Ah, the dear sweet naivety...

AdrianC

Radio 4's You and Yours consumer prog today had a bit on about... "...a big increase in the number of people who are buying land with hopes of building their dream homes only to discover the development potential of the site is virtually zero."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000xt9s

Interview with a couple who bought an acre of land in the expectation that they could build their "dream home" on it. Except it turns out to be on a flood plain in a green belt.
Strangely, the auctioneer's recommended solicitor didn't mention that. And it turns out they don't have a hope in hell of PP.

Oh, and the plot was only £24k.

Bless.

user1977

The auctions seem to be full of those weird plots and I've no idea why people get taken in by it (other than those who are genuinely aware of how much of a gamble they're taking).

thriftytracey

I listened to that.  Some pasture on the edge of our village has just been purchased (2.5 acres).  I do wonder if it was one of those con merchants.  Or, a developer of course, hoping to get PP on green belt.  I wonder if there is a way to find out?  Village grapevine probably best bet.  

Thing is - the old adage if it looks too good to be true keep clear.

Surely they would have Googled land for sale with planning permission and seen the £000,000 price tags?  I might have missed that bit.

AdrianC

user1977 said:

The auctions seem to be full of those weird plots and I've no idea why people get taken in by it (other than those who are genuinely aware of how much of a gamble they're taking).

If you want to own some woodland...

ka7e

It's OK if you can afford to play the long game. We have numerous sites in and around our town that have been land-banked for decades. Local councils cannot afford to refuse projects by big developers if they threaten an appeal, and also look to increased revenue from Council Tax on new properties.

The Local Plan has details of sites definitely/likely to be allowed for development and some that are definitely not. Many other unlisted sites are up for negotiation.

Section62

AdrianC said:

...And it turns out they don't have a hope in hell of PP.

I don't know... with planning inspectors demanding sites for x trillion new homes in the district need to be identified in the local plan for construction in the next 10 years (regardless of what the elected members say)... it can only be a matter of time before the SSSI swamp down the road becomes prime development land.

Flood plain and Green Belt are just minor inconveniences... sounds like a bargain buy.

theartfullodger

The Tory trend is to reduce planning controls.  

AFF8879

user1977 said:

The auctions seem to be full of those weird plots and I've no idea why people get taken in by it (other than those who are genuinely aware of how much of a gamble they're taking).

Probably too much Homes Under The Hammer. As somewhat of a HUTH connoisseur myself (😳), I don’t actually recall any similar situation when any of the featured buyers purchase land. Plenty of times they don’t get the exact type of dwelling they want, or decide it’s not economical to develop it and end up putting it back in auction… but I don’t remember anyone saying “yes Martin, we should have read the legal pack and done our research, turns out this land is entirely uninhabitable”

martindow

I can't imagine that any developer is ever going to be interested in an area that has been subdivided into a multitude of individually owned miniature plots, even if it becomes feasible to get planning permission there.

FreeBear

martindow said: I can't imagine that any developer is ever going to be interested in an area that has been subdivided into a multitude of individually owned miniature plots, even if it becomes feasible to get planning permission there.

Over the years, there have been several "investment" scams schemes where someone will buy up a chunk of agricultural land on the cheap and then flog off small plots - Often some glossy brochure will suggest that the plots will become valuable when homes start to be built elsewhere on the site. In reality, the land will never be granted planning permission and/or access is next to impossible (or there is a major risk of flooding).

Unfortunately, these land bank investment schemes are still around, and people are still loosing investing money.