Buying land - mortgage?

[no_no_nanette]

We are looking to buy a few acres of land in the spring where we can (eventually) keep our horses : but will need a loan to help with the cost, given the price of land in the South East! Does anyone have any experience of raising a mortgage on land without buildings on it, and would you recommend any particular building society/bank? I think it would be easier if we were looking to set up a business, but it will just be for leisure use, so I'm not sure how keen people are to lend on land for private use???

 

[Rambo]

Do you not have a house at the moment that you could release some equity from ? Wouldn't matter then what was on the land

 

[airedale]

basically it is hard to get a mortgage on land - you need to get a mortgage on bricks and mortar - so a 2nd mortgage on your house would be needed.

you could try the ecological building society and there is also the spinoff from Nat West that purports to do land based mortgages - but beware as the interest rates will be very high potentially.

furthermore - they could easily value your land at agriculutural prices - e.g. 2.5k per acre - when you are paying 4 to 8k per acre as it's horse land - so you might not get the mortgage money you need

be very very careful to do your research on planning in regards to the land. Please do not assume that you will (easily) get any pp for anything on the land, no matter how 'reasonable' what you want seems to be to you. Reasonable and Planners do not belong in the same sentence - be warned !!!!!

 

[Tia]

It always used to be the case that you couldn't take a mortgage for just land; judging by what the others are saying, this still appears to be the case.

Your best bet would be to re-mortgage your house and use the money realised to purchase the land. Good luck.

 

[OWLIE185]

Yes you can get a loan for the purchase of land (provided your income can support the repayments) but not a mortgage if there is no dwelling on it. I would contact a local traditional land agent and ask them for the details of a finance house that will give you a loan to buy the land. Alternatively if you are a member of the NFU they will provide you with details.

 

[no_no_nanette]

Thanks everyone - contacting a local land agent seems like a really good idea, as I'm not sure that we have enough equity in the house at the moment to raise a second mortgage. I'll also follow up the NFU ... and yes, I know all about planners! We had a really nice design for a small extension to our previous cottage disallowed because it was in an AONB - and now, guess what! they've given permission for a massive sand and gravel extraction operation about 500 yards from our current house - and, yes, its in the same AONB!