HOW IT WORKS

Selling your land and releasing the hidden value in your property

All of our schemes are individually designed by our team of in-house architects and designers to perfectly compliment the character of a neighbourhood.

We work directly with people just like you — home and land owners — to create beautiful homes for the next generation and beyond. Selling your land to Damson Homes is an easy, transparent, straightforward process that can provide you with a life-changing financial windfall. A typical land purchase package, which addresses all concerns, can be broken down into six steps…

Get in touch

If you feel there may be an opportunity for new home development with either your property in its entirety or combined with your neighbours, get in touch with us below.

We will take a look

From here we can quickly ascertain what development opportunities are available to you and address any concerns you have. If neighbouring properties are required, we are equally happy discussing the options open to you in either a group setting or individually.

Any parts of our discussions you wish to remain private will continue to be just that — between ourselves.

We Agree on a Development Idea

Now all parties are in general agreement; we will draw up what is called a Feasibility Study which broadly consists of an outline plan of the proposed development, any terms and conditions we have agreed to, and the likely timescale it would take to achieve planning permission.

If the development is utilising garden land, we will come by and manually peg out where your new boundary will be — in virtually all cases; we will erect your new fence as part of our agreement.

Getting it all agreed — legally for your peace-of-mind

Once all is agreed, an ‘Option Agreement’ will be entered into.

This legally-binding document keeps all property and land in your name whilst at the same time allows us to apply for planning permission — so if for any reason permission cannot be obtained, nothing changes with regards to your ownership of your property and land.

An ‘Option Agreement’ outlines…

  • The amount we have to pay you for your property or land.
  • How much time we will have to achieve planning permission.
  • Any specific terms and conditions to our agreement together.

For your full peace-of-mind, we will pay for a Solicitor for you to independently verify all the conditions we have agreed to before you formally sign and accept the Option Agreement.

Apply for Planning Permission

Once the Option Agreements are signed and exchanged, Damson Homes will begin the planning application process. Sometimes there is work we need to undertake before submitting the application such as surveys — if this is the case, we will undertake all costs and responsibility.

We Pay You and Start Building

Upon a successful planning permission decision, we will then have a pre-agreed, set amount of time to purchase your property. Your windfall is paid to you in full before we start any construction work.

The build period varies from project to project and is typically around 10-16 weeks.

FAQs

Common Questions Regarding Selling Your Land for Development Answered

You won’t know unless you ask. Our specialist, in-house land team are experienced at identifying potential new home sites and will be able to assess development potential quickly and efficiently.

We have direct access to live Land Registry data including Title Deeds and OS Maps and are therefore in a position to come back to you in the soonest possible amount of time.

First and foremost, we appreciate our offer has to be both, financially attractive and under terms that are comfortable for you.

We cannot assess our offer till we have taken into account all factors. We will endeavour to do this as quickly as possible (weeks, not months).

At present, in most cases your profit is tax-free for any development involving your main home a.k.a. “Private Principal Dwelling [PPD]”.

However, Capital Gains Tax may apply if you are selling part of a property you don’t live in.

There are also strong rumours that a land tax of up to 40% could be applicable to homeowners selling private land at some point in the near future. Damson Homes would strongly advise anyone thinking of selling land to act quickly to reap the full rewards of a cash windfall.

This varies greatly depending on the type of New Home development we can build. Once we have assessed the site, we can give you more detail.

Two main points to keep in mind:

  1. A house’s footprint is very deceptive, what seems like a relatively small space of land can provide a healthy-sized family home — so if in doubt ask.
  2. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing to get in touch – this way you know for sure

Many of our Land Development buys do not require the existing property, only a section of surplus garden land. Sometimes the purchase of a property is required to gain road access to the future development — all this information can be discussed with you from the start to enable you to decide whether you wish to proceed or not.

We appreciate that often Land Development needs to be collaborative and many different concerns and points-of-view need to be addressed.

Damson Homes are friendly, understanding, and highly experienced in bringing people together.

After your initial contact, we can contact all other involved parties, to gauge their interest.

In short; this is what we do, and do very well.

Any discussions we will have will remain between ourselves unless we have your permission otherwise.

Confidentiality is an essential ingredient in creating a land development opportinity package that works for all involved and maintains good relations between all parties.

There is no need to worry; all we want to do is provide you with good, honest and open advice. We don’t pressurise, we want you to walk away from our partnership feeling good about your decision and maybe even to recommend us to your friends!

However, if you are still unsure, ask yourself the following questions.

  • Would I consider moving in the next few years?
  • Would gaining a premium on the value of my home enable me to move up the property ladder?
  • Do I use all of my garden all of the time?
  • Is a large garden as important to me now as it was when I first bought my home?’
  • Would a large cash windfall give me freedom?

Whatever you decide, we will respect your wishes at every stage and will not make any decisions without your consent.

At present, in most cases your profit is tax-free for any development involving your main home a.k.a. “Private Principal Dwelling [PPD]”.

However, Capital Gains Tax may apply if you are selling part of a property you don’t live in.

There are also strong rumours that a land tax of up to 40% could be applicable to homeowners selling private land at some point in the near future. Damson Homes would strongly advise anyone thinking of selling land to act quickly to reap the full rewards of a cash windfall.

We will work with you to develop a scheme that will sit alongside your property with minimum impact, so it is very unlikely that you will lose value.

Modern lifestyles have created a trend for properties with low maintenance gardens. These days most people lead such busy lives that they have little time to manage a large plot, and it can be a disadvantage for some house hunters.

This is one of the reasons why many newly built homes with smaller gardens sell for such a high premium.

As with any profession, there are good and bad consultants out there, and sadly one bad apple could prevent you from making a decision that could change your life for the better.

At Damson Homes we remove the risk, giving you design approval, liaising with you at every stage, and even paying your legal costs.

Should you be unhappy with the process at any time, we will work with you to address your concerns. You really have nothing to lose.

It varies from development to development, the more complex, the longer it may take. Some Option Agreements give us six months, some 12 months, some beyond.

In any event, we can give you a good idea during our initial discussions and fix a firm duration with you as part of our formal offer.

Yes, we have a panel of local, independent solicitors for you to choose from.

They are bound by law to protect your interests and advise you accordingly. Lawyers on our panel will already be familiar with our standard Option Agreement and can, therefore, move at a greater pace.

Can I use my own Solicitor?

Yes, of course, they will have to adhere to complete certain tasks within a set timeframe to qualify for Damson Homes to undertake their set fee.

The details of these can be discussed from the outset, before you make any decision.

We highly recommend keeping everything under the same roof, otherwise, there are almost always delays.

Any discussions you have with your solicitor will still be confidential and kept from ourselves and any other parties you are partnered in selling your land or property with.

It depends on the Local Authority, around 8-10 weeks is the norm.

Sometimes, after consultation with the Local Authority, we will withdraw and resubmit plans – this is often better than having to appeal an application that stands a good chance of being rejected.

In the event our Application is rejected we would reserve the right to lodge an appeal.

It is highly recommended a professional handles your Planning Permission Application since an innocent mistake (or tasks dealt with in the wrong order) can easily result in a rejected application.

This can also result in obtaining any type of planning permission near impossible in the future.

It is also costly — often thousands of pounds — a majority of homeowner prefer (as do we) to offset this risk to Damson Homes.

All of our schemes aim to complement and enhance a neighbourhood and are individually designed to achieve this.

Part of this process is to attempt to pre-identify any potential objections and deal with these within the initial planning application.

We also regularly meet with those that may be affected by a development to address their concerns directly.

In these rare cases, we would not be able to proceed with the purchase of your land or property. Fortunately, with the way we structure our agreements, you would not be out of pocket since we undertake all of your costs.

It is quite possible, that during our consultation with the Local Authority, there may be a better chance of achieving a successful Planning Application with an alternative type of development — if this is the case, we can discuss this with you and see if you would like to proceed with an alternative scheme.

A formal offer will be made for your land once we have researched the site and established potential for planning permission. This will normally take place within two weeks of our first meeting but can vary from development to development.

We purchase your land once we have obtained planning permission, and before building commences. No work will start until the transaction is complete and the land is securely fenced off.

Make an Enquiry

If you would like to discuss the development potential of your property please get in touch by using the form below or by dropping us a phone call or email. Please be assured all enquiries are confidential and without any obligation. We look forward to speaking with you soon.