PART NINE: BUYING LAND WITHOUT PLANNING PERMISSION: THE PLOT-BUYING PROCESS EXPLAINED

After spending months trawling the internet, poring over plotfinder.net and peering over hedges to find a plot, you’d be forgiven for expecting the process of buying it to be relatively easy — but you would, of course, be wrong; the journey to prove you’ve found the perfect site for your dream home is only just beginning!

Buying land isn’t the same as buying a house, where you can easily value what you’re getting and instruct solicitors to get the deal done. When it comes to buying building land, the risks are greater and you must be certain planning permission will be granted for what you want to build. Aside from this small matter, there are also construction costs to consider, not to mention the need to make sure you’re not paying too much for the plot.

The chances of something going wrong when buying a building plot can be quite high, and therefore the land-buying process must deal with the associated risks before they become painful realities. This article sets out 10 key stages to follow when buying a building plot. Adhering to them should make sure you don’t