Month 02

Secure Your Site

You have established your Brief in Month 01. Now it is time to secure your chosen Site!

Once you have identified a site that meets your requirements, it is important to move quickly to secure it. Little do people realise, there are in fact several ways to secure your chosen site. First, is to simply purchase it. Perhaps the site already has Planning Permission for a home. If this is the case, it is a good idea to contact the local planning authority to understand any constraints placed on the consent. It may be that there is room for manoeuvre in terms of changing the design to suit your specific requirements.

Alternatively, you can secure your site with an Option. An option is a legally binding obligation to purchase the site should you secure full Planning Consent. It is useful on sites that perhaps do not have full Planning Consent in place. Should you be unable to secure your required Consent, then you can simply walk away from the deal. Options are often time constrained to ensure timescales are kept reasonable to protect both parties.

Be mindful that often sites can be sold without service connections. These can be difficult and costly to bring to a site. Due diligence should be undertaken on this specific point before entering into any agreement. Validate any servicing claims made by the vendor, check availability and cost of installation and connection of services. You can of course place a condition and burden on the Purchase Agreement that obligates the Seller to Service the Plot. Often, these will have a monetary limit attributed to them.

Note that entering into any legal agreement should only be undertaken with the advice of a solicitor. In this, you should endeavour to work with a solicitor who is familiar with land acquisition. Often, standard conveyancing solicitors are not familiar with the nuances of bespoke land acquisition deals, particularly in the case of Option Agreements, and are perhaps not appropriate for such deals. Ask your solicitor what their experience is and if they have undertaken any similar agreements in the past. Speak to previous clients of theirs to determine whether or not they were happy with the service.

Congratulations, your first significant milestone is reached in securing your site! Now you can begin to plan in real terms for your new home. Our next article will explore appointing your Design Team during Month 03.

We hope this article has been helpful and inspirational. If you would like to know more, you can contact us here.