To start your search for suitable building land, visit our MEMBERS DIRECTORY which lists several plot-finding services.
They are a perfect starting to place get a feel for the availability of plots in your chosen area, likely prices and the estate agents in your chosen area who specialise in building plots. Most estate agents deal in existing homes or new builds from the large housebuilders. Perhaps one in ten will regularly handle building plots. Once you have identified the best agents for your needs be pro-active with them – don’t wait for them to tell you about something new to the market, get on the front foot.
Consider buying a dilapidated property that you can demolish and replace or perhaps a Class Q agricultural barn that can be replaced. Look for local custom build schemes – a multi-plot site that either offers serviced plots for you to build on or you can work with the custom build developer to create the home to your choice of design, features, etc. Approach landowners – especially a large garden or a brownfield site (but bear in mind getting planning permission will be tougher). If a builder is undertaking a small development in your area, consider asking them if they would sell you one of their plots. From their perspective it might be rather attractive to raise some cash early on – and you may even then want to pay them to undertake the building work (to your specification of course).
The Land Bank Partnership; a useful site which specialises in the sale of land with a planning consent or the potential for residential development in the West/South West of England.
Other site finding techniques include:
For a group build, you can also approach a parish council and ask them to suggest a suitable site. If your plans include affordable homes for local people in housing need, they should support your efforts. Or look through the list of public land for sale by the Homes and Communities Agency.
The GLA also has a database of land for sale.
Finally, you could consider finding land via an AUCTION.
The more flexible you are on location and type of project the greater will be your choice. There are always trade-offs – the wider you are prepared to look the better your chances will be. If a plot comes up in the perfect location but will be a tough project because of, say, access issues are you prepared to accept the greater challenges of working on the site? Or would you switch to a barn conversion because no plots are available and the barn was in the perfect location.
The “best” plots will go very quickly so you will need to be ready to respond when opportunities arise. On the other hand you should not dismiss a plot because it hasn’t sold quickly – it all depends on how determined you are. Plot finding often feels like 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
A key question is access – both in terms of physical access for vehicles (during construction and for living) but also services. Services include water, sewage, electricity, gas and phone/internet access. Of course it is increasingly possible to live “off grid” – with your own renewable sources of power and light, or LPG for gas. Sewage is easily dealt with by your own sewage treatment plant. Fresh water supply is harder to solve. Phone/internet increasingly has options other than fixed lines – but usually at higher cost (especially if you are in a remote rural areas.
Also watch out for environmental factors – proximity to water courses (and thus flood risk) and potential for land slips are two. If you are considering a brownfield site then think about contamination risks and the potential need for clean up.
Additionally, there are other online sources that sometimes list self build plots, including PrimeLocation, Rightmove and Zoopla.
Plus, there’s The Land Bank Partnership; a useful site which specialises in the sale of land with a planning consent or the potential for residential development in the West/South West of England.
You can also search an area for an untended garden or neglected building etc and then approach the owners. If you have a defined search area buy yourself a high resolution Ordnance Survey map or use Google Earth/Google maps as this can sometimes help you identify quirky potential infill sites that are not visible from the main roads.
Other site finding techniques include:
For a group build, you can also approach a parish council and ask them to suggest a suitable site. If your plans include affordable homes for local people in housing need, they should support your efforts. Or look through the list of public land for sale by the Homes and Communities Agency.
The GLA also has a database of land for sale.
Finally, you could consider finding land via an AUCTION.
The biggest risk is buying land where there is no planning permission, especially if the price is cheap. If planning permission was straightforward then any seller would seek permission before selling because the plot would attract a higher price. Occasionally a plot without permission might be worth taking on but it does come with big risks. Every now and then what amounts to a scam appears, where agricultural land is sold off in plots with the false allure of “subject to planning permission” – if something looks too good to be true, it probably is!
