Purchasing land

Craig.M

Good evening

I am interested in purchasing a piece of land in a residential area that has no planning permission currently. I have looked at the title register from Land Registry and am comfortable with the restrictive easements in place. I will be using the land as storage for some shipping containers and a canal boat, it is secluded and will not cause any light blocking for surrounding properties as trees already shield it, and it is set back from the road amongst back gardens so will be no eyesore for anyone. I would consider building upon the land in the future, but would possibly only be granted planning for a single storey dwelling. I can live with this.

My question is on the best way to move forward. I know I don't need a surveyor, but do I need a conveyancing service? I can search for land charges myself and am comfortable with completing paperwork, as long as I know that my doing so is legal and binding. There will be no stamp duty to pay as its well within the threshold. Thanks in advance for any feedback on my options.

Slithery

I asked this exact question last year and it ended up not possible to fully self-convey (is that the correct term?) nowadays. In the end it was only slightly more expensive for a full conveyancing than it was for just the ID and money laundering checks which you will need to have done anyway.

My previous thread...
Self conveyancing an auction land purchase?

Tom99

I think most purchasers would employ a solicitor to do the conveyancing. Assuming its a straight cash purchase of the whole registered title the cost should not be too much.
Have you made enquiries of the Planning Authority on whether the storage you plan to use the land for would require planning consent. It might depending exactly what you plan to do, there is a recent planning appeal where the planning inspector decided that placing a shipping container on land constituted development.

Craig.M

Thank you Slithery, that looks useful. I appreciate the pointer.

Craig.M

Thank you Tom99, I have not done so. Have you got a link to that planning decision so I can look further into it please?

babyblade41

I would also look at how long this land has been up for sale .. If there would be a possibility it could be developed then it won't hang around.

Maybe get some pre-planning advice first .. I would also think that the shipping containers would require planning

Tom99

Craig.M wrote: »

Thank you Tom99, I have not done so. Have you got a link to that planning decision so I can look further into it please?

This is an article about the planning appeal but unfortunately it does not give enough info to look up the appeal decision itself:
https://www.stephens-scown.co.uk/planning/planning-permission-storage-containers/

G_M

Slithery wrote: »

I asked this exact question last year and it ended up not possible to fully self-convey (is that the correct term?) nowadays. In the end it was only slightly more expensive for a full conveyancing than it was for just the ID and money laundering checks which you will need to have done anyway.

My previous thread...
Self conveyancing an auction land purchase?

Since the days when I DIY'd my own conveyancing (last time was around 12 years ago) rules n ID and money laundering checks have tightened.


There's still no legal objection to DIY, just the practical difficulty of the above. I guess a sympathetic/helpful solicitor on the other side might do it, perhaps for a nominal fee, but as pointed out, many solicitors are less than helpful towards DIYers!


The other option is to pay a local conveyancer just for that specific service. Look for a Licenced Conveyancer or Legal Executive as opposed to a solicitor as their hourly rates will be lower.