[doganjo]

I've just been given a valuation for my plot in Aberdeenshire -  £70,000;  with water, electricity, drainage all close by, and I am presently obtaining quotes for taking these onsite.  About 1000 sq m, so plenty room for a 3 bed house (build cost about £150K), plus a large fertile plot containing some established trees for shelter.  Wooden garage and railway meat carriage included.  Adjacent to farmland, so neighbour might be willing to rent some more land.

PM me for details.

[doganjo]

Links to Aberdeen Solicitors Property Centre, and Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace, Inverurie


http://www-g.aspc.co.uk/cgi-bin/public/LiveProperty/306393?ID=LMNPKJPG#picture

http://www.raeburns.co.uk/property/PDFFiles/10783.pdf

[mojocafa]

Is that bennachie in the background of the middle picture?

[doganjo]

It is indeed.  That was John's training ground for his mountaineering - 5 minutes drive each way to the car park, he used to run the three main peaks, and door to door was back home in 29 minutes,

[mojocafa]

My grandad was born at the foot of bennachie and his dad before him. To commemorate my grandads 80th birthday the whole family including him climbed to the mither tap it was a truly remarkable day that will always be a memory I will treasure. This has been my only jaunt to the the top. I dont think in could climb it now never mind when I m 80. Sadly he died last year just before what would have been his 100 birthday.

[doganjo]

John's ashes were scattered at the top of Oxen Craigs (it's actually higher than the Mither Tap) as mine will be - don't worry my kids have agreed to do it 

[smiley bucket]

That's a jolly nice price to look forward to, hope you find a buyer soon, lovely part of the country.

[doganjo]

Perhaps, but not all profit - deduct original cost, and £4000 costs plus so far, and CGT to pay.  It was bought with insurance money as my pension after Sandy was killed in the crash.  So will be re-invested closer to home.

[scarlettoara]

and £4000 costs plus so far,

how easy is it to get outline planning? were the costs all due to the planning etc? would you have lost the £4k is PP was refused?
thanks -its something we will have to do over next few years and iv no idea where to start!

ps, good luck, lovely area.

[doganjo]

Yes I'd have lost the lot if PP had been refused and we only have two years from when it was granted before having to either sell or start developing ourselves.  It was harder to get planning because there were reports of various animals from one particular neighbour (they said they saw bats, badgers, deer, red squirrels - nobody else saw them!  )- I had to get all sorts of environmental surveys done which is what bumped up the cost. Plus I had a bad Architect who didn't know the rules about cohesive groups and went ahead with an application against my instructions.  However, it's all sorted now, and it's big enough for a 3/4 bed bungalow or 1.5 storey, with garage, nice garden and room for chooks, plus the nice farmer next door may rent at least a bit of a field to the new owner.  I've built a house bigger than that before and it cost 128K all in.  The Budget today may help I hear.

[lachlanandmarcus]

Our recent PP for the ruined cottage on our holding cost about 4-5k in total. That was mainly architects fees  as we went for detailed full PP, plus structural engineer report as to the state of the ruin as we were asking to restore/reinstate it and extend ithe Planning permission fee etc.


It was a complete gamble, if it had been turned down we would have had to write it off or throw even more money at it with an appeal or more revised plans.


Thankfully it went straight through :-) of course we haven't the funds to actually do it but it means I can get on with repairing what is there of the cottage and know what is and isn't to be retained in the eventual final picture, and the wee place has a future rather than becoming a pile of stones.

[doganjo]

Well don, LM.  That's part of the reason for doing something with this plot - it would have just become a weed store if we hadn't gone for PP - again I believe my architect advised me badly - I think we should have gone for detailed rather than outline, but there you go.  It's a beautiful wee hamlet and lovely people, with a good community spirit in the village.

[lachlanandmarcus]

Well don, LM.  That's part of the reason for doing something with this plot - it would have just become a weed store if we hadn't gone for PP - again I believe my architect advised me badly - I think we should have gone for detailed rather than outline, but there you go.  It's a beautiful wee hamlet and lovely people, with a good community spirit in the village.

Some people might like the freedom that the outline PP gives them tho, so they can do it how they wanted. So you might find that positively appeals to some potential buyers for your plot, esp as it is a new build proposition.


We did the detailed partly cos the nature of the existing property and location (near B listed house, prominent in sight from the national park, in a greenfield/isolated) meant we were pretty clear on the sort of proposal which would even start to be considered as most options wouldn't even get past the first in tray!


But cost wise, yes straight to detailed is the cheaper option overall provided you then stick to the scheme approved.

[doganjo]

I've had 700 inquiries and two noted interests although one has changed their minds and offered for a ruined farm down the road.  It's a good price for a fifth of an acre slightly away from prying eyes, and in such a lovely area, but I believe it's difficult to get a loan to buy land.   
Here's the links again in case anyone hasn't had a look yet. Links to Aberdeen Solicitors Property Centre, and Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace, Inverurie


http://www-g.aspc.co.uk/cgi-bin/public/LiveProperty/306393?ID=LMNPKJPG#picture

http://www.raeburns.co.uk/property/PDFFiles/10783.pdf

I've had a quote for electricity of about £1400 including digging the trench although that could be done yourself, and a bio disc would be £3000 plus installation fo roughly the same.  All VAT is of course recoverable.

[Roxy]

Looks a lovely spot for a dwelling.  You are right, no mortgage lender will entertain land, so needs a cash buyer.  We tried to put our land up as collateral when buying our house, to get the mortgage, but they were only interested in houses.  Yet our land is worth as much as, if not more, than a house.