[BobTheFarmer]

Afternoon all, hope you're all having a lovely if chilly weekend.

Due to work circumstances I may be moving to Scotland in the next few weeks which means we need to change our long term plans and look at establishing a smallholding in Scotland rather than Cornwall.  It will definitely mean a big change in what we would produce but at the moment I'm more concerned with the legality of buying a plot of land in the first place.

I've been researching for months the laws in England and so ignored any references to "it's different in Scotland" which hasn't helped... all I can seem to find is a line that the PD rules apply for any land over 0.4Ha rather than the 5Ha down here.  Is that it?  What other rules and regs are different that I need to be aware of?

All help and comments appreciated.

[doganjo]

I hope you and your family will be very happy in our country.  It is a wonderful place to live.

Generally speaking you will probably find it very difficult to buy a plot of land with enough for a smallholding with the intention of building a house on it.  You'd be better to buy a house with land attached (and suffer competition from horsey people) - or a house and separate land although that is not ideal with some animals that may need you to be close by overnight.

There is a difference in the house buying system too - we have 'offers over' rather than a suggested price, and the  amount you pay can be a) roundabout the offers over price, or slightly less depending on how long it has been on the market, or b) a percentrage over the offers only price, depending on what area you are buying in.  That can vary from say 5% to 20%

There are a variety of methods of looking for property, but for houses with land the likes of Shepherds, UKlandandfarms, (http://www.uklandandfarms.co.uk/rural-properties-for-sale/scotland/central-scotland/) or the agricultural auction sites (Aberdeen & Northern Marts for instance) are possibly better than the standard estate agents.  Some lawyers have their own estate sections too, so probably googling "houses with land in Dumfriesshire" or something similar might get you rolling.

As to PD, I'm not au fait with acronyms, but if it is subsidies you're after, I would suggest the house and land are the first thing you should consider, as that will be the most difficult to find unless you have a considerable deposit and/or mortgage available.

Good luck!

[Scotsdumpy]

Hi Bob, weve been in scotland now for 12 years. We came up when coming to scotland was very fashionable due to lower prices for 'farms' and smallholdings. At that time properties came onto the market and were snapped up by us incomers or white settlers  within days. The bubble is now burst on the scramble to buy places up here so you might be able to purchase a small plot of land with house and steading. It all depends on where you have to locate to. Up here in north Aberdeenshire the property market for smallholdings is fairly quiet to get a good idea check out aberdeen and northern marts property dept. Or check aspc.co.uk who have most listings from solicitors who deal in property. Obviously the prices differ from area to area - weintended to go to dumfries and galloway but were priced out of the market...  good luck with your search

[BobTheFarmer]

Thanks for the very useful replies, my fiancé is from Prestwick originally so we are going to be staying with her family while we job hunt.  Having locals to help with deciphering the language barrier is useful too 

I've applied for jobs all over Scotland, I'm a brewer by trade and so far have applied for jobs ranging from the borders up to Ellon north of Aberdeen and a few in the middle!  I have no idea where we will end up so just trying to find out the main differences between the law in England vs Scotland.  The "offers" system is one I'm currently trying to get my head around.

So far I have seen a couple of sites with 15-30 acres with a house plus barns etc in the region of £250,000 which compared to down here is a steal!  We prefer somewhere a bit broken down and in need of work so we can put our own stamp on the place.  I'm an engineer by qualification so looking to be as off-grid as possible using all available renewable energy sources and growing our own firewood etc.  I've seen a couple of properties on the outskirts of the Cairngorms which I'd buy instantly if I had the dosh!

@dogandjo why do you say it is difficult to buy just land then build?  I know it is not easy to do anywhere in the UK but is there something that makes it particularly difficult?  I was really suprised to find three different plots where planning was already in place for a small house on 30acres, sounds ideal to me!

[alang]

Just a quick side note to your question. Macallan distillery at Aberlour area and Brew Dog at Aberdeen are hiring at the moment 

[doganjo]

@dogandjo why do you say it is difficult to buy just land then build?  I know it is not easy to do anywhere in the UK but is there something that makes it particularly difficult?  I was really suprised to find three different plots where planning was already in place for a small house on 30acres, sounds ideal to me!

What I meant was buying a plot without planning and trying to get it would be difficult.  If there is planning consent already on a plot then it will be quite a bit dearer to buy but you should have few problems building.  If you have at least £250K available you shouldn't have a problem finding something suitable except in the central belt.  I moved down here 9 years ago from a newer but similar sized house to the one I have now, at a  similar price but with 1 acre instead of the 10 I had in Aberdeenshire!!!
You will also find that the price can vary from one side of a large town or city to another.  The house I built in Aberdeenshire was on the North side of Aberdeen, if I'd been able to get a plot on Deeside at all it would have cost me the price i built the house for. (about £140K )   I have just sold the last bit of my land up there, with outline permission, for £45K - a fifth of an acre in a small hamlet, with four protected trees on it, so not suitable as a smallholding at all.  If you find a plout with consent and 30 acres go for it - build your own house exactly as you want it. We broke ground at the end of February and I moved in at the end of July

[BobTheFarmer]

Just a quick side note to your question. Macallan distillery at Aberlour area and Brew Dog at Aberdeen are hiring at the moment 

Thanks, I've already applied to BrewDog, am going to look at distilleries if I don't have any joy with breweries.

[BobTheFarmer]

@dogandjo why do you say it is difficult to buy just land then build?  I know it is not easy to do anywhere in the UK but is there something that makes it particularly difficult?  I was really suprised to find three different plots where planning was already in place for a small house on 30acres, sounds ideal to me!

What I meant was buying a plot without planning and trying to get it would be difficult.  If there is planning consent already on a plot then it will be quite a bit dearer to buy but you should have few problems building.  If you have at least £250K available you shouldn't have a problem finding something suitable except in the central belt.  I moved down here 9 years ago from a newer but similar sized house to the one I have now, at a  similar price but with 1 acre instead of the 10 I had in Aberdeenshire!!!
You will also find that the price can vary from one side of a large town or city to another.  The house I built in Aberdeenshire was on the North side of Aberdeen, if I'd been able to get a plot on Deeside at all it would have cost me the price i built the house for. (about £140K )   I have just sold the last bit of my land up there, with outline permission, for £45K - a fifth of an acre in a small hamlet, with four protected trees on it, so not suitable as a smallholding at all.  If you find a plout with consent and 30 acres go for it - build your own house exactly as you want it. We broke ground at the end of February and I moved in at the end of July

Thanks for the clarification, it has always amazed me how much more expensive a smaller, crappier property can be just because it is close to where jobs are or its popular with monied people.  Down here if you want to live in one of the quaint seaside towns a tiny 2-3 bed house with no garden or parking will cost you £400k whereas if you move 3-4 miles away you can get 5 beds and an acre of garden for the same money.  Madness!  We'd never be able to afford more than a one bed house in the town I've lived in for 11yrs so we're stuck renting. 

I've always been keen on going the field-to-farm route and using PD rights to build a farm then a house, pretty much our only option in Cornwall as here even a few acres with a small house goes for £400k+.  If you want 30+ acres with a house it will run to over a million!