When you are trying to find the dream site, think laterally. Yes, many plots come oven-ready with planning approval, but other land ripe for self build, does not come to market as such.
It pays to recognise the many different types of building land available if you are prepared to put the effort in. There could be a small plot, not visible from the street, behind an existing house. Don't overlook rundown houses that could be demolished and replaced with the home of your dreams.
Dependant on their history there are two categories: Greenfield (yet to be developed) and Brownfield (previously developed).
GREENFIELD SITES:
A Greenfield site will not have been built upon before. Usually agricultural land, it can also be undeveloped land in a city or a rural area. However, all political parties are opposed to building in the countryside, unless it fits in with their policies to provide more housing, infrastructure or new towns.
As nothing has been built on them before, they tend to be cheaper to develop. In essence, they provide a blank canvas subject to legal and planning constraints and the possible provision of infrastructure works such as new roads and utility connections.
Green Belt Land:
Be aware that this is an completely different from greenfield land in that its protection is given legal status. By default no new development will be allowed on green belt land, unless it again fits in with Government requirements.
In the south east London is surrounded by green belt as is Cambridge, but the majority of Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Essex and Norfolk is not. However local areas may be protected in other ways such as being classified areas of outstanding natural beauty.
BROWNFIELD SITES:
These are previously developed land that once was occupied by a permanent structure.
Government policy supports the provision of new housing in such locations, so in principle, councils tend to look favourably on plans that have the potential to improve these plot so long as all other normal planning criteria have been established. However, there can be many intricate planning details to satisfy and neighbours to placate.
On a practical level, services are likely to be in place already. However, tread carefully as such sites, particularly ones with an ex-commercial /industrial use, could have additional challenges over greenfield sites, for example, some issues commonly encountered are:
Contamination
With previous commercial or agricultural use, it is probable the site will be contaminated. For example, if it was a disused petrol station, benzene and other petro-chemicals could be present in the ground.
Such sites will require professional risk assessments which involves time and money as will any remedial clean up, which are likely to be conditioned to any planning approval. You will have no idea what is under the ground until a survey is carried out.
Demolition
It is likely existing structures such as old garages will be on-site, and this will bring its own challenges:
It may be in poor condition and could be challenging to take down without being a danger to passers-by and neighbours.
To satisfy the planners, you are likely to have to provide dust and noise mitigation strategies before work can start on site.
Asbestos is another common hazard and will require an asbestos survey to identify the asbestos type and risk it poses. See our separate blog on asbestos.
As a result, professional developers are naturally cautious of brownfield sites because they are much riskier to develop as the list of unknowns is far greater.
Very few brownfield sites are likely to come to market oven-ready. They can have high preparation costs such as demolition or nasty surprises such as asbestos or contamination if the site has had an industrial/commercial use, that will need to be got rid of. Such issues can almost always be dealt with, but it can be costly, and those costs should be reflected in the price. As a result, lenders will also be cautious of brownfield sites.
TYPICAL BROWNFIELD SITE
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Infill plots:
‘Infill’ is a term that has grown up for for the development of scraps of sometimes forgotten spare land, normally and usually hidden from the public realm by walls, fences or buildings that exist, generally in residential areas in both urban and village settings.
Either Greenfield or Brownfield these sites could have become spare for many reasons, for example:
The plot used to be an allotment, garden or as typical in Cambridgeshire in towns such as Over, a small fruit orchard that used to supply Chivers the jam makers.
A set of garages or industrial building hidden behind Victorian terraces
The site had a previous use that that up to now has excluded its use for development.
The owners no longer use the land and have possibly half-forgotten that they own it.
The land is not registered and has fallen out of ownership.
Planning and infill plots:
Whether you can develop an infill plot will very much depend on its location and the local planning policies that apply.
Within Local Plan or LDF defined settlement/development boundaries:
Most Local authorities allow for infilling and small scale developments within towns and villages. Some define categories of settlements with specific settlement/development boundaries, from larger towns down to small hamlets, with differing rules for each.
However, there will be areas in towns and villages where infill will be restricted, such as conservation areas or an area with a special character. It is not impossible, but planning approval is going to be harder to achieve, particularly in conservation areas, there are likely to be design constraints as well. One key planning test/threshold is will any new development “preserve” or “enhance” the conservation area?
Likewise, there are many examples of open spaces that are surrounded by development within a village settlement boundary that are unlikely to get planning approval. The national Government is keen to build within settlement boundaries; however, local governments are just as keen to maintain open spaces within the built-up areas.
Outside or on the edge of Local Plan or LDF defined settlement/development boundaries:
Outside settlement/development boundaries, on the edges of towns and villages, in hamlets and small settlements, there are usually no general rules on how infill is treated.
Undeveloped land is defined as greenfield, and typically the local authority is only likely to entertain a proposal if it is perceived as offering an opportunity, for housing to serve the needs of agriculture, replacement dwellings and some infill highly dependant on context.
Concerning the latter, some local authorities have specific policies allowing infill where there are say more than a particular number of existing houses or cottages in a row. Others show where infill might be allowed on their Local Plan policies maps, such as previous ribbons of development and built-up road frontages.
However, many local authorities keep life simple and do not allow any new housing at all, outside settlement/development boundaries, infill or not. The risks will be high, it’s not the easy solution, it hardly ever happens and if successful any proposal will be highly conditioned.
This means it’s essential to check the Local Plan or LDF status of a plot first, before making assumptions about whether you can build on it.
There are two variants of infill plots
Road frontage Development:
These take up a gap in the street frontage or group of houses within the existing local plan defined settlement boundary, rather like a missing tooth in a bright white smile. Look for side plot extensions or corner sites.
However, remember such sites located on the edge of the defined settlement boundary could be judged as creating pressure to expand the settlement boundary and as a result resisted by the planners potentially being considered potential ribbon development.
2. Backland Development:
This could be either a plot assembled from a single or more than one garden owner. It could have contained sheds, ancillary, buildings, low rise industrial or other non-residential uses. Only here, instead of seeking to infill the road frontage, the development is at the rear of the existing buildings without a road frontage. It will, however, require vehicular access onto the public highway. Access is usually to the side of the existing street fronting house/building, and the terms of a right of way agreement will need to be correctly agreed.
As well as access such sites can be complicated; a couple of the main issues are that you need to make sure that the site is big enough to accommodate a new house. the site has access to all the utilities plus foul drainage can be provided. Also, there is no deal stopping ecological issues, such as trees or wildlife.
Also, both yours and the neighbour's amenity can be protected, such as overlooking, overshadowing and noise. You could be involved in multiple party wall awards and will have to be on a charm offensive throughout the build with all your new neighbours.
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Garden or tandem sites:
Falling between both into frontage or backland are tandem garden plots say where a wide fronted house with land to the side or with rear or side garden vehicular access creates a site by the subdivision of the garden.
Historically, such garden sites were classed as ‘previously developed’. So when local authorities assessed what land could be built on to meet housing their targets, it was included as suitable for development.
However, with increased development, popular protests against ‘garden grabbing’ and ‘town cramming’ made it harder to get permission on them. Then with the recent national political pressure for increased housing numbers, consolidated in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) guidance, this changed, and they are now considered to be ‘greenfield’. This change means planning approval is again more likely to be granted if the development fits local needs.
A word of warning about vendors: Be cautious of any restrictive covenants that the owners try to impose as part of any sale, for example;
Restricting windows on your proposal overlooking the original house, over and above usual planning constraints.
The right to run/connect services and/or drains within the garden area of the existing house.
Clawback – an attempt to insist on a share on any uplift in value if and when you come to sell the new house.
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Demolish and replace:
A type of brownfield opportunity where an existing building is demolished, such as an old bungalow or former non-residential structure, and a new one constructed in its place.
Financial viability is the key to whether a plot has potential for redevelopment — see our blog on the financial viability: A self build plot is only worth what someone is prepared to pay – but you should only be prepared to pay what it is worth.
Provided a building has not been abandoned, the definition of which can be tricky to tie down, local authorities generally allow a replacement dwellings with an increase in volume, even in the open countryside.
However, policy varies across the country and in many areas there are restrictions on the scale of any increase in volume over the existing, and its location, relative to the existing house.
Remember the additional complexity and cost of demolition etc referred to above.
SERVICED PLOTS:
A reasonably new option, provided by enabling developers and councils releasing land for large-scale self build. The term refers to the land that is already to build on-with utilities, highway access and possibly other infrastructure already in place, as well as at least an outline planning consent, though connection charges may still be required.. The benefit of these is more certainty over early-stage costs.
Currently, there are only a handful of serviced plots on the edge of new development, or new community of self-built homes planned by local authorities such as Graven Hill is Bicester. Check out the Government’s main self-build information site for more information.
This can be a terrific route to get a self build, but the drawbacks are that there is a much more restricted design process involved. A good way to get notification of these plots is to get on the Self Build Register (England) or Self Build Wales scheme.
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