How to Find and Buy a Building Plot: A Step-by-step Guide to Acquiring the Right Land, with the Right Permissions, at the Right Price [Paperback]

How to Find and Buy a Building Plot is the first and only comprehensive book specifically about buying land on which to build a house. It gives you all the essential information you need to locate, assess and purchase a plot. With over 65 illustrations, tables and examples, this book is the first and only one to deal with this key subject head on. Although written in unequivocally clear and accessible style, it is of as much benefit to professionals as it is to the tens of thousands of families who begin land-searching each year. Written by planning consultants Roy Speer & Mike Dade this is a fully revised third edition of the book. Contents FOREWORD INTRODUCTION PART 1 DEFINING YOUR REQUIREMENTS CHAPTER 1 THE HOUSE Design ideas Professional advice Detailed requirements House types Layout options Organising construction Construction methods CHAPTER 2 THE PLOT Size of plot Plot characteristics CHAPTER 3 THE LOCATION The countryside Towns and villages Area of search Influences on choice CHAPTER 4 THE BUDGET The draft budget Finance options Build cost Plot price Adjusting the figures CHAPTER 5 THE PRICE Planning permissions Effects on value Price guide DEFINING YOUR REQUIREMENTS - CHECK LIST PART 2 FINDING THE PLOT CHAPTER 6 WHERE TO LOOK Estate agents Auctions Property professionals Local network Local newspapers Magazines Self-build package companies Builders merchants Shows and exhibitions Builders and developers Councils Major landowners Plot finding services CHAPTER 7 HIDDEN OPPORTUNITIES Planning records Local Plans and Local Development Frameworks Ordnance Survey maps Aerial images Identifying potential plots on the ground The plot in your garden Demolition and rebuild Conversions Finding the owner Agricultural dwellings Country houses FINDING THE PLOT - CHECKLIST PART 3 ASSESSING YOUR PLOT CHAPTER 8 FIRST CONSIDERATIONS Fitting the house on the plot The lie of the land Ground conditions Trees and vegetation Obstacles Orientation Boundaries Adjoining uses The property market CHAPTER 9 ACCESS Legal considerations Verges Common land Ransom strips Highway standards CHAPTER 10 SERVICES Foul drainage Surface water drainage Water Other services CHAPTER 11 PLANNING PERMISSION Studying the planning permission Planning officer Professional advice CHAPTER 12 PLANNING RESTRICTIONS Agricultural ties Article 4 Directions Tree Preservation Orders Conservation Areas Other designated areas CHAPTER 13 LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS Planning obligations Covenants Easements, wayleaves and private rights of way Footpaths and bridleways ASSESSING YOUR PLOT - CHECK LIST PART 4 VALUING YOUR PLOT CHAPTER 14 FACTORS DETERMINING VALUE CHAPTER 15 VALUATION METHODS CHAPTER 16 YOUR VALUATION AND OFFER VALUING YOUR PLOT - CHECK LIST PART 5 BUYING YOUR PLOT CHAPTER 17 BUYING LAND Key players Private treaty sales Contracts Purchase and taking possession CHAPTER 18 MAKING AN OFFER AND NEGOTIATION Negotiating Informal tenders Dutch auction Contracts races Changing your offer Gazumping CHAPTER 19 AUCTIONS CHAPTER 20 TENDERS Buying a plot in Scotland Formal tenders BUYING YOUR PLOT - CHECK LIST PART 6 CASE STUDIES John and Barbara Cook Geoff and Sharon Jones Ken and Pat Skinner INDEX

Roy Speer and Michael Dade are consultants, writers and speakers on planning and land matters. Both are Chartered Planning and Development Surveyors with degrees in Estate Management. They run their own specialist planning and development land practice, carrying out a wide range of work throughout the country for their book readers, individuals, builders/developers, landowners, businesses and other organisations. Their consultancy work includes advising on development properties, making and advising on planning applications, appeals and enforcement, giving evidence at hearings and public inquiries, carrying out planning potential reports, and a useful, cost-effective advice-by-post service for readers.