So, you’ve decided to take the plunge and have decided to buy a building plot but don’t know where to start? Well, you’ve come to the right place!
Basically there are 6 stages to finding a plot that I live by and these are:
- Know your budget and sticking to it.
- Looking on property websites.
- Checking planning permissions.
- Researching house prices near by.
- Viewing plot.
- Checking rough costs of build with suppliers.
The first step when looking to purchase a plot is to know your budget and ensuring you stick to it. This depends on both how much you want to spend on a plot, but also how much you actually have to spend on a plot. It seems obvious, but you must remember that as well as purchasing the plot you need to ensure you have finances in place to continue to build the property. You don’t want to be in the situation where you own a very expensive garden!
You may have come across your chosen plot by chance, but if not, the best way to find the right plot is through property websites such as:
When a plot catches your eye, it is important to check whether it has planning permission. This could be in the form of outline (literally meaning the ability to build a type of property) or detailed (where the the type of property is pre-determined – even down to the materials to be used in the build). All plots with planning permission will have the planning number listed on the property website. This is usually in the format of PA18/1234. The first 4 characters are PA which stands for Planning Application and then 18 which is the year that it was submitted. The next 4 characters are just consecutive planning applications.
In order to check planning applications you need to check the relevant Council’s planning section on their website. Search for the ‘Online Planning Register’ and then input the planning number. The details of the planning application will then appear. It is important to read the planning decision notice and all related documentation to see whether there are any issues / constraints.
If you are satisfied with the planning conditions, you should then research house prices in the area of the building plot. You do this by searching on property websites such as www.rightmove.com or www.zoopla.com. This is to enable you to identify how much your property could be worth once built. From here you will be able to work backwards to identify build costs. If purchasing the plot to eventually sell, it is important you work out how much profit you want to make so you can establish the ideal material costs.
You should also try to visit the plot to check the size and the area. This will give you a feel as to how well it will sell. As well, you will be able to identify where the services will run e.g. water, gas and electric. One of the questions that you need to be answering is will the services run across a main road or across a neighbouring bit of land? (Blog on ransom strips and licenses to close the road). If you are unsure of answers such as services, you could arrange to meet a Groundworker at the plot who will be aware of what to look for.
Check with your chosen Groundworks company to see whether there could be any issues such as retaining walls, mineshafts or whether they will have to dig down deeper than expected which will add to the costs.If needed send plans to different suppliers such as Groundworks company, Timber Frame company and Roofing company for them to estimate costs and provide quotes.
Once happy with the above, we move into arguably one of the most important stages – making the offer!
Disclaimer: The information in this website is for general guidance and is not legal advice. Specialist legal advice should be taken in relation to specific circumstances.
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