How to Get Planning Permission gives you all the information you will need on planning permission and using the planning system effectively. With over 80 illustrations, tables and examples, this book tells you

• how to dramatically increase your chances of success - before your application is even submitted
• when to make full or outline applications
• how to complete application forms and notices to your best advantage
• 9 essential points for writing a supporting letter and 8 common mistakes to avoid
• what you must include in application plans and drawings
• 8 steps to help your proposal through the application process successfully
• all the ways you can overcome objections and refusals
• 14 vital factors to take into account in applications for new homes
• the critical issues in applications for conversions, extensions, home improvements, demolition and re-builds, mobile homes, sub-dividing houses, buildings in your garden, working from home and agricultural dwellings
• how to tell whether an appeal will succeed and the crucial steps to see an appeal through
• how four families got their planning permissions against the odds

Planning permission is the single biggest hurdle for anyone who has acquired land on which to build a house, or wants to extend or carry out other building work on property. There is never a guarantee that permission will be given and without it no project can start. Yet the system is not at all user-friendly. There is a bewildering array of formalities to go through and ever more stringent requirements to satisfy. Planning permission has never been more difficult to get, nor so sought after - every year over half-a-million applications are made, and the number is rising.

How to Find and Buy a Building Plot is the first and only comprehensive book specifically about buying land on which to build a house. It gives you all the essential information you need to locate, assess and purchase a plot. With over 65 illustrations, tables and examples, this book tells you

• 12 sources of plots for sale - and how to get the best out of them
• successful methods professional property developers use to find land
• essential items to organise - before you even start plot hunting
• 10 vital points to look out for when inspecting a plot
• how to value plots, make an offer, and negotiate your purchase effectively
• the right way to pin down the specification of your dream home and ideal location
• how to work out a realistic budget and the price you can afford to pay for a plot
• key factors you must check before buying a plot - especially planning permission
• the best ways to find out who owns land
• how to succeed in sales by auction and tender
• critical points to investigate about services, access, planning and legal restrictions
• how three families found and bought their plots - and the key points they learned

Finding and buying land is the most difficult task faced by people who dream of building a house. More would-be self-builders, or would-be small developers for that matter, fail at this point than at any other stage. It is simple and obvious - if you cannot find and buy a plot, you will never build your own home. Getting it right is the key to the whole process. Getting it wrong is at best, a severely frustrating, massive waste of time - at worst, a horrendously expensive disaster.

Many thousands of prospective home-builders start with a vision of their ideal home, overlooking the most fundamental part - finding somewhere to turn that dream into reality. With the tremendous growth and interest in self-build, the problem of finding the right site becomes ever more acute.

This book is the first and only one to deal with this key subject head on, although written in unequivocally clear and accessible style, it is of as much benefit to professionals as it is to the tens of thousands of families who begin land-searching each year.