Cheshire Plot Finder

As a guide, the smallest practical plots for detached houses are around 1/10 of an acre — this is the size of plot you would typically get on a housing development and is somewhat cozy. For a detached 4-bedroom house of around 1800ft2, a plot size of around 1/8 of an acre is a good starting point. If there is such a thing as a typical plot size, around a quarter of an acre would be a good guide. Beware of going too large unless you are an avid gardener and have the time, energy, and patience to tend a large garden. Really big plots can be allocated as part garden, part paddock, particularly useful when considering the size of the curtilage for tax purposes when half a hectare of garden is the cut-off point. Remember that when people sell houses, they do everything they can to make them attractive. They clean the carpets, dust the curtains, brew coffee, or even bake bread; anything and everything to make their home attractive to a prospective buyer. But when people come to sell plots, they do nothing at all to make them attractive. In fact, they can even bung all their old rubbish on it, including old cars and garden rubbish. You need to learn to look through all of that and to see the plot as it is going to be and not as it is. Close your eyes and imagine the house on it and the garden landscaped and planted.

What Can Be Changed?

Obviously, you're going to change many things when you build. If there's a view that's not particularly exciting then you may be able to orientate the house to exclude it or at the very least make sure that you have no habitable room windows looking that way. If there is a busy or noisy
road then you may be able to build an earth bund to shield you from it. If the ground is suspect, there's almost certainly going to be a foundation system that will overcome the problem and it's highly unlikely that the cost of this will seriously affect the economic viability of the plot.