Buying land - status?

MrMorgan

Hi All,
Apologies i have searched but i cant find a definite answer, im currently saving for my first house - i have however recently spotted a small plot of land that it might be possible to purchase. May be a silly question but i just wanted confirmation..
if i buy this land does that mean im no longer a "first time buyer" i.e buying land means i cant go and purchase a house with first time buyer status?
thanks,
Morgan

davidmcn

There isn't a universal definition of first time buyer, so it depends what context you're talking about. If you mean for SDLT purposes, then it's only the ownership of dwellings which matters, so you can buy other types of land without affecting your FTB rights (or making a later purchase a "second" home). This also assumes you're not building a house on the land, as that might change things. 

macman

It's based on FTB of domestic property, so you can purchase the whole of Colorado if you want (but not the bits with houses on them).
Buy why are you wanting to buy small plots of land if you are saving to buy a house?

snowcat75

macman said:

It's based on FTB of domestic property, so you can purchase the whole of Colorado if you want (but not the bits with houses on them).
Buy why are you wanting to buy small plots of land if you are saving to buy a house?

Never a bad investment land is finite and never really loses any money, Iv known plenty who have done well by buying small plots and then eventually one will come up for building. Its a lottery as it may never be any more than a piece of land, but one that your unlikely to ever lose your stake money unless your foolish enough to pay massively over the odds. 

I owned land before property. 

eddddy

snowcat75 said:

Never a bad investment land is finite and never really loses any money, Iv known plenty who have done well by buying small plots and then eventually one will come up for building. Its a lottery as it may never be any more than a piece of land, but one that your unlikely to ever lose your stake money unless your foolish enough to pay massively over the odds. 

I owned land before property. 

That's rather dangerous advice.

Thousands of people have jointly lost millions of pounds of money by buying small plots of land, with the hope that they can build one day.

Some of the people selling the plots of land have ended up in prison for it, but that doesn't get the buyers their money back.  And for every person that gets prosecuted, I suspect there are many more that get away with it.

Buying land for development isn't really for novices.

Here's a couple of news stories:
https://www.nationaltradingstandards.uk/news/runaway-criminal-sentenced-to-seven-and-a-half-years-for-role-in-land-banking-fraud/
https://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/news/14576597.scammers-jailed-for-3m-land-banking-fraud-that-tricked-hundreds-across-the-country/

snowcat75

eddddy said:

snowcat75 said:

Never a bad investment land is finite and never really loses any money, Iv known plenty who have done well by buying small plots and then eventually one will come up for building. Its a lottery as it may never be any more than a piece of land, but one that your unlikely to ever lose your stake money unless your foolish enough to pay massively over the odds. 

I owned land before property. 

That's rather dangerous advice.

Thousands of people have jointly lost millions of pounds of money by buying small plots of land, with the hope that they can build one day.

Some of the people selling the plots of land have ended up in prison for it, but that doesn't get the buyers their money back.  And for every person that gets prosecuted, I suspect there are many more that get away with it.

Buying land for development isn't really for novices.

Here's a couple of news stories:
https://www.nationaltradingstandards.uk/news/runaway-criminal-sentenced-to-seven-and-a-half-years-for-role-in-land-banking-fraud/
https://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/news/14576597.scammers-jailed-for-3m-land-banking-fraud-that-tricked-hundreds-across-the-country/

Whys is it dangerous advice? You would never buy land in greenbelt and expect PP, or to get PP..... but like anything use your brain do your research and live by the old saying you cant con an honest person, and only pay accordingly. 

If you understand what your buying which in most cases is just a piece of ground you cant go far wrong, expect planning framework to suddenly be changed or sold something that supposedly has outline without checking it then quite frankly your the fool.
Buying land is a long hall, but when you consider that a lump of agricultural land that I bought in 91, is still only a lump of agricultural land but has increased 10 fold, that's still beaten well and truly cash in the bank over that time. 

SDLT_Geek

If you buy a bare bit of land then you have not lost your "first time buyer" status for stamp duty land tax.  Oddly, if you were able to build a house on it, but sold that house before buying a home to live in, the way the rules work, you would still count as a first time buyer for SDLT.  This is highly unusual, but I have seen the rules applied in that situation once.