Although there will always be a myriad of questions, many we’ve heard before and others which are yet to be put to us, we thought it would be particularly useful to cover some of the more frequently asked questions which we regularly receive from land and real estate owners.
Q: How expensive is it to engage Success Property to look at our property and real estate assets and to give an opinion on the potential development prospects of my land and real estate being developed?
A: Success Property do not charge to investigate any land or real estate owners property‘s potential, or to consider whether or not that land or real estate is suitable, in our opinion, for development. Indeed, Success Property never charge a land or real estate owner for any services at all. We are more than happy to meet with land and real estate owners to discuss how our services are paid for in the event that we are engaged to assist an owner to dispose of any of their land and real estate assets.
Q: I’ve owned the land for a long time, I have no idea if it could be developed, how do I find out?
A: This may be the most common question we receive. The first thing we suggest is that the owner of the land should send us a copy of the title deeds and the land registry plan of the land and real estate in question. These can be posted or emailed to us, or alternatively, if these cannot be located they can be obtained directly from the land registry by searching online at:- https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry
We are always happy to offer an opinion.
Q: A piece of land nearby to my land was recently granted planning consent, does that mean I’m guaranteed to obtain planning consent too?
A: When making a planning application, nothing is guaranteed. Each piece of land or real estate will carry its own merits and also of course, may also have its own reasons which dictate that planning consent might not be possible or appropriate. We are always keen to consider land and real estate opportunities and we’d be happy to share our view and opinion on your prospects.
Q: I’ve already spoken to potential developers about my land, they say it is not suitable for development, does that mean I should give up hope?
A: Each individual developer will have their own criteria. They will have a strategy for their business and just because a piece of land or real estate does not suit that strategy, it does not mean that the land or real estate in question is not suitable for development. We are totally independent and we are not influenced or bound by any developer’s individual strategy or outlook. We would be more than happy to consider the reasons why other developers may have concluded that your land or real estate is not suitable for development by them and to discuss a strategy on how you could work with us in the event that we believe there are real prospects of a development.
Q: I have discussed my land and real estate with potential developers, they made me an offer but my friends tell me that developers can’t be trusted and that I can obtain much more than I’ve been offered.
A: Of all the questions we are ever asked, this is probably the number one question. Each developer will have a different opinion on what it may be possible to construct on the land or real estate in question and as a consequence, that can result in widely differing opinions and with that widely differing values. It is important to understand the real potential of a piece of land or real estate and to properly consider exactly what might be consented to by the local planning authority, as well as the value of residential property in the area of the land and real estate. It is vital to understand whether or not there is a shortage of property locally, demand can heavily influence both value and likelihood of consent. It is very important to place the land and real estate assets into the context of where they are located within the UK. Remember, a one bedroom apartment in Knightsbridge in the centre of London might have the same value as an island off the coast of Scotland or a country estate in Norfolk. At Success Property we pride ourselves on constantly researching the value of land and real estate assets in different parts of the United Kingdom. We constantly monitor average property values, demand and the marketability of particular types of residential property in every geographic location. We are always happy to give a view on what type of property would most suit your area in general and on your land and real estate in particular.
Q: If I contact you and explain that I am interested in understanding the value of my land and real estate, moreover that I am eager to discover whether I am sitting on a “gold mine” and if so, that I’d like to sell it, how quickly can you meet with me?
A: We fully appreciate that once an owner has concluded that they might be interested in selling their land or real estate, that they would want to understand very quickly whether or not redevelopment of the land and real estate is possible and crucially, viable to do so. We always offer to meet with the land or real estate owner within a week of being contacted, very often we manage to do so within a day or two, we always give an opinion when we meet. The key to offering this efficiency and such a swift service is that as soon as we are contacted by a land or real estate owner we start the process of looking into and examining the individual case in question.
Q: I don’t want to sell my home and I want to keep some of the land around it, can I sell part of my land and can Success Property help me achieve that?
A: At Success Property we come across this particular situation on an almost daily basis. It can make perfect sense to dispose of surplus land around your main residence, the key is to understand the local planning policy and to ensure that development on part of the land would be permissible and viable. It has been possible for some property owners to dispose of part of the land surrounding the house and release enough value to buy a property elsewhere, purchase a second home, simply to use the money for luxuries or investments, others have wanted to bolster the coffers of the “bank of mum and dad”! We are always happy to consider these schemes.
Q: Wouldn’t I be better off simply going to an estate agent and asking them to advertise my land and real estate for sale?
A: A number of land and real estate owners that we have dealt with originally consulted with “traditional” estate agents, some actually engaged that type of agent before coming to us after having been unable to dispose of their land and real estate assets by that means. We believe that Success Property are better placed to help you. We have extremely good working relationships with the more than 250 residential house builders and developers with whom we collaborate, those relationships provide us with a real advantage over “traditional” agents who might simply advertise a piece of land or real estate and hope that someone sees that advert. This provides us with a considerable advantage, we are constantly updated on our collaborative developer partner’s strategies and ambitions, and we know exactly what they’re looking for and where that might be. We take the right piece of land or real estate to our chosen collaborative developer after we determine precisely which of our developer partners offers the right fit. We thoroughly understand the land and real estate development market, we have experienced housebuilding professionals and planning experts among us and our attention to the unique needs of land and real estate owners is unrivalled. The “Success Property experience” is what we have built our business upon, efficiency, empathy, confidentiality and candour are the qualities that land and real estate owners depend upon when choosing to dispose of their assets.
Q. I have questions of my own, can I ask you these directly?
A. Yes of course, we would love to hear from you with your questions, we can assure you of our prompt response. We are more than happy to hear from you by email or to accept your call. The Success team are ready to assist and very much look forward to hearing from you.
Contact us here if you have any further questions.