Self-build land in London - how much is it worth?

Question

I've got a problem with a defective title in a narrow strip of garden.

Advice seems to be that to avoid compromising our forthcoming house sale we should split the house away from its garden. We can do that readily leaving a 39m x 14m plot for a bungalow and a 15m x 4.5m plot with an existing garage, parking space and road access.

Here's the photos, aerial photos etc:

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The two plots are connected notionally by a 1-1.5m narrow path (that should not present a practical problem because we have unresticted use of the defective bit).

So the questions are:

1) Is it possible to get permission for a house with such narrow access to the road?

2) If so approx how much is this plot worth? Around 1 mile to Surbiton Station?

Any help and advice appreciated:

Tumbleweed · Accepted Answer

IIRC you may have a problem with CGT if you split it that way.

Troy Steadman · Answer

Ta for that hint, the HMRC site was down this morning. Presumably that is nothing to do with the narrow "neck" of land between the two bits of land?

ISTR that the optimum method of developing was:

1) Buy a house in many acres in Esher and live in it (ie PPR). 2) Build a house with a very large garden in the garden and move into it. 3) Sell the old house and use the proceeds to build a new house in the new garden.

...and so on until the Revenue latch on. Thanks for your input Tumbleweed.

Troy Steadman · Answer

Oops...*not* many acres, only works for smallish plots?

Owain · Answer

The minute you separate the second plot off from the garden of the  first, either the first or the second will cease to be your 'sole or  main residence' so may attract CGT. Owain

Ronald Raygun · Answer

Not quite true, I gather. There's something about the grounds being commensurate with enjoyment of the house, isn't there? Hence a huge mansion set in 10 acres of landscaped parkland could well count all of it as its "garden", whilst a bijou cottage could not.

Richard Faulkner · Answer

In message , Owain   writes But if you sell the land 1st, it is part of your PPR and not subject to  CGT, (up to about a quarter acre IIRC).

Doug Ramage · Answer

The "permitted area" is currently 1/2 hectare, which is ~ 1.25 acres.

me · Answer

In message , Doug Ramage   writes And the government is looking for up to about 40 units per hectare, so  you should be able to do it 20 times!

Self-build land in London - how much is it worth?

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