Potential plot purchase road splays

[Ed Davies]

2 hours ago, jened1 said:

I think in my head I think land sells as fast as houses do

 

Depends what you mean by the “North of Scotland” - to me that starts once you're north of Tain but some people think it's everywhere north of the central belt. It seems to me that in general in Highland both land and houses often turn over very slowly. People tend to hang on for a high [¹] asking price waiting for somebody who particularly wants the property to come along. Still, houses turn over quicker than land, I think.

 

[¹] Compared with what the local economy can support, not UK-wide prices compared to which they're still very cheap.

[jened1]

3 minutes ago, Ed Davies said:

 

Depends what you mean by the “North of Scotland” - to me that starts once you're north of Tain but some people think it's everywhere north of the central belt. It seems to me that in general in Highland both land and houses often turn over very slowly. People tend to hang on for a high [¹] asking price waiting for somebody who particularly wants the property to come along. Still, houses turn over quicker than land, I think.

 

[¹] Compared with what the local economy can support, not UK-wide prices compared to which they're still very cheap.

Inverness We have a 3 bed semi, they seem to go within a couple of weeks, v quick turnaround on them. 

[Carrerahill]

6 hours ago, jened1 said:

Hi all, 

 

Looking to buy our first plot in the North of Scotland. There are 2 plots for sale with Planning in principle approved. One of the conditions is that a visibility splay is put in, cost to be shared between the 2,but I am not having much success in finding out how much this will cost. Planning told me to call roads, roads aren't calling me back. Any other ideas please? 

Is the splay going to be on your land, if so and it's yours and your neighbours then you can probably just get on with it. 

 

Often you will note a kerbstone at a intersection of land which is sunk fully into the ground, seems weird, why is there this kerbstone that has been sunk flush with the running surfaces? Well, this is so that the local authority or land owner on one side can do what they want and not impact the running surface on the other side.

 

So it may be you can simply have it done, clear anything in the way, take your access up to the current road surface and have them seal the joint with tar and or have a concrete section laid or get the council to do only this section. I would also not worry too much about it, my thinking is you will probably have utilities coming into your site, bung the guys a bit extra and when they are digging things up anyway have them incorporate the splay, clear any bits etc.

 

Of course, everything above may be useless if you don't actually own the piece of land this is going onto!

Edited November 26, 2019 by Carrerahill

[ProDave]

The purchase of a plot can take a long time, compared to a house. But it does not mean you have to delay making an offer.  You just make your offer with a set of conditions, and it might take a long time to clear all of those.  For instance when we found our plot it did not even have planning permission, so our offer to buy was subject to planning permission being granted, and we all then waited while the planning application went through.

[jened1]

Brilliant, that's good to know! 

[Temp]

Re visibility splay.. Unless its a very large plot its unlikely the visibility splays fit within it. The next best thing is for them to fit within the highway verge. Get a decent  plan and draw the visibility splay on it. Check who owns the land under it.

 

If its not part of the highway verge you should get the vendor to sort out the visibility splay. If the vendor owns the land under the visibility splay then speak to your solicitor about giving you a covenant over that land. It might require changes to both the plot deeds and the vendors deeds. 

 

If the vendor doesn't own the land then beware. The vendor should get the necessary covenants in place from the owner. To do this he may have to pay the land owner. This could be a lot of money because the owner knows you can't build  house without it. In effect the land owner can hold you to ransom. 

 

Don't let this issue put you off unless the vendor is unable to give/get you the covenant needed. However it would/could be risky to purchase it without it being sorted in writing

 

 

 

 

[ProDave]

@jened1 can you find the plot on Google earth (other satellite images are available) and grab a screen shot and post it here, suitably anonymised.

[Mulberry View]

Hi, and welcome.

 

We're also learning about visibility splays. Not sure if my recent post will help you? I've not reached a satisfactory conclusion to it yet though.

 

Good luck with yours.

[Russell griffiths]

7 hours ago, ProDave said:

Re Water, get in touch with Scottish Water straight away and request a quote for a new water supply. That will tell you exactly where the nearest water main is and the cost of connection.

 

Don't get put off, there is a lot of work in getting a bare plot up to speed and a lot of things to check.  I am not sure if you have made a formal offer yet, but if not, try to find a solicitor who is experienced in buying plots as he will know what is needed and what conditions to put in the offer to make sure it does not conclude until all hurdles have been crossed.

 

A little cheeky tip to save a bit on the ground works.  when I was preparing my site entrance I came across the fact that anyone working adjacent to the road needs to hold a minor street works permit.  BUT if there is a fence, then working inside the fence does not need that.

 

So I erected a very temporary fence right along the edge of the road and used my own digger to excavate and lay the MOT1 base for the road entrance.  Then when that was done I removed the fence and paid a contractor to lay the tarmac on the base I had prepared. 

Upstairs for thinking, downstairs for dancing. ??

[jened1]

Edited November 26, 2019 by jened1

[jened1]

1 hour ago, christianbeccy said:

Hi, and welcome.

 

We're also learning about visibility splays. Not sure if my recent post will help you? I've not reached a satisfactory conclusion to it yet though.

 

Good luck with yours.

Thanks, I will check it out! Hope it works out for you.