Self-build newbie

[selvbygg]

Thank you for allowing me to join the forum, I can see already from a couple of posts that this was certainly the right thing to do.  Our hope, that being my wife and myself, is to move up to the Highlands, find a plot of land and build a house on it.  Seems easy....not!  So I am going to rely, a lot I think, on the wealth of experience of the forum members.

 

We had a preliminary search of the area surrounding Inverness, which is close to family and the Cairngorms for all the other stuff we do and decided that a radius of 15-20 miles from Inverness would be about right.

 

My first question is does anybody have any advice, or experience, of finding land and going through the purchasing stage and applying for planning permission.  From what I have seen a land owner quite often gets outlying permission for land that they want to sell which immediately adds a price premium.  This is something I want to try and avoid!  Any advice on land buying or contacts for land in the Inverness area would be greatly appreciated.

 

Secondly we have looked at Scotframe as a supplier of a kit.  Is there any experience out there of them and what do you think.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Edited December 6, 2019 by selvbygg

[ToughButterCup]

Hello: glad to have you with us.

There is a kilt wearing contingent , they'll all be along soon.

[Ed Davies]

PM with solicitor recommendation sent.

 

I'm not sure about the idea of buying without PPIP (planning permission in principle, also called outline planning permission); you want to be pretty confident that you can build on the land before you buy it and getting that confidence is going to cost one way or another. PPIP is the most straightforward way. The other approach is to apply for some sort of permission before you buy which means some sort of deal to stop the seller using your permission to sell at a higher price to somebody else.

[Ferdinand]

Welcome.

 

If you buy without PPIP, then you need to know where you are on the accepting risk vs saving money balance, and in particular to know more than your vendor.

Edited December 5, 2019 by Ferdinand

[Jilly]

I know conveyancing is different in Scotland, but the uplift in value is in gaining the planning, so someone has to take the risk, either you or the seller, you can't have it both ways unless you come to an agreement to split or apportion the costs/risk/profit and make an offer 'subject to planning'. If you have a plot in mind, you could visit the planning office and ask for a view, but it's still not cast iron. In areas where land values are lower and you can get a nice large plot, it may not be so problematic as down south. How about asking your family if they can sell you some land?

[Thedreamer]

9 hours ago, selvbygg said:

Thank you for allowing me to join the forum, I can see already from a couple of posts that this was certainly the right thing to do.  Our hope, that being my wife and myself, is to move up to the Highlands, find a plot of land and build a house on it.  Seems easy....not!  So I am going to rely, a lot I think, on the wealth of experience of the forum members.

 

We had a preliminary search of the area surrounding Inverness, which is close to family and the Cairngorms for all the other stuff we do and decided that a radius of 15-20 miles from Inverness would be about right.

 

My first question is does anybody have any advice, or experience, of finding land and going through the purchasing stage and applying for planning permission.  From what I have seen a land owner quite often gets outlying permission for land that they want to sell which immediately adds a price premium.  This is something I want to try and avoid!  Any advice on land buying or contacts for land in the Inverness area would be greatly appreciated.

 

Secondly we have looked at Scotframe as a supplier of a kit.  Is there any experience out there of them and what do you think.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

A few up here in the Highlands and Islands. 

 

Scotframe are used often, they were not us and we decided to have our timber frame stick build on site.

 

Remember services as well, assume nothing until you have firm quotes from utility providers. 

Edited December 5, 2019 by Thedreamer

[Ralph]

We found some land without PPIP that was not on the market and approached the landowner.

 

We negotiated a price then drew up a contract with the landowner basically stipulating that we would purchase at that price if we could get PPIP and that he would sell it to us for that price. If we did not purchase it within 12 months of PPIP being in place he was then free to put it on the market.

 

We paid for the PPIP and split the cost of getting the contract and conveyancing done. We had some engineering surveys done to mitigate some of the risk involved with groundwork then made then purchase. 

 

[Triassic]

22 hours ago, selvbygg said:

Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the forum. The self build journey starts here!

 

By the way, what is this strange font you're using? I had to get my glasses out to read it. Might be best to change it to something more readable.

[selvbygg]

That's your age Steve!

[recoveringbuilder]

Had the same problem trying to read it ?

Scotframe seem to be the big name in Scotland however we used claymore timber frame in fife and our engineer complemented their kit, said it was one of the best he’d seen recently 

[selvbygg]

Thanks Christine I will have a look at them. Not sure why the font is strange, perhaps I will have a look and try to change it.

[joth]

11 hours ago, Triassic said:

By the way, what is this strange font you're using? I had to get my glasses out to read it. Might be best to change it to something more readable.

[ProDave]

Hi and Welcome @selvbygg

 

We did just as you are doing in 2003, we moved from Oxfordshire to the Inverness area in 2003, so I am fairly well placed to help you on your journey.

 

Our search actually started in 2002 when we had a holiday up here and bought a 1 bedroom flat (to become a buy to let)  Later after completing on the flat we came for another holiday to get the flat ready for rental and that's when we bought our first plot, which we completed building in 2004.

 

We are now nearing the end of our second self build just 2 doors up the road from the first one.

 

We had a similar range criteria that we wanted to be no more than half an hour from Inverness and we ended up pretty much on the northern limit of that. North of Inverness is cheaper than any other direction, even more so if you are prepared to go further up into Sutherland.

 

By far the best place to search for plots is here https://www.hspc.co.uk/building-sites.asp

 

If you want another recommendation for a solicitor I am happy to send you a PM.

 

If you are wanting a static caravan I can point you to the two local dealers 

 

And if you find a plot close to here that you want someone to have a look at I am happy to oblige if I can.

[Oz07]

1 minute ago, Sensus said:

 

Rule 1 of plotfinding is certainly: 'If it's being marketed as a building plot, it's already overpriced'.

 

* at this stage in the cycle. Time will come again when nobody has the appetite 

[Oz07]

I know a mate who bought in around 2011. Site had decent planning history. Bought for less than 10% gdv. Made a decent sum tax bill was 6 figures

[Oz07]

Yeh it won't be the norm as you say. But everyman and his dog are after a plot atm

[ProDave]

The market is very different up here.  Self build is quite normal, and there are always plots for sale some at quite reasonable prices.  The only reason we had trouble finding a plot was because our search area was too small.  I did find one in the end and paid the going rate for it, which was exactly the price a similar sized plot about 5 miles away was on sale for.  Our plot was about 20% of the finished value of the house.

[selvbygg]

18 hours ago, ProDave said:

Hi and Welcome @selvbygg

 

We did just as you are doing in 2003, we moved from Oxfordshire to the Inverness area in 2003, so I am fairly well placed to help you on your journey.

 

Our search actually started in 2002 when we had a holiday up here and bought a 1 bedroom flat (to become a buy to let)  Later after completing on the flat we came for another holiday to get the flat ready for rental and that's when we bought our first plot, which we completed building in 2004.

 

We are now nearing the end of our second self build just 2 doors up the road from the first one.

 

We had a similar range criteria that we wanted to be no more than half an hour from Inverness and we ended up pretty much on the northern limit of that. North of Inverness is cheaper than any other direction, even more so if you are prepared to go further up into Sutherland.

 

By far the best place to search for plots is here https://www.hspc.co.uk/building-sites.asp

 

If you want another recommendation for a solicitor I am happy to send you a PM.

 

If you are wanting a static caravan I can point you to the two local dealers 

 

And if you find a plot close to here that you want someone to have a look at I am happy to oblige if I can.

 

Thanks ProDave your comments have been really helpful.  We are at the very start of something that we have both been mulling over for a while and have recently decided to go for it.  My sister has lived in Inverness for perhaps 30 years now and in her job grading B&Bs travels frequently North and West  of home so she is a great source of information on local communities.  I first thought that building a house would be the tricky bit but I am quickly realising that perhaps negotiating the minefield of finding and purchasing land may be the difficult bit!

[ProDave]

Well at least up here, plots are available for sale, so it's not like down south where they are rare.  It's just a case of finding one that you like and feel is a fair price, then doing your due diligence on it to make sure it is viable.

 

Sounds like your sister will be a big help in decision making.