Self Build Guide - Buying a Self Build Plot
Buying a self build plot involves far more than simply paying for it and moving on to the site.
The business of buying and selling land or a building plots for sale has its own vocabulary, and its own set of procedures. Solicitors, Land Agents and Estate Agents make their living by operating this system, and they do not go out of their way to explain what they are doing for their clients. If you are buying a self build plots of land, it is important to realise that you are going to have to accept the system, and learn the vocabulary.
Private individuals can convey property titles. Money can be borrowed with 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 a self build plot the savings obtained are simply not cost effective. The time and effort spent in transferring the title of a plot 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 building Plots for Sale finance for example, can be a nuisance.
Always have a word with your solicitor once you have decided to purchase a building plots for sale, but before taking any action to buy it. 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. 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 a Self Build Plot at an auction, as soon as the hammer falls, you have bought it, 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 building plots 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 plot to anyone else within a predefined time period, again with the sale price being agreed before hand.
Continue Reading: Buying at Auction
September 2004