Buying land?

[paulnb57]

We are now in a position to be able to afford to buy about an acre of land, problem is finding one (!), but I have some questions I'm hoping someone here can advise......not sure this is the right part of the forum, but here goes...

I know we must make sure of land title, rights of way etc, but what we'd like to know is, what am I allowed to do? Straight off, I have to say we are not looking for a building plot, far from it, I'd like somewhere to plant a few trees, occasionally wild camp, have a campfire with the grandkids, just a bit of green and pleasant to call our own.....now if I bought Pasture, could we plant trees, would I need permission from the authorities for change of use?

Or can I just do what the hell I like?

Cheers!

 

[Nomad64]

Have you looked at Greenshifters, a forum dedicated to smallholding issues, including buying and renting plots.

http://www.greenshifters.co.uk

Good luck.

 

[paulnb57]

Thanks for the link!

 

[wicca]

I own an area of woodland and without digging out the Deeds the items which come to mind are..

I can build a structure intended for storage of tools/equipment for use..'in the wood'

I can graze/ keep 'animals'

I can place a caravan in the wood for 28 days per year (impossible it's in the middle of 200+plus acres..)

'Camping' as attributed to the deeds seems to refer to Caravanning! Commercial letting of camping (van or tent)in the wood is definitely not allowed unless I submit a business type proposal with all the attached grief..

When I purchased the wood some unusual aspects presented themselves...I also have mining rights!!
It took a stroke of luck to be given the chance to buy the wood and find what I was looking for, ie: no public footpaths, shooting rights solely owned by me,the right to extract timber if desired etc:

My advice would be to check closely all those seemingly meaningless items in the deeds of anywhere you buy. I've found the local (rural) council office really helpful, it was them who told me I could mine Diamonds if I wanted..

I paid a Solicitor used to dealing with land purchase to oversee the deal, he was ace and well worth the fraction of the woods value I paid him.

If there are public paths/access to land you propose to buy, my advice would be to get at least rudimentary public liability insurance, then you will be covered when some numpty hides from the rainstorm under the bough of 300 year old Beech tree which decides it's fed up with carrying that particular limb....

The wood is deeply rural with no road access and in the 8 years I've owned it I have never had any official contact/ queries, as the lady in the council office said, " Enjoy the wood, if you have any questions just come to us"..

 

[Nomad64]

Although the Field to Farm forum and book is all about working around the planning laws to lawfully convert agricultural land to a farm (i.e. agricultural land plus a dwelling), it does give a useful general analysis of rural planning laws in England & Wales.

http://www.fieldtofarm.com

 

[Dave]

Jeez have you seen that 18th century house in normandy, with outbuildings and barns and 6 acres for £70k or best offer.......just shows how land over here is vastly overpriced imo.

http://www.greenshifters.co.uk/for_sale/966_3_Bed_Normandy_Farmhouse_6_Acres

How much would that be over here? £1Million I reckon in a decentish area.

Im gonna have to learn a different language.

 

[Janne]

When I lived in the village of Mayfield, East Sussex, I wanted to be able to give my young son some bush skills, teach him some snimal watching and to be sble to build a shelter, camp fire and so on. I bought 6 acres of land, of this 2 acres had a firest with a stream in. This is what my legal guy told me:
Shelters of temporary constructiln, fire place - legal. No semi permanent or permanent structures. He recommended that I do not use bricks, morgar, hard roof, or nails, as this can be seen as a semi or fully permanent structure.
About two years later I discovered on an old map that there used to be some kind of small buildings in the forest. I dug in the bushes untill I found the remains, bricks and other bits.
The Council allowed me to build an uninsulated barn, but only if I planned to house farm machinery and some animals there. I then discoveted the need to keep some sheep on the field. To have own meat and to kerp the land clear from bush. I officially wanted to get some rare breeds.
Submitted the plans, got them approved ( after some fighting with a neighbour, a very famous actress ( uber bit$h) ). Built the steel framed barn. Ooops, my interest in sheep suddenly vanished.

I also discovered there used to be some dort of lake/pond in the forest, where the stream was. The stream used to have a dam. Reinstated it and put some fish there, so my son could catch it, then we could cook it.
We sold it when we moved to this small island, with a neat profit!

What I want to say is if youate interested to buy land, go and research the history of it. It can be worth the work.

Good luck and have lots if fun!

!

We are now in a position to be able to afford to buy about an acre of land, problem is finding one (!), but I have some questions I'm hoping someone here can advise......not sure this is the right part of the forum, but here goes...

I know we must make sure of land title, rights of way etc, but what we'd like to know is, what am I allowed to do? Straight off, I have to say we are not looking for a building plot, far from it, I'd like somewhere to plant a few trees, occasionally wild camp, have a campfire with the grandkids, just a bit of green and pleasant to call our own.....now if I bought Pasture, could we plant trees, would I need permission from the authorities for change of use?

Or can I just do what the hell I like?

Cheers!

 

[paulnb57]

Thanks Janne!

 

[Trig]

Jeez have you seen that 18th century house in normandy, with outbuildings and barns and 6 acres for £70k or best offer.......just shows how land over here is vastly overpriced imo.

http://www.greenshifters.co.uk/for_sale/966_3_Bed_Normandy_Farmhouse_6_Acres

How much would that be over here? £1Million I reckon in a decentish area.

Im gonna have to learn a different language.

I just went to see a house a few days ago for £85000 in scotland.1 Bedroom. I wouldnt of been able to fit a bed and computer desk in the bedroom, never mind a drawers etc. And then you see properties like the one you posted. Something well wrong over here....

Great link though, just spent a while drooling over them.

 

[santaman2000]

Jeez have you seen that 18th century house in normandy, with outbuildings and barns and 6 acres for £70k or best offer.......just shows how land over here is vastly overpriced imo.

http://www.greenshifters.co.uk/for_sale/966_3_Bed_Normandy_Farmhouse_6_Acres

How much would that be over here? £1Million I reckon in a decentish area.

Im gonna have to learn a different language.

I just went to see a house a few days ago for £85000 in scotland.1 Bedroom. I wouldnt of been able to fit a bed and computer desk in the bedroom, never mind a drawers etc. And then you see properties like the one you posted. Something well wrong over here....

Great link though, just spent a while drooling over them.

Remember y'all are on an island. That in and of itself puts land at a higher premium. The sellers are only charging what the market will bear. As to whether or not the prices are actually too much (compared to the Continent or anywhere else in the world) depends on what the buyers are willing to pay to live in either place.

 

[boatman]

Remember y'all are on an island. That in and of itself puts land at a higher premium. The sellers are only charging what the market will bear. As to whether or not the prices are actually too much (compared to the Continent or anywhere else in the world) depends on what the buyers are willing to pay to live in either place.

Very reasonable comment. If one can afford it and wants it one buys it. Or one could spend one's days reading about land for sale without doing anything about it.

 

[Robson Valley]

Supply and demand.

 

[Corso]

Remember y'all are on an island. That in and of itself puts land at a higher premium. The sellers are only charging what the market will bear. As to whether or not the prices are actually too much (compared to the Continent or anywhere else in the world) depends on what the buyers are willing to pay to live in either place.

Thing is though, the mere mortals of this land would be happy enough if a couple of zeros were knocked off all property, as we in general only need 1 place to live and can sell and buy when we need to move on, its the land/profit grabbing industry along with the banks that talked up the prices

 

[bigbear]

Corso, well said, you are so right. There are a number of economic arguements which I have seen in favour of the instant devaluation of all property, not ever possible, but gey make perfect sense.

 

[boatman]

Come and devalue my property if you think you're hard enough. Property values rising is something while tiny interest is paid on bank deposits etc. An unsung contribution by the savers and the retired to clearing up the mess made by the banks etc.

 

[santaman2000]

Come and devalue my property if you think you're hard enough. Property values rising is something while tiny interest is paid on bank deposits etc. An unsung contribution by the savers and the retired to clearing up the mess made by the banks etc.

I can't speak for the UK specifically, but Corso has a point that not all rising property value is natural. Sometimes it is indeed artificial. That said, the very investors (banks, speculators, and holders of a second property) that cause the artificial rise are the same ones at worst financial risk when the bubble pops. They're left holding property not worth anything near what they paid for it.

 

[nic a char]

"The Council allowed me to build an uninsulated barn, but only if I planned to house farm machinery and some animals there. I then discoveted the need to keep some sheep on the field. To have own meat and to kerp the land clear from bush. I officially wanted to get some rare breeds.
Submitted the plans, got them approved ( after some fighting with a neighbour, a very famous actress ( uber bit$h) ). Built the steel framed barn. Ooops, my interest in sheep suddenly vanished. "
Well done sah!

 

[nic a char]

"I just went to see a house a few days ago for £85000 in scotland.1 Bedroom. I wouldnt of been able to fit a bed and computer desk in the bedroom, never mind a drawers etc."
I just went to see a house a few days ago for £37,500 in Scotland. 2 double bedrooms, lounge, kitchen, bathroom, boxroom, off-street parking - depends where you look - and this is not deep rural or sink estate...
The UK's worst over-valued properties are of course in London - where the posh boys live and rule

 

[Janne]

What drives the prices up in UK is that it is not possible to build on empty fields ( that are not farmed or othervise used).
Relax those crazy tree hugger rules and people will start building more.

I do not know if you guys know it, but the average new built house in UK is the smallest in all of Europe, including countries like Ukraine, Romania and Russia.

Not enough building land, but plenty of empty land!

 

[Tengu]

Yes, me too Boatman.

You can take property values off of my cold, dead hands...