Self Build Land
Buying Self Build Land
Private individuals can convey property titles on self build land. Money can be borrowed with self build land as a security without a legal charge or other documentation. Those who are not solicitors can deal with easements, rights of way and other matters.
For the individual buying self build land, the savings obtained are simply not cost effective. The time and effort spent in transferring the title of self build land without a solicitor is disproportionate to any saving, and the suspicion with which your title will be regarded when you use the land in some way, as security for the self build land finance for example, can be a nuisance.
Always have a word with your solicitor once you have decided to purchase self build land, but before taking any action to buy the self build land. He will advise you on how to make your offer, and will make sure that you are not irrevocably committed before he has a chance to examine the title to the self build land. This normally involves the signing of papers only if they are qualified by the words "subject to contract". This means that you can back out at any time until you sign the contract. However, if you decide on buying self build land at an auction, as soon as the hammer falls, you have bought the self build land, snags and all, and there is no going back. If you are going to an auction, consult your solicitor beforehand.
If you find a prospective self build building plot of land for sale, but planning consent will need to be applied for before purchasing, you could always take out an option or lock out agreement with the owner. As the name implies you either take an option to buy the plot within a predefined time limit for an agreed sum, or the owner agrees not to sell the self build land to anyone else within a predefined time period, again with the sale price being agreed before hand.
The overriding problem with the purchase of self build land is that it is difficult to know exactly what it is that you are buying. It is therefore critical that you take considerable time in researching the suitability of the self build land for construction purposes. You've been searching for that ideal building plot for over eighteen months now, you've found what you think could be the answer to your dreams, your heart tells you to buy, STOP, a word or two of caution, all could now be dashed because of a potential problem not always apparent to the eye.
Take a step back and consider the implications of flooded self build land in the middle of winter, or the requirement for a 350 meter water main across a main road. There is obviously no way of removing every risk that could manifest itself, you would be naive to believe so, but it is possible to carry out a number of checks that will give you a fair idea as to the suitability of the self build land prior to purchase.
There are many things to consider. Some of them, such as the slope of the self build land, the view, the orientation, drainage arrangements etc, will affect the design of any new home on the self build land. They may or may not have a significant effect on building costs for the self build land.
Start by wondering just why no one has built there before. Really first class individual building plots have been in very short supply for the last thirty or so years, Why is this still on the market as self build land? Why did no one build their own self build home there twenty years ago?
In general, building plots for sale are probably the largest single financial outlay in the construction of your own self build home. Nothing else has the outright potential to influence the overall cost of your self build land project, or in deciding whether or not you even proceed at all.
The value of building plots for sale, suitable for the individual builder, is currently close to 45% of the overall outlay of constructing your new home, in the South East and Home Counties it can invariably reach 50-60% and with the present market this figure is rising.
When building one's own home, the location of the self build land is without doubt one of the most important considerations. Personal preferences will decide whether it is a place in the country, a new house in a small village, an urban setting, or a site near to friends, relatives or work. There may also be other important personal considerations before the decision is made on where you want to live. Self build land gives you the chance to choose a location suitable to you for whatever reasons.
For the people who are seriously looking for building plots for sale, renovation or conversion you can use the services of a land sourcing company (such as Best Plots) who are in regular contact with land agencies, estate agents, land surveyors, auctioneers, land owners and will forward you details of self build plots available in the comfort of your own home.
You could of course choose the time consuming way, which means that you contact all of the estate agents yourselves (there are well over approx 30,000 estate agents throughout the country not including Land agents, Architects and Surveyors), talk to the land agents and surveyors and write to all of the area developers and architects in your targeted counties to look for building plots for sale.
You can also search out and create your very own building plot with a little imagination, why not divide a large garden, or even demolish an existing dilapidated building on a fair sized building plot? Not only could it be more cost effective this way, but further investigation may result in the knowledge that the Local Authority will look sympathetically at your proposals rather than let the building fall into total disrepair, and therefore become a complete eyesore. If you were looking for a building plot for sale within a fairly small catchment area, a good idea would be to purchase Ordnance survey maps of the area. Then determine the houses that have large back gardens that could be utilised as additional building plots, you would then need to approach the local planning authority to see if they would permit building in that area. Next approach the owner or owners of the houses concerned and make them an offer for their gardens. Private people are often happier to sell their large gardens to self-builders rather than developers who wish to pack in as many building plots as possible.
However difficult it may seem to locate your ideal building plot, there are plenty of avenues for you to pursue. It also requires you to search for your self build plot within the realms of possibility.
The value of a particular self build building plot for sale is determined in many ways by the simple equation of supply and demand but more often than not it's the location that governs the price. Historically, land has always been considered as a sound and therefore prudent investment, traditionally keeping ahead of inflationary movements.
It will have become obvious by now that finding ideal building plots for sale can be an exhausting exercise in itself, and this is only the first step. Many people who start out on the self build trail may become disappointed when, after several months of looking for that perfect building plot, driving around every inch of the local area, they still have nothing to show for their considerable dedication.
