Building Your Own Home - Plot
Finding a Plot
At one time buying a plot of land to build a house was relatively cheap, but as house prices have risen, along with the popularity of self-build, so has the price of building land. Britain is a tiny country, and as such land is at a premium. Do a quick Google search and you will find building land for sale in places such as Florida for as little as $25000 (around £12,500) per acre. The same size piece of land in the UK could cost 20 or 30 times that. But don't panic, not many single dwellings require an acre of land (unless you want a HUGE house or a massive garden).
Plot Size?
The first thing you need to do is decide how much land you actually require. 1/8th of an acre (roughly 15m x 33m) will happily accommodate an average sized 4-bedroom house, including a decent sized garden. Even 1/10th of an acre will fit an average sized house on it easily, assuming it is not an irregular shape. Once you know how much land you need you can start the often-arduous task of finding a plot.
Finding Your Plot
There are numerous ways to find a plot of building land for your proposed self-build project.
Local Estate Agents
Visit you local estate agents and see what plots they have on their books. This is also a good way to find out how much the average building plot costs in your area. However, not all estate agents deal with land and even if they do you may find that land advertised with agents is fairly expensive (the sellers are obviously aware of the potential of the land if they have instructed agents to sell it).
Developers
Contact developers in your chosen areas. Developers often hold a "landbank", a portfolio of land they have bought over the years with a view of building on it at some point in the future. Land may remain in this landbank for several reasons (e.g. it would be difficult for them to maximise profit on it). Developers may also be willing to sell off irregular shaped plots on existing developments. This will obviously dictate the layout for your house, but is still worth investigating.
Auctions
Land is often sold at auction for various reasons. Ask local agents to be informed of upcoming auctions in your area. Auctions can be a great way to save some money on land if you have a mortgage already in place (or have the cash available through other means).
Local Papers/Gazettes
Carefully check the local papers and gazettes. This is a good source of information about land that may be auctioned and also proposed developments. You can also sometimes find land for sale in the classifieds section.
Local Councils
Most councils, like developers, also have a landbank. Periodically they will sell off parcels of land, either to developers or individuals. Get in contact and see what they have available. You can find a directory of local councils here
Utility Providers
Utility providers (water, gas, electricity companies) will sometimes have land available for sale due to relocation of electricity sub-stations, etc. There may be additional costs involved such as removing the defunct equipment, so you need to tread carefully. However, this can mean that big developers are less interested in the site.
Specialist Plot Finding Services
There are several companies who specialise in finding building plots all over the country. Here is a small selection, but many more can be found with a quick search online.
http://www.building-plot.org.uk/
http://www.ebuild.co.uk/building-plots.htm
Going Out and Looking
Finally there is good, old-fashioned leg work. Get out and have a look around your local area. Look for derelict buildings you might be able to buy cheaply and then demolish to build your own home, and even properties with large gardens that may be willing to sell off a corner of their land for you to build on.
If you find a piece of land which you think may be suitable, but cannot find who owns it, you can contact The Information Centre on 0171 917 8888 for information about every piece of land in the country.
A Note on Planning Permission
When you are looking for your prized plot of land you will often see it advertised as OPP or DPP:
DPP (Detailed Planning Permission) - If land has Detailed (or Full) Planning Permission it is at the stage where building could commence immediately.
OPP (Outline Planning Permission) - This means plans have been submitted and initial planning permission granted. However, you will need to submit detailed plans before full consent is granted.
