Advise on land for sale

[IATM]

Hi All,

I have seen 5 acres of agricultural land for sale which on the surface of it looks cheap however it does say offers over.

This is not something I have done before so looking for advise on pitfalls or things I have missed.

There is residential land/houses within a 1 mile radius of this land and further to this there was a fairly exclusive housing development 1/4 of a mile from this land so my thoughts are if it is agricultural now, in the future it has postential to be changed.

Why the current owner has not done this? Always a question I ask.
Of course I can ask advise from my solicitor however are their others I can ask too? land surveyors? any checks I can do on my own?

Any help would be great.

[blueg33]

Read the local plan and see what it says.

A quarter of a mile is a long way in planning policy terms, infact even 50 metres can make all the difference

[insurance_jon]

and the sale will be probably be subject to a covenant/profit share on any development

[Jasandjules]

Ask about what uplift they expect i.e. what profit they expect to make on the back of any long term effort and investment you make....

[blueg33]

Jasandjules said:

Ask about what uplift they expect i.e. what profit they expect to make on the back of any long term effort and investment you make....

Don't ask this, it will alert them to the possibility, keep quiet and wait to see if they raise it

That's what any professional land buyer would do..........

[benters]

presumably there will be ties or covenants in place to keep it agricultural ? but the advice to at first read the local plan gets my vote.

[covmutley]

Yes, thickness of a line on a plan makes all the difference.

Reading the plan is always a good start, but unless its a site that has somehow been missed by developers (highly unlikely) then it will be a case of judging future potential and you need to understand the emerging plan context and that can get complicated quite quickly, for my small brain at least!

[surveyor]

Depending on the sale price I've seen people do well out of buying agri land then splitting the plots to sell as paddocks etc.... Or you rent it out as such and take the long game trying to influence the next local plan to re-designate the land etc...

[Jasandjules]

surveyor said:

Depending on the sale price I've seen people do well out of buying agri land then splitting the plots to sell as paddocks etc.... Or you rent it out as such and take the long game trying to influence the next local plan to re-designate the land etc...

Last time I spoke to planners, you can not keep horses (except those used in farming) on Agricultural land...

[IATM]

Thanks for all the advise everyone - its been very helpful:

1) I would agree with blueg33 regarding any long term profit split; it is not a topic I would raise unless I seen it on any paperwork or it was mentioned to me.

2) It looks like the plan set out by the local council has marked this land out for commerical only which is also fine however what is worrying from my point of view is that it states: "risk of flooding as they lie in part within a 1:200 year flood event as shown on SEPA’s Flood Maps". They would also require a travel assesment done if there was any development done on the land.
The reason I think for this is that the access for the land is off a country road.

[Condi]

Looks cheap compared to what? 4 or 5 acres is ideal pony paddock size so usually not cheap in the slightest. For comparison ag land is 6-10k/acre depending on location, soil type etc. And there really arnt many places you can easily pick up bits which are likely to go for building; tends to be protected greenbelt.

Not wanting to piss on your chips, but the value to someone outside agriculture who is hoping to take a punt, and the value to someone knowing a little more about the economics could be massive.