Dreams are built on this

5 April 2012

Building your own dream home is not such a challenge. As anyone who has tried knows, it's finding the land to build it on that is the real nightmare. Your precious plot can bust your budget before a brick is laid, especially in south-east England, where land with planning permission is like gold dust.

Self-builders often find themselves competing against developers with deep pockets and an insider's knowledge of how the market works.

But don't despair: there are plenty of chances out there, just so long as you are prepared to hunt them out.

According to Buildstore, a land database, you can find building plots for less than £ 20,000 in 25 counties across the UK, from the Scottish Highlands to Cornwall: perfect if you are planning to uproot from the capital or want to build a second home for holiday breaks. Counties in the south-east, however, are not always as expensive as you might imagine.

An admittedly tiny plot measuring 52ft by 24ft is available in Luton at £18,000, while in Salehurst, East Sussex, you can buy 3.3 acres of land (without planning permission) on offer for just £6,000.

Other affordable land can be found at Westcliffe-on-Sea, Essex, where a single plot with permission for a two-storey end-terrace house is for sale at £35,000. In Folkestone, Kent, a vacant plot for a pair of semis is priced at £48,000. And estate agent Rural England (0800 0926350) reckons to be able to find self-builders suitable plots from as little as £3,000.

In general, these plots are wellpriced because they are in relatively remote locations, perhaps some distance from local shops, schools or good transport links; sometimes they are in less attractive urban areas.

Another factor affecting the price is whether a plot is serviced (with gas and drainage, for example). If they are not, this could greatly increase the building costs.

But low cost property is the exception rather than the rule. The average plot of building land in England costs just over £98,000. In Wales it will cost you £38,300 and in Scotland a little less, at £35,800.

CAPITAL INVESTMENT

In south-east England, the average price per acre is £670,000. In London, you can easily pay that for a very small piece of land. If you had bottomless pockets, you could have picked up the undeveloped plot in Bishops Avenue - the famous Millionaires' Row in Hampstead - which recently sold for £2.8 million. The site, measuring two-thirds of an acre, had permission for a 14,000sq ft mansion.

An acre of land is roughly 70 yards square, roughly the size of football pitch. Most self-builders are happy with a quarter-acre plot, big enough for a 2,000sq ft house with a garden.

Auction firms report fierce bidding for plots in villages and the open countryside, with prices propelled by London buyers hoping to build a weekend retreat. Not all plots come with planning permission. Before you buy, it is important to check your chance of getting consent. And beware of land that is contaminated: the clean-up costs could be much more than you save by buying it cheap in the first place.

Auction catalogues usually feature development plots. There are also oddball properties and semi-derelict buildings that are ripe for conversion. Essential Information Group (020 7720 5000) provides details of auction dates and venues.

Often the best way to get the home you want is to buy an existing property or wreck, demolish it and then build a new one.

Robert Pennicott of Landbank Services, says his firm's database carries about 3,000 plots. "We deal with land agents, local authorities, developers and homeowners who are willing to sell, say, part of a garden," he explains. Registering with Landbank (0118 9626022) costs £39.99 for six months. Other land websites are linked to specialist self-build magazines. Build It includes a Land Update supplement with details of more than 2,000 plots. This is provided by Plotsearch. Call 0870 8709994 or visit www.buildstore.co.uk .

A new online service launched by the Self Build Advisory Service (0131 524 8500) can be found at www.plotsearch.co.uk .

SelfBuild and Design magazine advertises plots on its website, www.selfbuildanddesign.com .

GREEN BELTERS

How do you get permission to build a new house on greenbelt land? Normally you can't, but every year some enterprising self-builder does. Self-building is about fulfilling dreams. It is about saving (or making) money, too.

Ask Brian and Loretta Barnett, who have created a beautiful barn-style home in Surrey at a total cost of £300,000. Two years later the house is worth around £1 million.

They bought the plot, near the village of Kingswood, from a farmer. It was a sensitive site, close to a listed farmhouse. But they won planning permission for a new dwelling of 1,600sq ft on the condition that it matched the surroundings. The couple decided to build the new house around the timber frame of an original barn.

For this they went to a specialist salvage company that dismantles and relocates ancient oak-framed buildings in England and France. They paid £16,000 for a barn frame and set about creating an authenticlooking home. The roof has been clad with traditional clay tiles; flint and handmade bricks have been used to give the property a weathered appearance. Reclaimed material have also been used inside.

Living rooms are on the upper floor and three bedrooms at ground level. It has a logburning stove, inglenook fireplace and underfloor heating (to avoid modern-style radiators).

The couple were financing the project through the sale of their previous home, and had to move into a mobile home on site. They employed an architect to handle the project and went over-budget. But, given the exceptional location, the house is already worth several times what it cost to build.

"It was a challenging experience, but very rewarding," says Brian. "We have no intention of selling. We wouldn't want to do it all again."

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