Which Office, Not Which Rule
Section 36-49.1:1 is state law. The definition of blight, the thirty-day window, the owner's written plan and the two routes that follow are identical everywhere in Virginia.
What differs is the administration, and Virginia's structure makes that less obvious than it sounds. Richmond is an independent city belonging to no county. Henrico and Chesterfield are counties in their own right rather than suburbs. Towns sit inside counties. The rules are on our page covering the thirty day plan.
And What a Credible Plan Says
This is where the real variation sits. A plan proposing to restore a two-hundred-year-old house in a preservation district is a different document from one proposing to rebuild a slab-built house whose trusses are gone.
Both can be acceptable. Neither is credible in the wrong place, and the statutory test is that the plan addresses the blight within a reasonable time.
What Actually Differs
| Area | Typical stock | What a plan should say |
|---|---|---|
| Church Hill and the East End | Oldest in the city | Restore, with an engineer behind it |
| Northside | Older, family-held | Fix the address first |
| Southside and Manchester | Older, sites in demand | Engage, because acquisition is live |
| The Fan and near West End | Attached row houses | Address the shared wall |
| Henrico and Chesterfield | Largely post-war | Be honest about the framing |
| The wider region | Varies widely | Find the right locality first |
Areas We Cover
- RichmondThe thirty day plan and what the property is worth
- Church Hill and the East EndThe oldest housing and the preservation interest
- NorthsideFamily-held property and the address on file
- Southside and ManchesterWhere the acquisition route is real
- The Fan and the Near West EndRow houses and shared walls
- Henrico and ChesterfieldCounties in their own right, on newer stock
- The Wider RegionPetersburg, Hopewell, Colonial Heights and Ashland
If Your Area Is Not Listed
We buy across Richmond, the surrounding counties and the wider region, including in places without a page here. Because the decisive facts are which locality holds the parcel and whether anything has been sent, the specific address matters far more than the general direction.
Send the address and we will find the right locality.