The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Buildings & planning => Topic started by: elv73 on February 19, 2019, 02:59:33 pm
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Hi,
Im hoping someone on here might be able to give us a bit of advice regarding buying a small holding.
We are currently looking at a property in Angus, Scotland that we have been told by the seller is a registered small holding. It is a converted steading with approx 5 acres.
The property is being sold without a home report as is usually required to sell a property in Scotland and the seller has stated that as the property is registered as a small holding a home report for the house is not required.
Can anyone who's purchased or sold a small holding in Scotland recently confirm if this is correct?
Thanks in advance
Lee
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We sold our small farm in Scotland in 2017 and did not get a home report done as the farm is classed as a commercial property. We had about 47 acres & had been running a small livestock business -selling beef, cattle, a few sheep & hay. VAT registered etc...
Our solicitor was experienced in agricultural property sales and was happy that we didn't need the home report to sell the farm. If you're serious about this property I would suggest getting confirmation from a good local solicitor who knows about agricultural sales.
Our buyer got a land agent to do a survey - to value the house, farm buildings and the land. He used Galbraith.
Hope this helps
Sue
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As Sue says, it sounds like it's classed as commercial property - this will give you problems if you need a mortgage on it, because you won't be able to get a normal residential one.
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Sue and Caroline are correct - though the seller must provide a home report for a house, this doesn't apply to commercial properties.
If you're interested in buying it, the first step would be for you to commission your own survey (be warned - I recently arranged one for an ex pub that our local development trust thought about buying, and it cost us £2K). Then as Caroline says, this could mean you can't buy it with a standard residential mortgage. There could also be capital gains tax implications as well, so expert advice is needed.
It is a converted steading with approx 5 acres.
Hmmm. I'd want to confirm that the conversion hadn't been done to proper residential standards before proceeding. It would also be worth checking that all the relevant planning permission and building warrant documents were obtained and signed off on completion of the conversion.