Land Buyer

Also known as - Land negotiator.

A land buyer is responsible for helping businesses and individuals to purchase land that is suitable for construction. As a land buyer, you’ll identify suitable sites for building projects, determine whether planning permission is required and establish whether there will be any constraints on what can be built.

Office
Surveying-Planning
Higher qualifications
Working alone

What does a land buyer do?

As a land buyer, you’ll be responsible for identifying and deciding which land is appropriate for your clients’ construction projects. You may be involved in projects involving new build residential sites, office buildings, hospitals, or retail parks.

The job role of a land buyer involves the following duties:

Identifying and visiting sites for potential development
Appraising a site to establish land value and writing reports on your findings
Negotiating deals with both landowners and agents, and presenting ideas at consultation events
Understanding planning legislation and working closely with planning teams to assess suitability for development and the likelihood of achieving permission for a variety of developments
Realising the development potential of a plot of land
Carrying out assessments
Liaising with vendors and external companies to arrange site surveys
Providing survey companies with all relevant site information
Monitoring competition
Carrying out saturation surveys and other site identification tasks
Undertaking research and collating information for reports as directed
Managing budgets.

How to become a land buyer

There are several routes to becoming a land buyer. You could do a university degree, an apprenticeship, or apply to an employer directly.

You should explore these routes to find out which is the right one for you. Although some of these options have certain qualification requirements, many employers are more interested in people who are enthusiastic, willing to learn and can follow instructions.

You may need a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card to work on a construction site.

University

In some cases, you will be required to hold a degree in a relevant subject to become a land buyer.

Alternatively, if you have a degree in a non-specific subject, such as economics, law or maths, you could take an accredited postgraduate qualification in surveying.

College/training provider

Your local college or training provider may offer courses in IT, business or legal administration, which would help to start you on your career path to becoming a land buyer.

Apprenticeship

You could complete an apprenticeship to become a land buyer. You could train in IT or administration with a construction company or enrol on a civil engineering apprenticeship to gain skills that would enable you to become a trainee land buyer after your studies.

Apprenticeships are open to anyone over the age of 16. As an apprentice, you’ll be fully employed by your company and expected to work a minimum of 30 hours a week. Your time will be split between on-the-job experience and a college or training provider.

Guide to apprenticeships

Work

If you have experience within the property sector, such as an estate agent, or sales and lettings negotiator, you could apply directly to a construction company to gain on-site experience as a land buyer. You might start out as an assistant to a more experienced land buyer and progress as your abilities improve.

Work experience

Work experience is essential to gaining employment within the construction industry. You could gain this at school, or by working weekends and holidays with a company or relative who works as a land buyer. Potential employers will always be pleased to see work experience listed on your CV.

Find out more about work experience

Skills

Additional skills which may benefit anyone considering a job as a land buyer include:

Be thorough and pay attention to detail
Mathematically-minded
Analytical thinking skills
Able to use your initiative
Knowledge of the English language
Excellent verbal communication skills
Knowledge of building and construction
Able to use a computer and the main software packages competently.

Qualifications

England

To become a Land Buyer, you could complete a:

Level 4 Land Referencer apprenticeship
In some cases, you will be required to hold a degree in a relevant subject to become a land buyer. Subjects include:
- Geography
- Surveying
- Property development and valuation
- Building surveying
- Quantity surveying
- Civil engineering.

Scotland

To become a Land Buyer, you could complete a:

In some cases, you will be required to hold a degree in a relevant subject to become a land buyer. Subjects include:
- Geography
- Surveying
- Property development and valuation
- Building surveying
- Quantity surveying
- Civil engineering.

Wales

To become a Land Buyer, you could complete a:

In some cases, you will be required to hold a degree in a relevant subject to become a land buyer. Subjects include:
- Geography
- Surveying
- Property development and valuation
- Building surveying
- Quantity surveying
- Civil engineering.

How much could you earn as a land buyer?

The expected salary for a land buyer varies as you become more experienced.

• Newly trained land buyers can start at £23,000

• Trained with experience land buyers can earn up to £52,000*

Salaries depend on location, employer, level of responsibility, any overtime you may do, and whether you have completed an industry recognised training route.

* Salaries have been collected from multiple industry sources

Career path and progression

As a land buyer, you could move into a related field such as a surveyor or building surveyor. You could also progress within your role and become a team leader or land negotiator.