To sell our house because of new developments

[Yorkie88]

We love our house and have only been here a few years. It's a great location for school, work and I think we got a bargain.

However we are in the countryside and there are plans to build 400 houses behind us and 300 houses in front of us. Planning permission not applied for yet but it feels inevitable. Big companies. Rubbish council.

Is it unreasonable to sell quickly? I feel bad selling a house that us surrounded by countryside with the knowledge that it will become surrounded by houses in years

Also is it even OK to be upset about housing developments? People need homes. But the thought of living in the middle of two huge building sites isn't great

With the current inflation/COL issue...is it a stupid idea to move? I don't really understand the implications but houses seem v expensive

I agree. If we do move think we might actually go somewhere more built up because any rural spot commutable is going to go probably.

Is it stupid to move now with all the economic news?

Thats the case for a lot living semi rurally , they get houses have to be built but not near them for any number of reasons. Every ones house was a nice field at some point. House building is less than half of the peak in the 60s. I wonder what people made of it then.

I would move...my issue is that modern housing is funking ugly......

I would be wary of stretching your finances right now, but if you can get a place for a similar mortgage amount as now then it’s probably worth it before interest rates go much higher. You might even be able to port across your existing mortgage product on your current terms if you’re at a good fixed rate.

If you know about the plans, including number of houses, any potential buyer will too. The shit’s already shat in that regard.

I’d move too in those circumstances, though.

People need houses, this can and will happen pretty much anywhere at the moment. Homes England are unlocking land for housing development pretty much everywhere.

I wouldn’t move personally, it’s a large extra expense at a time when money will be short for most people. I do agree that the way to avoid this situation is to buy in a built-up area; that way you can be comfortable with the type of housing in the street and the support infrastructure for the community is (more likely to be) already in place.

Think you’re being a bit of a nimby here. I’m sure that when your house was being built that the land was once countryside, it’s ok for you to live there but you don’t want anyone else to have the same .

One thing to consider is that your local estate agents will likely be aware of the rumours (especially if they are anticipating having to sell some of the new houses) and may well blab about the plans to prospective buyers anyway.

I'm going against the grain here and saying you shouldn't try and keep it secret. It may mean you get far down the line in the selling/buying process and then the buyer pulls out, which just wastes everyone's time.

It wouldn't put me off if there was a near by development if i really loved the town. For us, we really loved our semi rural town and bought our starter home knowing that we may be able to move to one of the new builds when we are ready to upsize. So it was a positive thing.

You don’t have to say anything unless plans have been submitted and you’ve been officially informed by the council. Which you haven’t. Keep quiet and sell while you can.

I'm absolutely not saying people can't live here or that houses shouldn't be built. But I think 1000 houses in a rural area with no additional infrastructure isn't great idea. I'm not actually trying to stop it. I'm just considering moving.

I think it really does depend on what you want and your financial situation. If the plans haven't been applied for, then it won't come up in searches but if people know the area, then they will likely know.

We lived rurally for ages in a beautiful house and we sold it just before a huge development was put up round the corner. It wasn't intentional, it was just our timing that we needed to move. Some people like new developments because they tend to bring more amenities to the area. Our local pub had already started only opening on certain days and apparently the new estate breathed life into it. And a new little shop opened. We had no public transport there (there is still none) but if more people move there, I imagine a bus route might appear at some point so there are benefits.

Given how convenient your house is for you, I would think long and hard about moving. Have a look on rightmove and see what you think you could get for your money but as others have said, no open land is safe from development. This was in Oxfordshire and you cannot drive a mile without seeing another development coming up. We're now back in London (for work reasons!) and I don't miss Oxfordshire and the hideous traffic!

There are no guarantees anywhere... we live in an AONB and pretty much anything applied for gets approved. There is no 5 yr plan thanks to a massive fuck up by the LA which gives carte blanche for developers to do whatever they want. The houses in town are now regularly flooding, there are no school spaces and the drs are on their knees so the community can't get access to decent Healthcare. It is rural with unsuitable roads for the volume of traffic so the roads are falling apart and its now too dangerous to walk anywhere. There is next to no public transport. Pretty much none of it is affordable housing on local wages 🤷‍♀️ this isn't NIMBY ism it is a genuine crisis for all residents new and old.

yes, the road infrastructure where we were won't be coping with the extra houses. Ironically they turned down a huge hotel complex saying it would bring too much traffic to the area but were happy to have 400 houses put up!

This is the exact reason we decided not to buy semi rurally in the village across the way from us even though we would have liked it. My sister sold her house after she was widowed, it backed on to open fields and it still sold though planning permissions was already in place for 300 houses on those fields. People will always buy at the right price.

I know because our neighbour knows someone in the council. It's been discussed on the local FB group. I agree estate agents will know. But I doubt they'd blab it?

YABU to not disclose the new developments to potential buyers, but they will (should) do their research and will find this out anyway.

YANBU to be upset about the new developments.

Yes I guess people will buy if the price is right. I just can't imagine buying a house knowing it will have building sites surrounding it for years possibly

Is it part of a Local or Neighbourhood Plan? If so it will be publicly available on Searches. If not it is gossip, maybe with some foundation, but changing use from agriculture to residential use will take time and probably be subject to much debate.

Can you look on the council website for proposed developments? If there’s anything there, it’s clear it will be disclosed if you market your house. If not, it may be that it’s not yet been finalised, but you wouldn’t have to disclose anything.

You have to factor in how much you like your house, where you would move to, if your house sold. I agree that it’s governments who drive forward building and force councils to allocate land for building to meet the local quotas. I also agree that it’s foolhardy to build without a proper infrastructure. Then again, there are, as yet, no published plans, so you don’t know whether the development will include a school and/ or shops. Unlikely to include a dental surgery though.

Our development has just finished after eleven years. I can’t say it’s been trouble free, but we haven’t had a huge impact. There’s a community centre, primary school, green spaces and a lake, so it’s pleasant. There was to be a GP surgery, but it couldn’t be staffed. We’re fortunate that there’s a range of shops and supermarkets nearby and reasonable transport. The developer provided money towards the building of a relief road too.

Yawn. Houses need to be developed whether it’s a Tory or Labour government.

It's happening all around us too. We had loads of farms & fields, now we have some properly shit new estates with no infrastructure to support them, the roads are a danger (both volume of cars & roads churned up) . Schools,Drs,Dentsus all burst at the seams!

Plus they're not built so much as thrown together, but charging £££££££.

A 1960's development would be a HUGE improvement!

Thing is, it's not so much about whether you should/shouldn't sell as what can you buy that's any better & affordable.

im trying to move, for different reasons, but there's feck all being sold and what little is being sold is ridiculously £££££. I can't move away from this location as I have to be near my job, if I'm not, I'd have to get a new job & then I won't get enough of a mortgage.

Plus with the economy as it is, I'm ok with increasing my mortgage a bit, but not extending myself TOO much.

If there is anything official, as others have said, it will come up on searches. If it’s not official, just rumours or talk, it may never happen, so you’ll have moved for nothing! I used to live in an area where there was often talk of building 3000 new homes on the doorstep of a lovely rural village. 20 years later it still hasn’t happened!

If the land is allocated for housing that information will already be in the public domain.
Planning permission wouldn't be granted for a large development without the land being allocated for housing. The allocation has to happen first.

I used to hate new builds but with the ridiculous behaviour in the housing market at the moment with the whole "offers over" "guide price" nonsense at least you don't have that to contend with