Search the Community

So, I'm trying to buy a building plot from my Uncle that is part of a property he has partly inherited (he's currently trying to buy out the other beneficiaries, but can't afford to on his own). We thought it would be a nice easy transaction, but in fact it has turned out to be filled with complication. Not least because there won't be a plot to buy until he's bought the main bit etc etc. The upshot is, we've had the chance to buy the whole property, which is hugely nicer from the viewpoint that we'd be ultimately in control of all decisions and no uncertainty about lending money etc. We can put the new boundary where we want it. Here's the scenario... It's a 1950's built 'country style' Bungalow standing in about an acre of mostly mature landscaped garden. The house as it currently stands is a little unconventional, it's liveable in, but needs modernising. It does have a felt roof, albeit pitched to about 25° (estimated), but looks to be in really quite good condition. It stands in an off-road location, not visible from the road at all, but it is located around 3 miles from the centre of the city that it's positioned in and in a desirable village. There is a slight concern with access and highways that may complicate the plans to add another dwelling, but we have some measures we can take to understand that better before we jump in. It's literally just outside the conservation area and within the development zone, so pretty favourable and with no TPO's. I have the deeds for it in front of me and certainly need some help understanding the restrictions it mentions, but it doesn't look hugely complicated. Who could I get to clarify these for me? What I'd hope to do is sell my current property and buy this one. There is about a £25-40k difference between what we expect to sell ours for and what we can buy this one for. We're currently at about 30-35% LTV on ours and not tied in to our current mortgage. I anticipate borrowing to a similar level just to buy the property initially, then think about self-build funding a little further down the line. I know we'll face some challenges in trying to get a mortgage with the non-standard (I guess) construction, but we could agree to do the roof immediately I guess? It's a little heart-breaking to do that because if we re-sell the main property, the new buyers might well want to tear it all apart, including the 'new roof', which we'd have only done to pacify a mortgage lender. C'est la vie. Ultimately, we'd still like to split off a building plot, build on that and sell the original property. We'd have to live in the main property for the time-being and may choose to renovate, partly renovate or sell it as is once we've split the plot off and figured where we'll live. Perhaps we'll stay in it until our new one is done or not, yet to be decided and partly dependent on raising the self-build funding. We might just rent somewhere else or live with family if we need to. We might consider caravan life, but we both work from home, so that's tricky! I think the price we can buy it for would be at a level where we could remarket the property again (give or take a little) even with the plot removed for similar money, perhaps we'll have to have the roof tiled and do some light modernisation ourselves, but we'd end up with a cheap and very attractive plot (about half an acre, with some mature trees and completely secluded) for the net sum of next-to-nothing, depending on how clever we are with the process. I think our only interest in it is the building plot, I don't think we can make the existing property into what we want long-term when you take into account cost viability. I'd really appreciate some moral support on this and help spotting potential pitfalls, I have to move quickly and either grab it or run. ?

Hi All, we are keen to settle in NI in the Enniskillen area and are looking to buy a building site with PP in the region of £60k to build a bungalow on. Any help with details on how to trace an owner of land and pointers on where to start will be greatly appreciated.