How to Spot Your New Plot

ABOVE: With retirement impending, Jan and Mike Davies found their old home too high-maintenance and expensive to heat. Unwilling to leave their picture-postcard Nottinghamshire village, however, they sectioned off part of their large garden, on which they have built a beautiful oak frame cottage, clad in brick and infilled with energy-efficient structural insulated panels (SIPs).

The first-time self-builder, thinking that the task of finding a suitable plot is going to be difficult enough, will be even more daunted when they discover that plots come in various types and that there is a plethora of names for each.

In many cases, their names are descriptive and self-explanatory. In others they refer to specific types, each with their own problems.

However, it is the existence of planning permission that makes them a plot, and you should never actually pay for a plot until or unless planning permission is obtained.

Infill Plots

‘Infill’ is the term commonly used for plots in an urban or village setting that occupy a gap in the street scene, rather than extending beyond the boundaries of the settlement. Any extension of the settlement boundary is likely to be frowned upon by the planners and referred to as a ‘ribbon development’. However, just because a plot is infill doesn’t necessarily mean that the planners will agree to its development. There are countless examples of open spaces or even fields that have been encircled by development within a village, and you might think that they are ripe for building upon. Some may well be. The Government at national level is keen to see areas of land within settlement boundaries used up before open land; but often local Governments are just as keen to ensure that open spaces within the built-up area are maintained. Infill plots come in two guises:

Spare Land: This is land that basically has no current use and is hidden from view by walls or fences which give the illusion that the street scene is uninterrupted.

Sometimes these plots used to be garden or allotment land. Sometimes they come about because there was previously an access to land at the rear that has subsequently been sold off or developed. Other times, the land may well have had a previous use that, in the past, precluded its use for development, such as the local dump. Sometimes there are known owners of this land. Sometimes owners have half-forgotten that they own this piece of land that they no longer use. Often the land is not registered and has slipped out of ownership.

Buy a copy of the Ordnance Survey map of your preferred area and study it for signs of this spare land. Then get out there and make enquiries. The biggest problem you may face is where there is no traceable owner.

Garden Plots: This is the other and more certain type of infill plot, where homeowners with gardens possessing a wide frontage lop off a section adjoining the carriageway.

This type of plot is likely to have the least problems with ownership or planning. For the past decade and more, the Government has encouraged the use of garden land for development by designating it ‘brownfield’. Whether or not that continues if there is a change of Government is uncertain.

Nevertheless, most single plots that come onto the market were once part of somebody’s garden. Things to look out for are any restrictive covenants that the vendors might wish to impose, restricting, say, the ability to have windows overlooking the retained house and whether or not one has the right to connect to services or drains within the garden area of that old house.

Once again, looking around and studying the Ordnance Survey map can identify potential plots. You then need to knock on doors and ask if they would be willing to sell in the event of getting planning permission.

ABOVE: Geoff and Sarah MacCormack’s stunning glass-fronted home has been wedged into a 3m-wide London infill site, between existing tall brick and stucco neighbours on an otherwise traditional Victorian street. Though narrow, the house’s exterior belies a surprisingly spacious 167m² light-filled interior.

Backland Development

This is another type of garden plot. Only here, instead of seeking to infill the road frontage, the development is at the rear of the existing house. This only really happens where the original plot is quite large but, in reality, there is often more privacy on such plots than on many modern estates.

Access is usually down the side of the existing house and the terms of that right of way need to be properly laid out. If you share access then it would be preferable to have an obligation for joint maintenance.

Brownfield Land

The term applies to land which has had a previous planning use that may have ceased. It could be factories, an old builders’ yard or even a disused petrol station. As such, the Government is broadly supportive of its use for redevelopment, so long as all other normal planning criteria are established.

Watch out for contamination on sites with an ex-industrial use. This can almost always be dealt with but it can be costly and those costs should be reflected in the price. As previously stated, at present, garden land is also designated as brownfield land.

Greenfield Land

This is land that has not been previously developed. Some political parties would like garden land to go back to being within this designation. All political parties are against the development of previously undeveloped land in the countryside, unless it fits in with their requirements to provide more housing, infrastructure or new towns.

Green Belt Land

This is an entirely different designation from greenfield land in that its preservation is given legal status. In general, no new development is allowed on green belt land, unless it again fits in with Government requirements.

Replacement Plots

What this refers to is a situation where the plot is occupied by a house or bungalow that is either substandard in construction terms or has/is not realising the full potential of the plot. It is ripe for being knocked down and replaced with a better building or buildings.

In general, planners are amenable to a one-for-one replacement but beware local policies that limit the size of a new dwelling by reference to the size of the original — this is particularly likely in the green belt.

ABOVE: Helen and John Morrison hit upon a double whammy when they self-built a replacement dwelling on the site of an old run-down bungalow, which was sited in green belt in the heart of the Kent countryside. The resulting contemporary house, the build of which was managed by their son Rob, is a triumph in low-impact design — both on the environment and visually upon the site itself. A basement level conceals over half of the living accommodation below ground.

Fully Serviced Plots

Sometimes local authorities, English Partnerships or private companies bring plots to the market with the service roads and sewers already in. These are serviced plots and in many cases service supplies will be connected into the plots, although connection charges may still be required.

In the current economic situation, it is not fanciful to think that developers might well be amenable to selling off serviced plots rather that taking the risk of developing them. Call them and ask.