Building in garden , selling off land advice

[Quitelikeacatslife]

We have quite large garden on corner plot and are short of cash. I can visualize an area that could be developed where there is big double garage now and is on corner so has access to street whilst we retain driveway and still good garden and potential space to build a single garage.
Other houses on street have done it so should be planning precedent. Has anyone done this? Any idea of how much it would be worth? Would it be less hassle to sell to developers? Or would it cost fortune to get plans then sell? I don't know difference in profit?

Precedent isn't really a thing in planning because every site is different. You say yours is a corner plot which makes it (and all the planning considerations) very different from other parts of the road where new houses may have been approved.
Before investing in anything, I would approach the local planning department to get their view on the principle of a new dwelling being approved.

Thanks that's a good place to start

A family member has recently done this. From initial idea to property being built was many years. The process of getting planning was lengthy as initial plan was rejected and they went back and forth with alterations until it was approved. Neighbours were not all supportive which caused a lot of bad feelings and upset.
They decided to build the property and then sell because they wanted some control over what was built. They could have just sold the piece of land to a developer and did receive offers for this.
Ultimately it has all worked out in the end but nothing was quick or easy.

You will need to get outline planning I believe. It took a neighbour years to push it through, then they tried to sell the land with planning attached but no one has been interested in years. It just sits on Rightmove. I expect because it’s too expensive to bother.

You could just sell the land as a potential building plot and let someone else have all the problems with planning and building. Find out how much you might get for the plot (you would get more with some planning permission), if it covers what you need it will be much quicker than even getting outline planning permission. You could ask the planning department if planning permission would be likely to be granted and add their, hopefully positive reply, to the sale details.

Edit: If you are in a hurry for the funds Auction might be the way to go, it might also bring in potential buyers from further away.

If you've got a mortgage you'd need consent from the lender to sell part of the plot.

Thank you these are great points , appreciate the advice

You can usually pay a local planning officer to visit the site and advise you what you might be allowed and likelihood of getting PP. I think we paid about £150. Our architects then did drawings (about £2k) and then did the PP for us - surprisingly it went straight through and then after mulling about it a while, we sold the plot to a developer, as decided building ourselves wasn't worth the hassle. From initial thoughts to people moving in was probably 18mths -2 years.

And without PP the plot is pretty worthless...

Thank you that's really helpful

Whichever option you go for, unless you do the building yourselves. you'd need to try to prescribe what a developer could/couldn't build. You might get consent for something small and in keeping and find the developer wants something you really don't want.

Yes I've thought that. There are a couple of small tasteful houses have been built in gardens by us but a developer got rejected twice for trying to squeeze 3 houses in small plot. I would want small tasteful bungalow ideally. If I got the planning then that is what I'd be selling I think? But they could apply for change . I need to speak to planning first

Selling with planning for a bungalow is unlikely to guarantee you get a bungalow. The purpose of the planning you sell with is really to give the purchaser the reassurance that it is acceptable to build on that plot - and get you the higher price that goes with a "building plot" rather than just selling a piece of land. People are unlikely to buy without planning because if all they end up with is a bit of garden they can't do anything with, they've lost their money. Almost everyone redesigns and resubmits a new planning application once they've bought the building plot.

Yes I suppose if I have planning out to me I may get an idea of the Max size they'd approve on the plot . I don't want to shoot my self in the foot

I’ve done similar several times , I use a planning consultant in conjunction with an architect who between them draw up plans and go through the planning process on my behalf, costs can vary and last time was 5 or 6 years ago so fees will have increased and probably vary as far as region too but I think drawings were around 4k and the consultant was @ £80 per hour plus expenses ( absolutely worth his weight in gold as a lot can be done in a few hours ) my consultant also attends the planning meetings and represents my application both written and verbally in person , if you find a good local one who knows the area and what the council are likely to approve you can work together on what would be best fit for the application ,

I would suggest your first port of call would be to talk to a good local estate agent as to possible value , someone who sells similar lots

don’t forget you will have to pay CGT on any income from the sale (minus expenses, so keep tabs on all expenditure) for this I use a good accountant who is up to date on property tax

@nottoplan how much is the CGT out of interest?

@notatinydancer usually between 18% and 28% but it can vary depending on numerous variables , your income , any relief / allowances , what you gain , what it was worth in the first place , what the devaluation of the remaining property might be , plus other bits I can’t remember right now , so it really is important to have the right accountant, someone who is used to property tax

The best profits for you would be to get planning and sell with planning, unless you know fast effective builders?

See if you can find a local planning consultant to chat too they will advise on size and scope you'd be allowed.

You can do some drawings with an architect and then submit for planning, I would skip pre-app as the laws are now changing on development.

That phase will be £3-£5k which will be worth doing as you found end up with a nice lump sum.

As general rule the values on development are 1/3 - land cost, 1/3 - build costs 1/3- profit

So if your land is worth £100k, build cost will be 100K and profit after sale I'll be £100k to keep it simple.

The profits are slightly lower as build costs rose during covid but they are settling now.

If you use a developer they will just be taking a bigger chunk of profit for their time so would pay £50k for land then make the £150k back after sale.

So by this logic, would a valuation for the land be about 1/3 of the potential value of a house that could be built on there?