Finding a site of land
Added to SitesForSale: 27th Nov, 2006
It is a widespread belief that there is a shortage of sites of land on which to build your house in rural Ireland. While that may be true of certain pressure areas around the country, it certainly cannot be taken as fact.
That said, certain areas offer more challenges to those seeking a site than others. Restrictions in place in counties such as Louth, Meath and Wicklow can rule out a chance of obtaining planning for a site in a particular area. The most common of these restrictions demand that the applicant be a long-term resident of the county as well as insising on family ties and employment in the area.
The shortage of sites in these areas has the effect of driving up the price of the few available sites, effectively leaving them out of reach of most people.
Unless you are fortunate enough to acquire a site in such an area from a family member and you find yourself on a limited budget, you are best advised to avoid the high-profile pressure areas.
By moving your focused area by a few miles, you may find that there are genuine bargains still to be had. If you are prepared to go further afield, there are plenty of sites to be found scattered around the country, often offering fantastic views or other desirable features.
If you are concentrating your search to a particular area, persistence is the key. Get to know the area as well as you can. Chat to locals at the village shop or pub and you may find sites for sale that have not being advertised via the traditional medium. Take a drive around the area looking out for fields with good road frontage. Look out for small sections of woodland with road frontage as bodies such as coillte are actively selling off these holdings as sites around the country.
In addition to this, keep you eye on planning applications in the area. Outline planning applications can often indicate someone intending to sell a site down the line. Planning Applications are published in the local newspapers. As well as this, most County Councils have details of planning applications publicly accessible online.
As well as www.sitesforsale.ie, don't forget to keep your eye on the traditional methods of advertising such as newspapers and Estate Agent windows.
When buying a site, we always recommend that you buy Subject to Planning Permission. While this may sound rather obvious, it is not uncommon for land to be purchased prior to planning being sought. A subsequent planning refusal can leave the purchaser with a useless, if expensive plot of land.
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