Do you know what to look for when assessing a building plot? Here’s our guide to the things you need to consider.
Your initial judgement of the plot should be as follows, and will allow you to dismiss unsuitable sites fairly quickly:
- Is the land suitable for my plans?
- Will my budget cover the cost of the plot and building the home? What about additional legal and survey costs, and a contingency?
Unless you strike lucky straight away, it is likely that you will generate a significant amount of information during your search. Spreadsheets are an ideal way of keeping tabs on where you are at.
A spreadsheet identifying plots on your shortlist is useful from the outset, not only because you can re-assess plots listed but it also enables to compare plot information easily.
You could have similar headings to these:
- Date added
- Plot name / number
- Location / Address
- Price
- Date on market
- Size
- Description
- Planning status
- Agent / Owner
- Comments / Other Info
Working out whether a particular plot is feasible can be easily achieved using Homebuilding and Renovating’s popular and well used build cost calculator at www.homebuilding.co.uk.
You should be thoroughly assessing a building plot and the area surrounding it. This is necessary so that you can remove any with potential problems straight away, and considerably reduce the risk of finding yourself with unexpected expense later. Any such problems could result in unforeseen costs or even prevent you from finishing the build if you are working to a tight budget.
Before you even visit the site, find out as much information as possible about the surrounding area as, depending on your findings, you may not wish to consider the plot even at this early stage. For instance, do you need a nearby school for your children and, if there is one, what is its status? Do you need to look for work in this area and, if so, what are your prospects? There may be quite a few points that you need answers to and a quick search online should give you a wealth of information.
It is also important to consider the location with a view to potential resale. At the time that you are looking for land this is likely to be furthest from your mind, but unforeseen circumstances may mean that you need to sell in the future. Should this be the case, if your plot is convenient for transport links, shops and other amenities it should attain a higher resale value.
