Plot of Land in East Sussex

[southgate]

Can anyone point me in the right direction to buying land with the intent of building my own house on it.

The land needs to be big enough to build a smallish, say 3 bed detached house on. It will be lived in by myself, as my home, but potentially making a few £££ in the process. I realise this may not be the best time to get into developing, its more to gain experience and maybe make a profit long term (not giving up the day job...).

I guess the best land would get snapped up very quickly by profesional developers but i'm hoping to pick up something much smaller scale.
Basically, how do I cut out the middle-man and get first dibs on something good?

[Adam T]

Find out which areas you like, join plotfinder and see whats for sale. alternatively you could drive round, see what you like plot wise/garden etc and ask if you could buy someones garden.. Much easier I reckon to visit estate agents etc, and join the web sites which allow you to search plots for sale, if your only looking for one plot for a 3 bed you may be ok from the threats of bigger developers.

[Dick Dastardly]

Also try the local property auctions as they often hold smaller plots.

[DonnyMac]

I think PH FUBAR is an estate agent / property developer in East Sussex - good guy, I'm sure he'd give you some pointers if you ping him an email

[Plotloss]

You brown envelope estate agents but even they are now starting to expect more than they're worth.

[A11REX]

In my experience it just takes hard work and lots of patience.

Use every avenue possible. Ask friends and agents, check all websites, cold call, check all the auctions.
www.rightmove.co.uk is a good place to start and isn't genaerally used to find land, so oppurtunities sometimes arise that others don't spot

Is there a particular part of East Sussex you're looking at? I know of one plot with permission for a small house near Forest Row but it comes with an agricultural tie.
We were asked to supply a Timber Frame house to the owner but she changed her mind at the last minute and wants to cash in instead.

Good luck

[Oi_Oi_Savaloy]

Have a look at some of the regular websites (plotfinder.co.uk, building-plot.org.uk) etc etc. I even think there's a magazine on this stuff (a big W H Smith's will help).

[southgate]

Cheers for the web links, will join/check those. I guess some hard detective should eventually pay off.

Letting estate agents know it could be worth their while is an idea... I suppose going round and meeting some (rather than emailing) could be worthwhile.