Anyone done this or got any input?
We have a detached house with a large garden that we will be selling, prior to the sale we want to refine the boundaries to create a house with a smaller garden & a plot which will keep the garage only at present but has the potential for my son to build on in later years and ease him onto the property ladder - we can't assist financially any other way.
The plot has been split in the past and when we purchased the house in 2011 we also simultaneously purchased the plot beside it and rejoined the two.
Both plots will have parking for two cars.
So far our rough plan is:
1) Fence off the plot to divide the two.
2) Get National Grid to provide a separate power and meter to the garage plot which we'll keep.
3) Redefine the boundary in the deeds at the point of sale with Land Registry (we're not sure of how this process works but that's how we'd like to do it).
4) Sell the house.
Anyone got any informed input / experience of doing similar?
Cheers.
Water and sewage? (Gas?)
Will either property require access across the other’s land (if not daily then for maintenance tasks?)
I’d want to have outline planning in place for the new property before selling and the new owner objecting!
are you sure that by the time you’ve done all that and paid the legal costs, rates(?) when it’s just a garage etc that you will definitely be better off doing that to help your son on the property ladder rather than a. Developing it and selling it yourself; b. Simply keeping as one larger property?
As a potential buyer I’d be put off by a potential unknown building site next door.
We won't be submitting plans as they'll be void in 3 years and my son won't be building within that timeframe.
I've done the land registry bit. There wasn't any power or services on the site so no issues there. The land registry were easy to deal with. I went to the local office in person with my passport and that was fine. The forms were quite straightforward, TP1 and an ID1 iirc plus quite a modest fee. You do need to think about access especially if one site is accessible via another.
Each site has its own access directly from the road onto their own dropped kerb driveways with each plot beyond this.
We won’t be submitting plans
You will obvs need to apply for planning to build on the newly created plot... but will this be the formality you think is?
Our council are not keen to allow building on garden land.
Obvs YMMV but this does seem to be a big part of your plan.
Have a real think about the access and loss of land. A friends parents did this. To sell the old big house and move into the smaller house at the end of the garden. The husband was an architect.
Turned out no one wanted the big house without the whole garden and no one wanted the smaller house with limited access.
Ended up bankrupt when they should have been retired.
ohi - cheers, will do.
The previously split plot which we purchased had been sold and rented without issue during the years prior to our purchase.
We think our redefining of the boundaries is more favourable for both plots.
I appreciate there is risk involved - hence putting some feelers out in here. Your opinions are all welcome.
Once you get planning don't you just need to put some footings in or something, and then it's valid a lot longer.
But I think get planning permission and then sell the lot to a builder/ developer, and invest whatever portion you want to save for your lad.
Will he really be up for a self build or the bother of mortgaging something being built on his behalf with a limited deposit, and hassle with planning/builders/neighbours?
He might not even want to live in that part of the county.
But I think get planning permission and then sell the lot to a builder/ developer, and invest whatever portion you want to save for your lad.
Will he really be up for a self build or the bother of mortgaging something being built on his behalf with a limited deposit, and hassle with planning/builders/neighbours?
He might not even want to live in that part of the county.
My thoughts too.
I'd get planning approved before the new owners move in. It's normally a formality to resubmit the same plans 3 years later to keep things "fresh" and avoids issues with the new owners
It sounds like the plot of land you want to keep has never had a dwelling house on it? I don't really understand why you would have services / utilities connected to the garage if you are going to sell up and not live next door. Once you get planning permission for a dwelling on the site then you can pay for services connected. Otherwise who is paying for the standing charges, does it become a business site (change of use), how will the garage be insured? Or would the services have to pass through the plot with the house on, so you need to arrange access covenants on the house before / when you are selling. As well as land registry you probably need an address registering with Royal Mail. I agree with others, I would want to investigate if you can get outline permission first, as said some Local Authorities are against building in gardens (the curtilage of a dwelling) but others just want the infill numbers. I also agree you'll probably give more financially by getting outline permission and selling it to a developer than hanging onto it.
Will he really be up for a self build or the bother of mortgaging something being built on his behalf with a limited deposit, and hassle with planning/builders/neighbours?
He might not even want to live in that part of the county.
He could always sell it?
I have no experience here but I really think you need to 'do the math' and possibly seek expert advice. Are you likely to get more or less money overall if you sell the Big House with the Big Garden as opposed to dividing it back up for little reason I can see other than "we already have it"? You say you can't contribute financially in other ways but have the means to build a house from scratch?
The plot has been split in the past and when we purchased the house in 2011 we also simultaneously purchased the plot beside it and rejoined the two.
How did you "rejoin the two"? Was there a legal process or did you just uproot a fence?
It might tbe wise to seek advice on the implications for capital gains and /or inheritance tax.
The two plots were legally rejoined on the deeds during our purchase.
Previously the separate plot had a planning application submitted for a one bed detached bungalow but this was rejected due to no car parking space which we can resolve.
My son's an apprentice tradey, he can fund it via a self build mortgage himself once he's qualified, taken a year out and is ready to settle down and build a house. He'll live with us until then & save.
Getting planning and selling to a builder is also a possibility - it'd be down to him as to what he wants to do / where he wants to live.
Different experience but possibly relevant. Two semi-detached, knocked together, when it came time to split and sell one it opened up a raft of expensive building regs (BR) and they were counted as two new properties despite being 30 years old
Fire regs (x2), sound insulation between the two, checking handrail specs on original stairs, separate utilities supply reports and certification, council tax x2, etc, etc. The BR man specified independent reports on everything he wasn't happy with at £££ per report
A scoping enquiry with the local council might be a plan, even if it costs you for a visit
I would first get the council onside with re-creating the second plot as a site for a housing. But better to sell the whole plot as is and gift the implied value of the building plot to your son?
Not quite the same but when we renovated one of the barns on our 'plot' for my Mum to live in, we could only get permission for it as an annex rather than as a separate property.
We took a risk based on it Mum might be around for 20 years and we'd worry about the 'implications' at a later date.
Oh, and yes, they still charged an additional council tax...
