Question about buying land?

steve-o_3

As per title, (not really sure where to post this as its not really money saving related, but could be a potential windfall if pulled off).

Basically, I've found an ideal plot of land for building on between existing residential houses. The plot is big enough for one good size 3 bed bungalow with large gardens. The area has recently seen large development with new flats within 300 yards of this plot of land and my question is this :

1) I have contacted the land registry and they have told me to fill out 2 forms to see who the land belongs to (the numbers of the forms slip my mind just now). Has anyone filled out the forms before as they don't make any sense to me?

2) If I find out who the land belongs to, can I see if its possible to get planning consent to build before I make an offer on the plot (as a plot that can't get consent is worthless).

3) If I can get planning consent before I make an offer, will the plot owner know? As a plot of land without planning consent is obviously worth considerably less than one with consent (and I want the best deal here!)

4) Is all this pipe dreams and a total waste of my time?

5) Should I be going about this a totally different way? Alternative suggestions?

Thanks guys.
Steve.

seven-day-weekend

You can apply for Planning Permission on the plot before you make an offer.

You will have to serve notice of your application on the owner (this is part of the Planning process). If the owner is unknown I think a notice is put in the paper.

Adjoining neighbours (and possinbly others) will be notified and it may also be publicised by a notice at or near the site and/or in the newspaper.

If you get your planning permission, you will not be able to start work without the owner's consent.

Hope this helps.

Debt_Free_Chick

steve-o wrote:

1) I have contacted the land registry and they have told me to fill out 2 forms to see who the land belongs to (the numbers of the forms slip my mind just now). Has anyone filled out the forms before as they don't make any sense to me?

See if it's registered and view the title online for £2. Very quick & easy.

2) If I find out who the land belongs to, can I see if its possible to get planning consent to build before I make an offer on the plot (as a plot that can't get consent is worthless).

3) If I can get planning consent before I make an offer, will the plot owner know? As a plot of land without planning consent is obviously worth considerably less than one with consent (and I want the best deal here!)

Yes you can apply for PP on a plot of land you don't own - but you have to notify the owner of the land. There's a space on the PP application form that asks you to confirm that you've served notice on the owner.

4) Is all this pipe dreams and a total waste of my time?

Possibly - but you won't know until you go through the process. Does the land already have PP? You can check with the local planning authority (usually the district/borough council).

Is the land a separate plot? Or is it currently part of an existing dwelling? I guess the land registry search will tell you this.

5) Should I be going about this a totally different way? Alternative suggestions?

Can't think of one. Presumably you are only interested in buying the land if you can develop it, so you will need to go through the process you've got in mind. You will need to shell out on some (outline) plans for the new dwelling and then about £250 for the planning application.

And of course .... even if PP is possible, you then have negotiations with the owner of the land over the price!

HTH

rjm2k1

You could try taking out an option on the purchase of the land and then apply for planning permission, it's not very common, you would need a solicitor to set it up for you and some people would be worried about it because they don't understand it.

Basically, locate the owner of the land, contact them asking for an option (say you pay them 2k for the option of buying for x amount within 2 years). The amount you agree would probably be between the price without permission and the price with permission. Apply for planning permission, if you get it , you get to buy the land at the agreed price, if you don't you walk away losing your 2k.

Of course, once you contact the owner, they may well start to think about applying themselves and selling at a higher price.

Astaroth

A few former work colleagues have been contacted recently about builders buying their back gardens off them - they live on a street of houses with very long back gardens which back onto another road. With all of them they were offered £X subject to outlying planning permission being granted (which is effectively an agreement in principle rather than the formal permission needed to actually start building).

This type of permission is cheaper than full permission and doesnt require architects drawings so if you cant agree a sale it limits your costs. It doesnt increase the value of the land as much as full permission and so helps you get the land cheaper. If everything does go fine on the sale though it doesnt assure you that you receive full permission and is an additional (but low in the grand scheme of things) cost to the whole process.

Glad

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]!!!!!![/EMAIL].

steve-o_3

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

See if it's registered and view the title online for £2. Very quick & easy.



Yes you can apply for PP on a plot of land you don't own - but you have to notify the owner of the land. There's a space on the PP application form that asks you to confirm that you've served notice on the owner.



Possibly - but you won't know until you go through the process. Does the land already have PP? You can check with the local planning authority (usually the district/borough council).

Is the land a separate plot? Or is it currently part of an existing dwelling? I guess the land registry search will tell you this.



Can't think of one. Presumably you are only interested in buying the land if you can develop it, so you will need to go through the process you've got in mind. You will need to shell out on some (outline) plans for the new dwelling and then about £250 for the planning application.

And of course .... even if PP is possible, you then have negotiations with the owner of the land over the price!

HTH

Thanks so much for this, I've got the land registry done online and I will check to see what permissions it has asap!

Fingers crossed eh!

Cheers.
Steve.:beer:

steve-o_3

The land is owned by local council, is it this council that I need to approach in order to see what planning consent it has?

How should I go about the next stages now I know who the land belongs to?

Basically I need to know if planning is granted (which I doubt as the council still own it), and if not, how to go about getting planning consent and how much the council want for the land?

Should I seek legal advice and get a solicitor to help me? Or can it be done easily on your own?

Cheers.
Steve.

HugoSP

steve-o wrote:

The land is owned by local council, is it this council that I need to approach in order to see what planning consent it has?

How should I go about the next stages now I know who the land belongs to?

Basically I need to know if planning is granted (which I doubt as the council still own it), and if not, how to go about getting planning consent and how much the council want for the land?

Should I seek legal advice and get a solicitor to help me? Or can it be done easily on your own?

Cheers.
Steve.

Steve

You can go to the planning office with the title number and ask them what planning consent it has. They may also have a view as to what planning consent it may be able to get, but this is a purely personal professional view on the part of the officer you speak to.

I would then contact the relevent department in the council who deal with ownership of the land. This will be different to the planning office. You will probably want the estates dept.

They may already have intentions for it, or have decided to apply for permission on it themselves. It wouldn't be the first time that they may seek to maximise a return on capital. After all, they have to look after the public purse.

I suspect that they would be unlikely to hand it over to you for peanuts - they have professionals working in their offices dealing with this sort of thing. In any case, if I was approached out of the blue about a piece of land I owned, I would probably seek professional advice about its potential before I committed myself to any sale.

1066Kopite

Speak to the planning officer first. As stated above, this will give you an informal view but that is normally quite accurate. If you get a positive response from the planners then consider buying.

DO NOT get planning permission and then try and buy. You will only drive the price you pay up - trust me on this.

steve-o_3

Ok thanks, so the next step is to go to the planning office and see what permissions it has and get their "personal" opinion on whether it is likely to get permissions in the future.

Would the next step be then to approach the dept that owns the land and express my interest in purchasing the land and coming to a monetary amount?

How dangerous is it to purchase land without permission? The land "could" end up being worth less than the grass growing on it!!!

I understand buying land "with" planning consent will make the land worth more than without permissions, but how big a gamble can someone take? Is there a way to be more sure the land will get consent before I buy without "actually" getting the permissions?

Thanks for all the advice so far! Its a great little adventure this!!! :T

Steve.