Finding Land
This takes a great deal of perseverance because we live in such a close packed country where land prices are relatively high. Alongside this is the Green Belt planning policy which makes it very difficult to get planning permission in areas which are not already built up
Green Principles
- Avoid locations which involve long journeys for commuting, shopping, schools, etc. Try to find a plot of land close to good public transport services. See the Eco Homes preassessment estimator, pages 3 and 4
- Go for a brownfield site so as to avoid spoiling the countryside.
Finding Sites For Sale
Whether you are an individual self builder or part of a group, finding plots of land can be an extremely hit and miss affair, mainly because it is hard to know when land is coming up for sale in a locality you want and at a price you can afford. The ways of finding land are:
- Local newspaper adverts. This is still a common way for people to advertise land although the ad will probably pop up in the local estate agent as well. Some local newspapers have listings of properties and land on their web sites. UK newspaper links can be found at British Media Online
- Estate agents. Land adverts usually show up with local estate agents because prospective buyers will want to come to the area and view the land. However, estate agents are in something of a dilemma at the moment (a bit like travel agents) because the internet is making information much more widely available. For this reason various companies are setting up web-based land finders. Find lists of estate agents here.
- Internet “plot finder” sites and specialist groups.more +/-»
- Word of mouth. This can be a surprisingly effective way of finding land, especially if you are acquainted with a few people in the area of interest. Potential vendors may be approachable and may be keen to know who might be a neighbour and what kind of building is proposed, rather than putting land up for sale on the open market.
- Walking and cycling. For some strange reason you often see more when you are moving slowly. You might spot buildings that need renovating or bump into people who have something for sale. It’s often walking around and chatting that pays off.
- Building Plot
- PlotBrowser
- Self Build ABC
- PropertySpy
- Plotfinder
- Greenshifters lists smallholdings for sale, for rent and wanted
- Buildstore have an interesting service called Plotshare whereby a large chunk of land can be split down into smaller individual plots if several people are interested at the same time.
- A couple of companies in Bristol have recently emerged from the Ashley Vale development.
- Ecomotive has been set up to support sustainable communities, especially in terms of accessing land and building sites
- Bright Green Futures which has been set up to create eco self build communities
