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Splitting title deed/land

Hi guys :) I searched and seen a few threads on this subject but none of them answered my question directly (or they were a bit too old) so here goes...

I'm thinking about buying a house with my partner and that has a very large rear garden and splitting it so we can build on the land to the rear. I'm just wondering what the best way to do this is??

Currently the property is up for sale as a detached dwelling (one title deed for all the land), with full planning permission to demolish and build two detached dwellings. So I don't believe planning will be a problem for what I intend to do. I think this is a little rash however as the property currently standing on the site is in fine condition and there is more than enough space to build an additional building to the rear. Our plan would be to keep the building to the front in place and build a new one in the rear of the property. The property to the front would be put up for sale before I took out a new mortgage to build.

We would require a mortgage to buy the property initially however it would only require 50% LTV. What are our options for this or what is the best way to go about this??

Should I...
1. ask the vendors to split the land when we're buying it? Is this even possible or likely?? We could then pay cash for the plot of land at the back and buy the house with a mortgage

2. Buy the property then ask the bank about splitting the land up into two title deeds? Again, is this possible...are they likely to agree, is it expensive to do?

Is there another option I have missed??

Thanks in advance

Comments

  • lincroft1710
    lincroft1710 Posts: 18,727 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    3. Buy just a plot of land if you want to build your own home?

    Usually, permission to redevelop entails demolishing a 2/3 bed and replacing with 2 x 4,5 or even 6 bed. Also usually, the property will be priced so that the developer has to build the largest possible in order to make a profit.

    If you do reach the stage of exchanging contracts just buy it as one, then decide how to split it after you've lived there for a while.
    If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales
  • Well yes there is option 3 however...land is harder to come by these days and as you've rightly pointed out the price of it is determined by the largest house(s) that could be built on it so it is also more expensive. Hence this option I'm looking at.

    I know it's possible to do this as other people on the street have and the property already has planning permission. If I were to buy it, build to the rear and then sell on the house to the front it would be much cheaper than purchasing land.

    Buy it and figure it out later is an option, I just wondered if I asked the question before hand I might find out there is a better way of doing so or avoid potential pitfalls. Ie I read on a previous post that a person had issues transferring land from themselves to themselves...this could have been prevented had they thought about this before they purchased.
  • da_rule
    da_rule Posts: 3,618 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts
    Your first option would probably be the easiest, the seller could sell it as two transfers of part. However, depending on how dependent on the mortgage you are then there might be complications in that you may devalue the parcel of land which contains the current house.

    The other option is that you purchase it as a whole title, build the additional property then sell it and split the deed on sale. You would also need your lender to release that part of the land.
  • I'd urge you to speak with your solicitor. I was in a similar position (albeit our existing house and garden).


    I enquired about splitting the title deeds prior to putting the land on the market, my solicitor expressly advised against it due to tax reasons (if you sell part of your main residence it is exempt from CGT I think was the reason)


    I was selling the land though, if you are developing it may be different, however you may get the plot value CGT free if you split the deeds after purchase.


    Bank split our deeds no issues, but we had a very low ltv.
  • Thanks da_rule, I'm confident that the current house on the land will easily sell and clear off the remainder of the mortgage leaving me with the plot to the rear.

    Notfarfromtheborder...it sounds to me like having a sale of land that is exempt from CGT is a good enough reason to sell it to be honest. I can't see me making any profit on this venture to be honest... certainly nothing that would trigger any CGT. It may however be a good inventive for the vendor to split the land for me...I was looking for one of those so thanks.
  • Good Afternoon,
    New to MSE and first time in posting.
    I have two properties.
    They are next to each other and I am looking to sell.The bottom of these properties are shops and the tops are flats.

    I need to split the title deeds so I can sell the shops and flats seperately.
    The flats nad shops have seperate postal addresses.
    With a solicitor involved is this quite an easy process?
    Do you know time scales involved?
    Any idea of costs?
    Apologies for the questions
    Thanks
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    JulieGadd wrote: »
    Good Afternoon,
    New to MSE and first time in posting.
    I have two properties.
    They are next to each other and I am looking to sell.The bottom of these properties are shops and the tops are flats.

    I need to split the title deeds so I can sell the shops and flats seperately.
    The flats nad shops have seperate postal addresses.
    With a solicitor involved is this quite an easy process?
    Do you know time scales involved?
    Any idea of costs?
    Apologies for the questions
    Thanks
    Best to start a new thread of your own, not use an old one.
  • Tom99
    Tom99 Posts: 5,371 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary
    keeperlit wrote: »
    Hi guys :) I searched and seen a few threads on this subject but none of them answered my question directly (or they were a bit too old) so here goes...
    I'm thinking about buying a house with my partner and that has a very large rear garden and splitting it so we can build on the land to the rear. I'm just wondering what the best way to do this is??
    Currently the property is up for sale as a detached dwelling (one title deed for all the land), with full planning permission to demolish and build two detached dwellings. So I don't believe planning will be a problem for what I intend to do. I think this is a little rash however as the property currently standing on the site is in fine condition and there is more than enough space to build an additional building to the rear. Our plan would be to keep the building to the front in place and build a new one in the rear of the property. The property to the front would be put up for sale before I took out a new mortgage to build.
    We would require a mortgage to buy the property initially however it would only require 50% LTV. What are our options for this or what is the best way to go about this??
    Should I...
    1. ask the vendors to split the land when we're buying it? Is this even possible or likely?? We could then pay cash for the plot of land at the back and buy the house with a mortgage
    2. Buy the property then ask the bank about splitting the land up into two title deeds? Again, is this possible...are they likely to agree, is it expensive to do?
    Is there another option I have missed??
    Thanks in advance
    [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Planing permission for a different arrangement of two houses is not 100% guaranteed and you may well have to adjust your view as to how exactly the land is divided due to access, plot size, parking or some other issue that crops up so I would just buy the whole, get permission and then divide the plots.[/FONT]
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