The legal pack arrived. The auction is in 14 days
The legal pack just landed in your inbox, the auction date is in the calendar, the bridging facility is lined up, and the only question left is the bid cap.
This page is written for SME and small developers bidding on infill plots, backland sites, small brownfield lots, pub or garage conversions, and 1 to 20 unit schemes, where a 10% deposit on the fall of the hammer is a real personal exposure and bridging or auction finance terms run on a tight clock.
Our desktop screen reviews flood, ground, ecology, heritage, access and policy constraints against published Environment Agency, Coal Authority, Historic England and local plan data, in 48 hours, between legal pack publication and the hammer. It is risk screening, not a guarantee.
Order a Site Appraisal · See a sample report
Before any of that — free, right now
Run the free planning check on the lot the moment the catalogue names it: drop a pin, tap the registered parcel, or draw the boundary from the legal pack plan, and email yourself the timestamped PDF so it sits beside the legal pack. It states what the public sources record at that spot — flood zones, Green Belt, heritage, coal, trees, the council’s own track record — and, just as importantly, what they do not publish for that area.
Two things it deliberately does not do: it puts no value on any lot and gives no view on whether to bid — those are judgements, and the free check states facts. And an absence of published data is never an absence of constraint: unregistered rights, unpublished directions, and site conditions do not appear in any national dataset. If a lot is marketed as an investment with promises of future planning permission, read the FCA’s guidance on land banking before anything else.
What the legal pack does and does not cover
| In the legal pack | Not in the legal pack |
|---|---|
| Title plan, registers, special conditions of sale, planning history, Land Registry searches | Current EA Flood Zone read, Coal Authority CMRA trigger, BNG screening, heritage setting review, grey belt test under NPPF paragraphs 154 to 155 (December 2024) |
The legal pack confirms ownership and contract terms. The constraint screen indicates whether the planning route is credible. Each missing item maps directly to bid-cap impact:
- Flood sequential test under NPPF paragraph 174 (December 2024) can rule out higher-density residential and force a lower density scheme, which lowers the GDV the bid can support.
- Coal Authority CMRA in a Development High Risk Area adds a specialist report, possible intrusive investigation, and remediation cost and time before commencement.
- Access and highways can expose ransom strips, unadopted frontages, or visibility splays needing third-party land, all of which carry a price and a delay.
- Ecology survey seasons (bats, nesting birds, GCN) can push the planning programme by 6 to 9 months if the window is missed.
- Heritage setting near a listed building under NPPF paragraph 207 (December 2024) raises objection risk and can force scheme redesign or reduced height.
For the deeper read, see our auction site due diligence guide.
Four packs sized to four decisions
SITE APPRAISAL. For auction bidding, start here. Decision: Is this auction lot worth bidding on? From £295, 48 hours from confirmed boundary. This is the pack to order between legal pack publication and the auction. The other three packs below are for after the hammer falls or for a separate planning route, so resist the urge to overbuy at the bidding stage.
Order a Site Appraisal · See a sample report
| Pack | Decision moment | From |
|---|---|---|
| Feasibility Intelligence | After winning the lot, before committing capital, IC paper, or funder drawdown | £995 |
| Pre-Application Pack | Walking into pre-app with the LPA on a fresh application | £2,250 |
| Consultant Handover Pack | Submitting alongside the architect's drawings | Tailored |
See the auction site due diligence guide for which pack fits which lot.
Hour 0, Hour 24, Hour 48
- Hour 0. Send postcode, title plan or red-line boundary from the legal pack, intended use, and indicative dwelling count.
- Hour 24. Internal QA on flood, coal, ecology, heritage, access and policy flags.
- Hour 48. Receive the constraint screen with traffic-light verdict, overlay maps, and any sequential test trigger under NPPF paragraph 174 (December 2024).
- Day 4 (your decision). Use the report to finalise your bid cap, price in abnormal costs, or walk before exchange and deposit risk.
A £295 to £595 screen against a 10% deposit on a £250,000 to £1,000,000 lot is around 0.2 to 1.6 percent of the deposit at risk.
Send the boundary today, finalise the bid cap on Day 4
If the legal pack is in your hand and the auction date is in the calendar, a 48-hour screen reduces deposit risk before you raise the paddle. Use it to lower your maximum bid, price in abnormal costs, or walk before exchange.
- Inputs: postcode, red-line boundary, intended use, dwelling count.
- Turnaround: 48 hours from confirmed boundary.
- Deliverable: traffic-light constraint screen, overlay maps, NPPF policy flags including paragraphs 154 to 155 and 165 (December 2024). See what is included in our 48-hour desktop pack.
From £295 to inform whether to bid. From £995 once the lot is won. From £2,250 to walk into pre-app. Tailored to submit alongside the architect drawings.
What this desktop report does not replace. The screen is a desktop constraint review designed to inform a bid decision. It does not replace a Phase 2 ground investigation, hydraulic flood modelling, seasonal ecology survey, transport assessment, drainage strategy, heritage statement, or RICS valuation. Where the screen flags a trigger, the report names the specialist study, the indicative cost range and the typical timeline. The screen does not provide a legal opinion. Title, easements, covenants, overage and special conditions of sale remain with the conveyancing solicitor.
See our development land due diligence main page for the wider buyer-moment version of this same workflow.