Gimp

The only other thing some guy was telling me about once was where you lease the land out and company build on the land. They own the build, rent it out, etc you get the ground rent, plus I think a small lump sum up front giving the company permission to build on the land. Possibly it is more for commercial land but maybe it might also be done for residential as well, but of course even if I could find someone interested in such an arrangement I'm not sure if I would want to bother with this type of arrangement or just hold onto the land. Apparently guy I was speaking to reckoned you can do quite well out of it though but might be bother I don't want.

And your advice is good too ProDave so thank you! She seems to be a keeper which is good news for me but yes you never do know. In any case I am thinking of renting abroad before buying so we can get together quickly and that way I can also hold onto this piece of land a bit longer and see how things pan out. With a 5 year period on it, its not going to run out tomorrow its really a case of not committing myself to the build as then I could really drop myself in way over what I can reasonably be committed to at any one time. So Land Hold, Build On Hold.

This is perhaps one of the best suggestions so far, I think you are right bassanclan, it would help knowing if it is worth any more than I paid a year ago with FFP, I will do this.

That's quite refreshing to hear in my situation Trw, hopefully that will be the case but as Jeremy says above it kind of depends on how its viewed in terms of the proposed build I guess.

Thanks Jeremy for the input I appreciate it I think you're right, there is the stress of building the house to consider and it is not a completely conventional house so its likely to not be an east straight forward task, at least not one that can be completed and off my hands quickly. Added to that is the point you make of the uplift in value being usually more form the land than the house. My concern is if the build cost ends up a lot then this could wreck my plans with my girl and this isn't a risk I want to be risking.

So after several months of drawing up plans & submitting them to planning I was recently astounded to learn that I've managed to get Full Planning Permission Approved on my plot first time! As some of you may vaguely recall (I haven't been on here for a few months as busy with it all) I had doubts that I would get it through first time and was probably in for settling down on the long haul of re-submissions, appeals and eventually perhaps getting it through that way. The submission was sent to Committee with Planning Officer recommendation, another pleasant surprise for me since I am used to having a hard slog of it all at most stuff I do in life. My thoughts were that although that seemed a reasonably promising sign the likelihood may be that it gets shot down in Committee. I choose not to attend to not bring any undue attention to my plans and like not being to forward in approaching the neighbours I think this was probably the best policy for me. Anyway, here I am several months later and a very happy boy Except one thing, I'm not sure if I will any longer have the time, dedication and resources on my to actually build the proposed build. Essentially, my personal life has taken a turn for the better it seems and I have met a girl and the likelihood is to suit us both (should all things continue as they are) I will be moving abroad to live with her, since she cannot easily come to the UK, not in the short term at least and I don't wish to be apart from her for a long period of time. This then leaves me with a dilemma of what to do with the plot of land I have in Wales. I bought it quite cheap with OPP and I think it was a good buy as it has many plus points, now I could sell it I assume that perhaps I could get more if it has FPP. The buyer would of course be restricted to the FPP proposed design unless they reapplied for FFP with their own choice of design. I'm assuming that by getting FPP it shows what is possible to build there (the proposal is a reasonable sized build). The money from the sale would come in useful for starting abroad with girl so should make things easier there. Alternatively, I could hold onto the plot, it has a five year time limit on the permission, before having to renew the permission. I think it is likely to be possible to renew without too much trouble seeing as it went through quite decently this time around. I don't see why anything might occur that would make planners think differently next time. During this time, at least 2-3 years I could not see myself developing the site unless my financial fortunes changed as I would not be able to put money into making a life abroad and develop plot in Wales at the same time. While I would be willing to sacrifice the plot as my life with girl comes first it also seems a shame as its a good plot with much potential, particularly now that it has FPP. So I was wondering if anyone on here has any other ideas of what I could do in my situation? If I don't put reasonable amount of labour into the build myself I think money wise I may not make a lot, who knows may even suffer a small loss. I can't do this now its looking as I won't be anywhere near Wales, lol. I may of course never be near Wales or even if I am not in a position to put in the time, effort & money required. So what should I do? Sell, Hold, or is there a third option? Some sort of equity release on the land or way for site to be developed without me having to stump up a large amount of time, money, effort but still keep an interest in the property?

Yeah its a bit of a problem when the planners see the appropriate build one way and the developers another which I gather is often the case. The planners tend to be more conservative in the amount/scale that can be built and the developers often left wanting more. While some restraint needs to be exercised on some developers that are too excessive in making a quick buck and jamming in the builds I tend to get the impression that planners might be a little out of sync with present day economics, if they end up suggesting a too modest build then its just not worthwhile for the developer to make it feasible. I'm guessing you might have would the developer up in your case Jeremy, lol He probably thought you would come back with something near what he wanted then he would build it instead. I've no problem with adjusting a little where reasonable/possible but if its a planner who just wants to restrict you to building what they would like to see then its no good in my view. While the built environment needs to be safeguarded from monstrosities I also get the impression the that planners tend to have a rather meek view of everything being very unnoticeable, architecturally devoid and pedestrian looking.

I think your right Ferdinand, people can get very worked up/funny about development. Fortunately for me there are no trees on site. So I am blessed in this respect

I think your no doubt a lot more people skilled than I am HMP . The planner I spoke to who I believe is handling my case did at least seem down to earth and reasonable enough, not too stuffy and someone you could talk to. However, I'm not the kind of guy that can wangle favours from people with a slick tongue. With the neighbours I really prefer not to talk. I think I'm likely to do more damage to my chances than be at all beneficial. Odds are I would probably end up unintentionally winding them up, drawing attention to the situation and raising concern over my plans where otherwise they may not be bothered. I've spoken to the old chap one side when he happened to notice me on site, he seemed friendly enough but seemed to reserve any opinion other than on site history do I felt it best not to press (think he's a tenant at any rate). The guys the other side looked fairly old as well, didn't look the approachable type though. They didn't look the intellectual type and as such wouldn't bother objecting unless you approached and got into a conversation with them that didn't go well. The impression I got is that they might have a gut reaction to any sort of an approach and immediately be seen as a enemy/raise hostility. I generally see myself as usually quite decent at analysing the social environment around me even if I not that good in it. The impression I got of the area is that it seemed better to take it slow and steady as the folk around there seemed to be a bit guarded at first and being real full on in their face could be very counter-productive. You might well pull it off better but I am likely to make a mess of it, worsening my chances rather than assisting them, lol. My thoughts are that an application from a fairly anonymous individual here for me is likely be better than from someone they have met. If its from an anonymous somebody who they have not met they may be cautious about sticking there two peneth worth in an creating hostility/enemy of a potential future next door neighbour they do not know. If its someone they have met then they know who they are and if did not take to well are likely to follow through in viewing the application the same way. To be honest I really don't see what all this clap trap of jogging around and petitioning neighbours should have to do with building a building anyway, its a complete oddity to my mind like a kind of curious convention that should have a decade or more ago. Even on the planning application its got about whether you've approached your neighbours, who are they, view, etc (what if they viewed it bad its not going to help matters in which case better not to approach at all). I think the only time you should be really called upon to approach neighbours is if there is an obvious aspect that will affect their property/house. Other all this running around seems a lot of silliness that really shouldn't be brought into it. After all I'm trying to build a build on my land, not become personality of the year, if it doesn't affect them then its really none of there business. I guess I'll have to wait and see on this if this is the right approach but I'm thinking the less fuss I make the less fuss they will make.

My site is in Wales also but not in an official area of AONB, it is not in a National Park either. However, it is in an area I'm sure could be described as one of beauty. I think when speaking to planning I recall the planning officer make reference to AOBN or similar area of beauty, not that its a real ugly proposal I've got planned or at least everyone I've shown it too doesn't think so, lol. I would not be surprised though if AOBN or similar gets brought as a reason for refusal in an arbitrary way as PeterW suggests they tend to act. So appeal might be the best way for me to go if there are a lot of issues brought up to avoid a long saga. I don't mind making small amendaments and those that seem logically justified but if its just a brick wall mentality I end up with appeal my be the best route I'm thinking. Did you try to amend to what the Planner suggested in your application or was it just an 'agree to disagree' situation?

Yeah, that is the impression I get from speaking to planning that the planning officer will move to a decision on a basis of points that may have substantial evidence brought forward to the contrary, but will have been either disregarded, not recognized or not even looked at. Like you I get the impression that they are in part if not mostly like this because they don't have the time on their hands to go into all the in's and out's & context of each application. Hence probably why the Design & Access statement got scrapped as they just didn't have the time for it in the end. The impression I got was that they seemed to have the stance of what they say is the official stance on your application, end off. I'm still hopeful but thought it wise to inquire about what I may do further up the road in case my doubts ring true. Many thanks for the insight.

Three years!!! This is all very disturbing to me. Surely it can't be a usual phenomenon. How come they had such issue with your plans joe90, isn't it just a case of winning over the planner whose dealing with your application from the outset?

Thanks for the input guys, I appreciate it I was just wondering if there are any other forms I should submit apart from the standard online application form and and drawn up plans. I never submitted a copy of title deeds, they did not bring this up and I assume they have it all on record online anyway these days. There was also a button for CIL at the bottom of the page but I couldn't quite determine whether or when I should fill this out, it just seemed a bit apart from the rest of the application process. Generally my application is not one that would incur CIL but on part of the notes within CIL it seemed to suggest everyone does one anyway, but was not easy to determine when or really if I should given its odd placement apart on screen from the rest of the application, has anyone else come across this?

Two years! I've heard of it being this long or longer on the TV building shows but never really envisaged how. My Planner asked for a small amendment and it seemed reasonable to do in part so as to help with the process, it only took a few days so not a problem. I would be concerned though if the outlook became that it was something to argue about as it is after all another build among many and at least from my perspective the best that could be made of the site. I was kind of hoping to be getting going on site this summer, lol.

So I've just recently applied for planning submission (first time of doing so), all it tells me on the planning portal is that its 10 days for validation, but very little other than that. Is it just a case of sit it out and wait to hear? I know its eight weeks time limit which gets set back every time there is/when there is an issue. Does anyone know if I get some sort of standardized notification within this period as to what is happening? I've briefly spoken to planning and it does not appear at this stage that any surveys are required, phew but I get the impression they are inundated with work and I'm not likely to hear a great deal from them until near/at the end. Anyone whose been through this process got any inkling of what might pop up if at all anything?