What's the difference between green belt, arable land & pasture land ?

David

These are all categories of land that would be outside of existing development boundaries (all cities, towns and villages have these boundaries inside of which land is classed as developable, outside of which it isn't.)

New buildings are not permitted on any of the types of land you talk about. Your only hope is to try and get a piece of land like this included within the next Local Plan (councils usually redraw these boundaries every 5 or 10 years). You could also apply to build a new house on Green Belt land using an exemption within planning policy known as PPS7, which deals with housing in rural areas. It does allow some scope for councils to approve houses on rural sites but they have to be of exceptional - and I mean outstanding - design merit. Read it at http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/pps7.

http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/robert-adam-suffers-major-classical-p...

It's worth pointing out that no more than a handful of homes have been built this way over the past decade.

The other route open to you is the farmhouse route. You could apply for a (genuine) farm business on rural land and having established the business, make the case for a need for a house (which will have an agricultural tie on it).

My honest advice? Replacement is your best bet.