Development Land

Option

An example of where an Option might be used is as follows:

A buyer (B) wishes to purchase land from a seller (S). B intends to build and sell 20 houses on the land. The land does not currently have the benefit of planning permission and neither S nor B knows whether planning permission will be granted.

S does not wish to fund a planning application.

S does not wish to accept a price which is reflective of bare land as he believes that the land has development potential.

B does not wish to buy the land if he cannot develop it.

In the above scenario the parties may agree that B is entitled to exercise his right to buy the land once planning permission has been obtained. At that point the price will be determined using a calculation agreed in the Option (e.g. a percentage of the market value of the land with planning permission).

Depending on the bargaining strength of the parties, the seller may demand an initial fee to enter into the Option.

A potential buyer may prefer to enter into an Option (as opposed to an Unconditional Sale or Conditional Contract) because it allows them to have the security of knowing that they can call for the land to be sold to them but that there is no compulsion on them to do so.

Conditional Contracts

A Conditional Contract is similar to an Option in many ways. The fundamental difference is that, unlike an Option, if the relevant conditions of the contract are satisfied there is an obligation on the buyer to buy. A seller may prefer to enter into a Conditional Contract (as opposed to an Option) because it provides more comfort due to the obligation on the buyer to purchase.

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