You can apply for planning permission without owning the land, but need to let the owner know you are doing so. Presumably you would not want to buy the land unless you knew you would be able to build so this approach could be beneficial. However, if you get planning permission the owner's price to sell the land would almost certainly go up.
As an alternative you could talk to the council planners and get some idea whether you would be likely to get planning permission, but they would not be able to give you any kind of guarantee.