Virginia
Buying Land in Henrico County, Virginia
Henrico County wraps three sides of Richmond and is, honestly, a suburban and urban county first -- raw land or working farmland is the exception, not the rule. The one real exception is the county's rural eastern Varina district, where a newly adopted 2045 plan designation now sharply cuts the density the county will approve to preserve what rural character remains.
A suburban Richmond-area county, honestly assessed
Henrico County surrounds Richmond on three sides and is, for the overwhelming majority of its land area, a built-out suburban and urban county -- residential subdivisions, commercial corridors, and established neighborhoods rather than open farmland or raw acreage. A land buyer specifically hunting for rural land, a homestead tract, or undeveloped acreage should go into Henrico with realistic expectations: the county's land market is dominated by developed suburban parcels and infill lots, not the kind of large, inexpensive rural tracts found in Virginia's more agricultural counties farther from Richmond.
That context matters because it changes what due diligence actually looks like here. In most of Henrico, the operative questions for a buyer are suburban ones -- current zoning classification, allowed residential density, proximity to public water and sewer service -- rather than the rural questions (septic feasibility, road frontage on an unpaved right-of-way, agricultural-use eligibility) that dominate research in a genuinely rural Virginia county.
The A-1 Agricultural District, and a real rural pocket in eastern Varina
Henrico's zoning ordinance does include an A-1 Agricultural District, described in the county's own zoning materials as intended to preserve areas for traditional agricultural activities and rural character, with one-family dwellings allowed on lots as small as one acre alongside limited institutional and commercial uses. That district exists in the parts of the county that have not yet suburbanized -- most notably the eastern Varina area along the county's border with Charles City and New Kent counties.
In July 2026, the county adopted a new Prime Agricultural/Rural Conservation (PARC) land-use designation covering more than 23,000 acres concentrated in Varina, meant to guide future rezoning decisions toward lower density (as little as one home per five acres, or as much as one per acre, depending on the specific case) rather than suburban-style development. This followed a genuinely contentious, well-documented fight over data-center development in the district. See our standalone page on Henrico County's PARC zoning story for the full timeline, what the designation actually changes (and doesn't), and its connection to the county's 2025 data-center Special Use Permit rules.
Septic, well, and where to check before buying
Where a Henrico parcel is not served by public water and sewer -- which describes most of the rural A-1 and prospective PARC land in eastern Varina -- septic and well permitting follows Virginia's statewide model: a Virginia Department of Health local health department reviews the site and issues the construction permit, not a county department. Confirm the current health department contact and any site-specific soil constraints directly before counting on a given eastern Henrico lot being buildable, since soil conditions in the low-lying areas near the James and Chickahominy Rivers can limit conventional septic system placement.
For any Henrico parcel -- suburban or the rarer rural one -- the county's Planning Department is the first call to confirm current zoning, and, for anything in or near Varina, to ask directly how the now-adopted PARC designation would affect that specific tract's future rezoning and buildable density.
Who to Call Before Buying Land in Henrico County
Direct WebFetch to henrico.gov and vdh.virginia.gov was blocked by network egress rules this session; department details reflect WebSearch-indexed content. The specific VDH health department/district serving Henrico County was not independently re-confirmed -- verify directly.
Planning & Zoning
Henrico County Planning Department
Zoning district lookups, the A-1 Agricultural District, and the pending Prime Agriculture/Rural Conservation (PARC) proposal for eastern Varina.
Environmental Health
Virginia Department of Health -- health department serving Henrico County
Septic and private well permitting for parcels not served by public water and sewer.
Recorder / Clerk / Land Records
Henrico County Circuit Court Clerk
Recorded deeds, easements, and plats for a specific parcel.
Want to know if this specific parcel actually works?
Tell us what you're looking at and we'll connect you with a local land specialist who can help you sanity-check it before you go further.
Get local guidanceTopics Specific to Henrico County
Sources
- Zoning Districts and Uses — Henrico County, VA (accessed 2026-09)
- Henrico supervisors greenlight 2045 planning blueprint — VPM (accessed 2026-09)
- Varina's fight to preserve its rural character — Henrico Citizen (accessed 2026-09)
Last reviewed 2026-09