Full Planning Permission Approved - Unsure of what to do now?

[Gimp]

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?       

[Jeremy Harris]

Congratulations on getting PP, I think we all know what a relief that can be.

 

I'm not sure that having full PP adds much value over OPP, to be honest, unless you find a buyer that wants to build the house as designed.  Prices may well have risen, though, so I should think that the land has been a reasonably good investment.

 

I don't think that you would gain by building the house and selling it, as almost all the uplift in value on one-off builds comes from the land value increase by gaining PP.  I think you'd probably be better off, both financially and emotionally by selling the plot as it stands.  That way you'd not have the stress of building the house, nor have the delay in getting your money back, either.

[Trw144]

3 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

Congratulations on getting PP, I think we all know what a relief that can be.

 

I'm not sure that having full PP adds much value over OPP, to be honest, unless you find a buyer that wants to build the house as designed.  Prices may well have risen, though, so I should think that the land has been a reasonably good investment.

 

I don't think that you would gain by building the house and selling it, as almost all the uplift in value on one-off builds comes from the land value increase by gaining PP.  I think you'd probably be better off, both financially and emotionally by selling the plot as it stands.  That way you'd not have the stress of building the house, nor have the delay in getting your money back, either.

 

Depending upon what the planning permission is for I think detailed planning can add quite a bit of value. In my case I reckon about a 40 percent uplift from what I bought the plot for, compared to what I could have sold it for once I had my full permission.

[bassanclan]

I think your first stop is to get a couple of realistic valuations as to the value of the land, until you know that you can't make any informed decision.

[ProDave]

Personally I would hang onto it in the short term until you are absolutely sure the new life abroad is right for you and she is a "keeper"  If it has gained permission now, even if it lapses, it would be very unusual for it not to get permission again unless there is a drastic change in the local policy.

[Gimp]

14 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

Congratulations on getting PP, I think we all know what a relief that can be.

 

I'm not sure that having full PP adds much value over OPP, to be honest, unless you find a buyer that wants to build the house as designed.  Prices may well have risen, though, so I should think that the land has been a reasonably good investment.

 

I don't think that you would gain by building the house and selling it, as almost all the uplift in value on one-off builds comes from the land value increase by gaining PP.  I think you'd probably be better off, both financially and emotionally by selling the plot as it stands.  That way you'd not have the stress of building the house, nor have the delay in getting your money back, either.

 

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. 

[Gimp]

19 minutes ago, Trw144 said:

 

Depending upon what the planning permission is for I think detailed planning can add quite a bit of value. In my case I reckon about a 40 percent uplift from what I bought the plot for, compared to what I could have sold it for once I had my full permission.

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.

[Gimp]

19 minutes ago, bassanclan said:

I think your first stop is to get a couple of realistic valuations as to the value of the land, until you know that you can't make any informed decision.

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. 

[bassanclan]

A local builder to me is desperate to build a house and has said if I bought the land, he would build the house and we'd split the profit.

Obviously it depends on the individual circumstances etc, but a joint venture with a builder might be a solution

[Onoff]

Lad I know went to Vietnam recently. Came back all loved up and we started with all the Mr Dudley / Ting Tong jokes. He was jacking his job over here, selling his performance car and moving out there,  life was so much better, blah, blah. Saw him the other day and things seem to have cooled off a bit. 

 

Don't make any rash decisions.

 

 

 

 

[Trw144]

Yes - in my instance he outline planning did nt say anything about the size or detail - it was basically outline planning for two dwellings, so the fact that detailed planning was for two 300m2 houses was probably the reason for the jump.

[Gimp]

21 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Personally I would hang onto it in the short term until you are absolutely sure the new life abroad is right for you and she is a "keeper"  If it has gained permission now, even if it lapses, it would be very unusual for it not to get permission again unless there is a drastic change in the local policy.

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.

[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. 

[Temp]

If you think there might be a cgt  liability check the tax rules for the country you might be moving to. Not all countries have capital gains tax. For example i don't think Belgium has cgt on overseas property sales and it has a favourable double taxation treaty with the UK. So if you sold the house while resident in Belgium you would have no cgt to pay. The only issue is you couldn't come back for 5 years. Other countries may have a higher cgt rate than the UK. Some accountants like PWC have departments that can give international tax advice (for a fee).

[Stones]

Hedge your bets.  Three of my former colleagues emigrated to foreign parts seeking a better life, each of them ended up returning with 12 months, either because they didn't like, it, their family couldn't settle, or the jobs they had gone to didn't match expectations.  The grass isn't always greener...