Demand for building land in the UK appears to be on the increase after the latest index from Savills revealed a rise in values throughout 2012.
According to the property firm's figures, Greenfield land sites and urban land sites saw their values jump by 3.6 per cent and 1.7 per cent respectively last year, with London proving the most buoyant market. Areas in the centre of the city enjoyed a particularly strong 12 month period.
The report claims that the increasing land values are indicative of the shortage of supply in the sector, with suitable and permissioned land in high demand despite the restricted availability of such stock.
What's more, with developers having completed their projects on land they bought before the economic downturn, their return to the market is serving to increase competition as they look for fresh opportunities to invest.
This problem is apparently most notable in the west Midlands and south Wales, where market conditions have led to increased land values while a shortage of suitable holdings has also played a role in the trend.
However, it was areas in the south-east that dominated the top ten performing locations for land price growth last year, with the centre of London also enjoying a strong 2012.
With much emphasis on the need to provide affordable housing throughout the country, residential development projects are considered to be particularly important, but their emergence will depend on the availability of suitable land.
And if commercial properties in the centre of the capital also witness an increase in demand in the coming months then it appears that the land market could become more active as a result of various factors.
Yet the rising values could be considered to be indicative of greater confidence in the sector as developers look for investment opportunities, although much will depend on the ease with which they are able to acquire permissioned land throughout the UK in what appears to be an increasingly competitive market place.