Looking for help with 'background' checks

[PlectrumElectrum]

Hi, I'm mulling over purchasing a new build home & the estate that's being built is quite small with the potential to expand as there's lots of land around it. I haven't a clue how to find out who owns the surrounding land or what (if any) planning permission there might for the area. I'd also like to check what else the builder plans to build on the land they own as the woman I spoke to earlier seemed a bit clueless (covering for usual sales person) so didn't know what one large area/building on the estate was for.

If there are public searches online I can do, id appreciation being pointed in the right direction. If it's more of an 'old school' digging into public records type of search, again, please give me an idea on how to figure out what to do.

Thanks

no 1 - ask around the locality. The ongoing battle against the estate/bypass/windfarm will soon become clear.

the local council should have a website with planning applications for the surrounding area. Check out local newspapers too and google to see what has been going on.

go over the head of clueless flossie and ask for actual information.

remember new build warnings - iffy quality, flood risk and so on. Doesn't apply to all but you don't want it to apply to you.

For planning applications go to the local council website's planning portal and search by the address. Some councils have interactive maps and you can just zoom in and find the exact spot you are after.

If you want to find out who owns specific land then you need the government Land Registry website. Make sure you have the one with a web address ending .gov.uk so you aren't accessing the records via a third party and paying excessive fees.

You can search by address or do a map search and it costs £3 for a download of an individual title register and £3 per title map. If you get no results you can apply to the Land Registry for a search of the index map. This may show who owns the land. If there is nothing, then the land is unregistered. Compulsory registration only came in in the 1990s in some areas although registration has been around since the late 1920s.

Thanks, this was just what I was looking for. Off to do some research now. Thanks.