An independent development consultancy working with landowners, investors, and planning consultants to bring the right projects forward, from origination to delivery.
GroundSwell is an independent development consultancy working across land origination, planning navigation, and development management. We work with landowners, investors, energy developers, and planning consultants across the UK, advising, leading, and coordinating from first appraisal through to delivery.
Our background is in renewable energy: 4GW of solar and BESS origination and consenting across the UK. That experience means we understand complex sites, multiple planning regimes, and the technical demands of a live development pipeline. We are also open to exploring other sectors, including residential and mixed use, for landowners and developers looking to diversify a site's potential, and we assemble the right specialist team for each instruction.
"We take on fewer projects in order to give each one the attention it warrants, and to build the right team around it."
Every project starts with the site: the landscape, the context, the community. Not a template.
We say what we mean and deliver what we promise. Landowners and investors come back because we follow through.
Fewer projects, more attention. We choose sites carefully so we can give each one what it warrants.
No corporate playbook. We make the right decision for each site, not the convenient one.
"Good development isn't measured by what you say about it. It's measured by what you build."
We work across land, planning, energy, and development management, advising and leading at every stage, across multiple sectors and planning regimes.
Site appraisal, land acquisition, and development management across energy, residential, and mixed use opportunities. We identify the right sites and lead them through to delivery.
Enquire →We identify sites with genuine development potential, and work with landowners and planning authorities to navigate the process across England and Wales, unlocking value from complex or constrained sites.
Enquire →Our background in energy infrastructure means we can appraise and develop sites where grid connections, EV infrastructure, BESS adjacency, or former commercial uses add complexity others prefer to avoid.
Enquire →We advise landowners, investors, and planning consultants on site appraisal, feasibility, and delivery, and act as collaborative partner on programmes where our expertise and network add genuine value.
Enquire →Reforms to inheritance tax relief on agricultural and business property take effect from April 2026, environmental payments are replacing area based subsidy, and the economics of relying on a single land use are under genuine pressure. In response, landowners are turning to renewable energy, leisure and tourism ventures, and nature based farming that rebuilds biodiversity while still paying its way.
Solar, BESS, and complex energy infrastructure. Our founding discipline, built up over years of origination and consenting, and still where our track record runs deepest.
Enquire →Wellness venues, glamping, sport, and hospitality uses. A new domain for us, built on the same planning discipline, working alongside the licensing, heritage, and tourism specialists each site needs.
Enquire →Habitat banks and biodiversity net gain, secured through section 106 agreements and conservation covenants. We already navigate this on our energy consents, and lead it as a standalone instruction too, working alongside ecologists.
Enquire →"We do not sell an outcome. We appraise the land honestly, and lead whichever route earns its place, through planning and into delivery."
We are not a solar developer who will always recommend solar, or a leisure operator who will always recommend leisure. Our role is independent appraisal and the planning and development discipline to see the right route through to consent, applying the same rigour our team has brought to 4GW of solar and BESS origination and consenting across the UK.
Tax and succession planning sit with your accountant and land agent, and we work alongside them rather than in place of them. If you are a landowner weighing up your options, or a land agent, tax adviser, ecologist, or specialist operator working with landowners facing this decision, we would like to hear from you.
Talk to Us About Your Land →GroundSwell acts as development lead, managing the process and delivering outcomes. For each project we assemble the right specialist team: planning consultants, EIA specialists, architects, engineers, and advisors who know their discipline and their local authority.
We have established working relationships with specialist planning consultancies covering residential, renewable energy, and complex infrastructure consenting, across England and Wales. That network is part of what we bring to a site.
If you are a consultant, architect, or specialist with a site or client that needs an independent development partner, we would like to hear from you.
Planning consultants across England and Wales, covering residential, energy, EIA, and infrastructure consenting. We coordinate the right expertise for each instruction.
Direct experience across solar and BESS sites, navigating TCPA, DNS (Developments of National Significance, Wales), and DCO planning requirements. We lead consenting from origination through to delivery.
EIA coordinators, ecologists, transport planners, and flood risk specialists with experience on complex and sensitive sites across the South West and Wales.
Working with landowners, land agents, and investors to structure deals, from option agreements through to collaborative and forward funding arrangements.
We manage the full development process. At each stage, we make decisions based on what the project needs.
We appraise sites thoroughly before committing. We'd rather walk away than force a project that doesn't work for the place.
We build relationships with planning authorities based on reliability. We present projects we believe in and can defend.
From design through to handover, we stay close to every instruction. What we put our name to reflects who we are, and that matters.
Whether you are a landowner with a site to discuss, an investor or planning consultant looking for a development partner, or a business with land tied up in a former commercial use, we would like to hear from you.
Swansea & Bristol