Highest and best use

Highest and best use (or highest or best use; HBU) is a concept in real estate appraisal that originated with early economists such as Irving Fisher, who conceptualized the idea of maximum productivity.^[1]

According to the doctrine of "highest and best use," in any case where the market value of real property is sought, that value must be based on that use that would produce the highest value for a property, regardless of its actual current use.