make an informed decision.
Choose the right route
If a sale is the best option, we can represent you and run a targeted or competitive process to the right buyers. Where there is a strong case for creating more value first, we can help structure the appropriate planning-led agreement or, on selected sites, work alongside you to pursue it.
See it through
Whichever route is chosen, we stay closely involved: coordinating the relevant parties, negotiating commercial terms and dealing with issues as they arise to keep the process moving towards the agreed outcome.
Recent work across our markets
From opportunity to outcome.
Assess
We start with the land: its planning position, ownership, constraints and development potential. The first step is understanding what could realistically be achieved.
Appraise
We look at the opportunity from a development perspective, considering likely values, costs and risk to establish what the land may be worth and where further value could be created.
Consider the routes
We assess the available options against value, timing, certainty and risk before establishing the most appropriate way forward.
Structure
That may mean a sale, conditional agreement, option, assembly or planning-led partnership. We put the commercial structure together around the site and the parties involved.
Negotiate
We negotiate the commercial terms, looking beyond headline price to certainty, risk and deliverability.
Execute
We stay directly involved with the parties and professional team, resolving issues and maintaining momentum through to the agreed transaction or planning outcome.
Development experience. Entrepreneurial execution.
James Merchant spent six years in land and planning at Crest Nicholson before working with SME housebuilders, appraising and acquiring residential land. Rowan Bollands founded REL and has built the business through originating opportunities, working directly with landowners and developers, and structuring transactions.
Together, they bring an understanding of both sides of the development land market: how owners can create and realise value, and how developers appraise, acquire and deliver sites. That perspective shapes how REL assesses opportunities, structures transactions and approaches planning-led value creation.
Understand what it could be worth, and the best route to realise it.
We advise private landowners, families, companies and institutions on residential development land across London, Surrey and the South East. We establish what your land could be worth, explain the routes open to you and see the one you choose through to completion.
You may be sitting on an opportunity you had not considered.
We identify land before it reaches the market because we know which sites suit development and where value can be created. If you have received a letter from Rowan Edward Land, it is because we have already looked at the title and planning position and believe your land may be worth exploring.
The first step is simply a conversation. We will explain what caught our attention, what could be achievable and which routes are open to you. If you decide to go further, we will guide you through each stage, from that first conversation through to exchange. A letter does not commit you to anything.
An initial review is free and carries no obligation to sell.
Every landowner is different.
Some owners want to move quickly. Others want to take their time, involve their family or keep a sale entirely private. We understand that discretion and confidentiality matter when selling development land.
We work to your timetable and your goals, and approach buyers only in the way you are comfortable with, whether that is a quiet conversation with a single developer or a wider competitive process.
The same field can be worth very different sums to different buyers.
Four common routes
Each route suits a different owner. The right one depends on your priorities for value, certainty and timing.
Unconditional sale
A buyer acquires the land without completion depending on planning. The quickest and most certain route, with the planning risk reflected in the price.
Subject-to-planning sale
Price and terms are agreed now; completion follows an agreed planning outcome. You keep the land while the buyer pursues planning.
Option agreement
A developer or promoter secures the right to buy your land, at a price or on a basis agreed at the outset, for a set period while they pursue planning.
Promotion or partnership
Planning is funded and managed for you, by a specialist promoter or, on selected sites, in partnership with REL. Once permission is secured the land is sold and the proceeds are shared on terms agreed at the outset.
A general guide only. Each transaction is structured with your own solicitor.
If it could be developed, we want to hear about it.
And everything in between. Many of the best opportunities are not obvious development sites, so if you are unsure, it is worth a conversation.
Developers do not all value the same site the same way, and structure matters.
Build costs, sales values, funding and planning appetite differ from one buyer to the next, and so does the structure each can offer. Knowing which buyers suit your site, and on what basis, can make a significant difference to the outcome.
Development expertise. Commercial judgement. Personally delivered.
Selling or developing land is not an everyday decision. The difference between the wrong strategy and the right one can be significant, so we start by understanding the opportunity properly: what could be built, what the market is likely to pay and which route gives you the best way to realise that value.
REL combines housebuilder-side development experience, direct relationships with active buyers and the ability to structure and execute transactions beyond a straightforward sale.
We understand how developers value land
We look at your site through the same commercial lens as the people who may buy and develop it. James spent six years in land and planning at Crest Nicholson before working with SME housebuilders, so we know what can realistically be built and what a credible buyer is likely to pay.
We know the market behind the valuation
We are in regular dialogue with developers and land teams across London, Surrey and the South East, so we know who is acquiring, what they are looking for and which buyers are most relevant to your site. We put it in front of the right decision-makers rather than circulating it to a database.
We are not tied to one route
Sometimes an immediate sale is best. Sometimes more value comes from a conditional deal, bringing in neighbouring land or securing planning first. We look at the site first and the structure second and, on selected sites, can work alongside you to create that value.
We know how to make transactions happen
Agreeing a price is only part of the job. We stay closely involved through negotiations, due diligence and the professional team until the agreed strategy is delivered.
You deal with the people making the decisions
REL is director-led, and Rowan or James remains closely involved from the first conversation onwards. You are not passed to a separate team once the work begins.
Our role is clear from the outset
When we act for you on a sale, we represent you. Where REL works alongside you through planning or has its own interest in an opportunity, we make that clear from the start.
Start with the site, not the solution.
You do not need to know whether you should sell now, seek planning, speak to a developer or do something else before contacting us.
Tell us what you own and what you would like to achieve. We can start by helping you understand the opportunity.
Housing associations, companies, estates and charities.
Surplus land, garage courts, commercial sites and consented schemes that no longer fit a portfolio. We run disposals that stand up to board and regulatory scrutiny.
- Best consideration, documentedA clear view of value, a record of which buyers were approached and why, a structured bid process and a written recommendation.
- DiscretionControlled processes to selected buyers where an open campaign would be unhelpful.
- Directors throughoutSenior involvement from the first appraisal to completion.
What this looks like in practice
Before you call
Do I need planning permission before I sell?
Not usually, and we would not recommend spending significant money on planning until you know which route is most likely to give you the best result. A consent for the wrong scheme costs time and money and can even reduce what buyers will pay. In many cases the cost and risk of planning can be carried by someone else: a developer under a subject-to-planning agreement or option, a promoter, or on selected sites a partnership with REL. We will talk you through the choices before you commit to anything.
Will you tell me what my land is worth?
Yes. We will give you an initial view of value and explain how we have reached it. When the site is taken to buyers, their offers then test that view.
Do you ever take sites through planning yourselves?
On selected sites, yes. We work alongside owners to take land through planning. It is one of several routes, not the default. If we think it suits your land, we will explain how it compares with selling and make our role clear from the start.
Do I have to sell if you review the site?
No. A conversation or review does not commit you to anything.
Will my neighbours find out?
Not from us. Most of our transactions are handled off-market, and we only approach buyers in the way you have agreed.
Do you only deal with large sites?
No. Our work ranges from single plots and large gardens to multi-owner assemblies and larger development sites.
What if several family members or neighbours own the land?
We work on multi-owner sites regularly and can help agree how the land is brought together and how value is shared, before a buyer or partner is involved.
What could your land be worth?
Tell us where it is. A director will come back to you within one working day.
A residential land business built around opportunity.
Rowan Edward Land identifies and creates residential development opportunities, establishes their potential and value, and determines the right route to realise it.
Depending on the site and our role, we advise landowners and institutions on disposals, act for developers on acquisitions, bring ownerships together and, on selected sites, work alongside owners to secure planning and share in the value created.
Based in Teddington, we work across London, Surrey and the South East.
Built through relationships. Grown by creating value.
Rowan Edward Land began with a simple idea: the best opportunities in land often start with a direct conversation.
Having invested in property himself, Rowan understood an owner's perspective before moving into development land. He combined that experience with a career built around relationships and negotiation, approaching landowners directly, understanding what they wanted to achieve and bringing together the people and structure needed to make a deal work.
That approach shaped the business REL is today. We work directly with landowners, developers and professional teams to understand what a site could become and how its value is best realised: through a sale, an acquisition, an assembly or by creating more value through planning.
The business has grown through the transactions and relationships that have followed. In 2026, REL has agreed more than £21.5m of residential land transactions across sites with over 130 homes proposed, including complex multi-owner assemblies.
What has not changed is how we work: direct relationships, commercial thinking and a willingness to get closely involved in making an opportunity happen.
One business, two complementary backgrounds.
REL combines housebuilder-side development experience with the entrepreneurial approach on which the business was built.
James brings experience in land, planning and development: assessing site potential, viability, planning strategy and the commercial considerations that determine what a developer can pay.
Rowan brings origination and transaction experience: identifying opportunities, working directly with landowners and developers, negotiating commercial terms and finding ways to make complex opportunities work.
Both directors remain closely involved throughout. Together, they bring an understanding of what can be created from a site, what the market will pay for it and how to turn that opportunity into an executable deal.
Rowan Bollands
Rowan founded Rowan Edward Land after building his own property interests alongside a career in sales and relationship management, including at London Stock Exchange Group. His interest in property started with his first investment at a young age and developed into a focus on residential land: finding opportunities, understanding where value can be created and putting together the transactions that realise it.
He has built REL through direct relationships with landowners and developers, originating opportunities that are often not openly marketed and working through the commercial issues needed to make them transact. Today he leads the firm's origination, landowner relationships and negotiations across disposals, acquisitions, assemblies and planning-led opportunities.
Rowan is a good listener. He believes good land transactions start with understanding what the people involved actually want to achieve, and he is known for a direct, straightforward approach. He stays closely involved from the first conversation through to the agreed outcome.
rowan.bollands@rowanedwardland.com · 07803 788328
James Merchant
James brings extensive housebuilder-side experience in land, planning and development. He spent six years at Crest Nicholson before working with SME housebuilders, with experience ranging from complex infill opportunities to major residential developments of more than 1,000 homes.
His background spans land acquisition, development appraisal, planning strategy and affordable housing, giving him a detailed understanding of how developers assess sites, where planning and viability affect value, and what is required to turn land into a deliverable development opportunity.
At REL, James leads site appraisal and planning strategy across the firm's transactions and planning-led projects. He works closely with landowners, developers and professional teams to assess what can realistically be achieved from a site and the commercial route to getting there.
Away from work, James is a keen golfer and padel player.
james.merchant@rowanedwardland.com · 07950 040777
London, Surrey and the South East
We work across London, Surrey and the South East, with particular depth in South West London and Surrey. We cover all of London and, in Surrey, Elmbridge, Epsom & Ewell, Guildford, Mole Valley, Reigate & Banstead, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Tandridge, Waverley and Woking.
Highlighted: London and the Surrey boroughs where we work. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right.
Director-led
Every transaction is led by Rowan or James, from the first conversation to completion.
Straight answers early
If we do not think a site will transact, or that we are the right firm for it, we say so at the first meeting.
Discretion as standard
Most of our work is handled privately and in confidence, at a pace that suits the people involved.
Five ways we work with land.
Selling land, selling a site with planning, acquiring land, bringing neighbouring ownerships together or creating value through planning: each starts in the same place, with a clear view of what a site could become and what that is worth.
A selection of our recent work.
Land transactions depend on discretion, so these examples are shown at a high level: the borough, the type of opportunity and our role. Many of the landowners and developers we work with prefer it that way.
Current opportunities.
Many of our opportunities are handled privately and are not publicly advertised.
From a single house to 200 homes in prime London.
We are currently working on opportunities across London, Surrey and the South East, from single-plot sites to large residential schemes. Given the discretion we owe the owners we work with, details are shared directly and in confidence. Please get in touch to start a conversation and hear about opportunities that fit.
Ask about current opportunities
Register your requirements
Tell us what you are buying and we will send you opportunities that fit, and nothing that does not.
Interested in finding out what your land could be worth?
Call a director, email us, or send us the details of your site below. The first conversation is with a director, and there is no obligation.
07803 788328
rowan.bollands@rowanedwardland.com
07950 040777
james.merchant@rowanedwardland.com
129 High Street, Teddington, TW11 8HJ
020 3916 6195 · info@rowanedwardland.com
Send us the details of a site
Representation, fees and regulation.
Our role on every site
Depending on the site, REL may act as adviser or agent to an owner, as acquisition adviser to a developer or investor, or as a promoter or partner in its own right. Where we act for an owner, we represent that owner. Where we are acting for a buyer, or as a promoter or partner, we say so from the start. Our role is confirmed in writing before any approach is made.
How we are paid
On an instruction from an owner, our fee may be paid by the owner, by the purchaser, or shared between them. On an acquisition instruction, our fee is paid by the developer or investor who retains us. Whatever the arrangement, it is agreed in writing at the outset and disclosed to both parties.
Regulation
Rowan Edward Land is a member of the Property Redress Scheme (membership no. PRS045824) and is supervised by HMRC for anti-money laundering purposes. Our terms of business and complaints procedure are available on request, and our privacy notice is published on this site.
How we use your personal data.
This notice explains what personal data Rowan Edward Land collects, why, and the choices you have.
Who we are
Rowan Edward Land Ltd ("REL", "we", "us") is the controller of the personal data described in this notice. We are registered in England and Wales, company number 15710197, registered office 2nd Floor Unicorn House, Station Close, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, EN6 1TL. Our office is at 129 High Street, Teddington, TW11 8HJ. We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office.
Questions about this notice or your personal data can be sent to info@rowanedwardland.com or to our Teddington office.
The information we collect
- Contact details: name, address, email address and telephone number.
- Property information: details of land or property you own, are selling or wish to acquire, including title and planning information.
- Transaction information: correspondence, offers, terms and other records of the transactions we advise on.
- Identity and due diligence information: proof of identity, address and, where required, source of funds, which we must collect under the Money Laundering Regulations.
- Website information: what you send us through forms on this site, and technical data collected through cookies (see below).
Where it comes from
Most of the information we hold is given to us by you, for example when you contact us, complete a form or instruct us.
We also obtain information from public sources. In particular, we use HM Land Registry title information, planning records and Companies House to identify land with development potential and the people who own it, so that we can write to them. If you have received a letter from us, this is how we found your details. We may also receive information from your advisers, from other parties to a transaction, or from people who introduce an opportunity to us.
How we use it, and our lawful basis
- To respond to enquiries and provide our services: to take steps at your request before entering into a contract, and to perform that contract.
- To contact landowners about the development potential of their land and to introduce opportunities to developers and investors: our legitimate interests in running and growing our business. We keep these approaches proportionate, and you can ask us to stop at any time.
- To carry out identity and anti-money laundering checks and keep the records the law requires: to comply with our legal obligations.
- To send updates you have asked for, such as new opportunities: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
- To manage our business, keep records, and establish or defend legal claims: our legitimate interests and our legal obligations.
Who we share it with
We do not sell personal data. We share it only where needed:
- with prospective buyers, developers, investors or landowners in connection with a transaction, only as far as that transaction requires and in line with what you have agreed with us;
- with professional advisers, such as solicitors, planning consultants and surveyors, working on a transaction;
- with service providers who support our business, such as our website host, email and IT providers, and identity verification services, under contracts that require them to protect it;
- with HMRC, law enforcement or other authorities where the law requires us to.
International transfers
Some of our service providers may process data outside the UK. Where they do, we make sure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as UK adequacy regulations or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum.
How long we keep it
We keep personal data only as long as we need it for the purposes above. Records required under the Money Laundering Regulations are kept for five years after a transaction or business relationship ends. Transaction records are generally kept for up to seven years, to deal with any claims. If you ask us not to contact you again, we keep a short record of that request so that we respect it.
Your rights
You have the right to ask for a copy of your personal data, and to ask us to correct it, delete it or restrict how we use it. You can object to our processing based on legitimate interests, and you can always object to direct marketing. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. To use any of these rights, contact us using the details above. We will respond within one month.
Cookies
This website uses cookies that are needed for it to work. We only use analytics or other non-essential cookies with your consent, which you can give or refuse through the cookie banner and change at any time.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, please contact us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
Changes to this notice
We may update this notice from time to time. The latest version will always be on this page. Last updated: October 2026.