No experience of buying farmland, but a couple of years back I found a small plot through the local council. Most councils publish lists on their website of dilapidations, long term voids, plots, old buildings, (eg disused public toilets) and sometimes commercial stuff. The dept that deals with it is asset management, IIRC.
The site did not have planning and had an infestation of japanese knotweed, which, had I known at the time, I wouldnt have touched with a bargepole.
Bought it through the company, paid 15k for it. The plot itself was on the edge of a commercial district just off a high street, so was a prime spot for development.
I eventually got planning about 2 years later after spending a fair few quid on architect fees, and having a couple of schemes refused.
The knotweed cost around 22k to remove (I couldn't wait another 2 years for chemical disposal which would have been a fraction of the cost).
The upside is the company got 150% land remediation tax relief on the knotweed and site preparation (knotweed infested land is deemed contaminated, so HMRC grant a dispensation - you need a specialist tax advisor to prepare the reports as your accountant wouldnt have a clue how to tackle it). Also got Capital allowances on the build, part commercial and part residential and the building is now worth about 225k conservatively.
Well worth doing if you take a long term view, plotsearch/buildsearch and those type of sites are ok but the land is usually overpriced as they sell with OPP - ok for self build but not for investment.
The site did not have planning and had an infestation of japanese knotweed, which, had I known at the time, I wouldnt have touched with a bargepole.
Bought it through the company, paid 15k for it. The plot itself was on the edge of a commercial district just off a high street, so was a prime spot for development.
I eventually got planning about 2 years later after spending a fair few quid on architect fees, and having a couple of schemes refused.
The knotweed cost around 22k to remove (I couldn't wait another 2 years for chemical disposal which would have been a fraction of the cost).
The upside is the company got 150% land remediation tax relief on the knotweed and site preparation (knotweed infested land is deemed contaminated, so HMRC grant a dispensation - you need a specialist tax advisor to prepare the reports as your accountant wouldnt have a clue how to tackle it). Also got Capital allowances on the build, part commercial and part residential and the building is now worth about 225k conservatively.
Well worth doing if you take a long term view, plotsearch/buildsearch and those type of sites are ok but the land is usually overpriced as they sell with OPP - ok for self build but not for investment.
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