There seems to be a broad spectrum of people posting on here so I thought I’d ask this question here: There’s a plot of land for sale in my home town. Its in a nice spot but I know there isn’t any planning consent on it. Is there any way that I can find out the likelihood of getting planning on it without going to huge expense? The plot is being sold by a liquidator so they aren’t any help. Its really cheap which makes me think there’s no chance. It’s in Scotland if that makes any difference.

When I looked into this, my local councils web site had a description of the planning process, when you do and don’t need planning permission and the criteria under which planning permission would be granted/refused. I’d start there.

Try phoning the council Planning department and talking through your proposal. Nowadays they mostly charge for pre-application advice, but that charge varies from council to council; their website will have that information. Were in the country are you?

I would strongly recommend getting the pre-application advice because the council will tell you if you are going to waste your money.

I work for a firm of Architects if you want some assistance.

Phone a planning officer and ask. They’re normally quite helpful.

Cool. Thanks for the help. I’ll phone the cooncil.

Mikey, I’m in the Falkirk area.

Ahh too far for us then. We’re SE England hahaha.

As previously said, give the planners a call and talk it over:

Falkirk Planning Dept

Too damn late. The plot has been sold. This morning.

If another plot comes up, bear in mind that the planning system in Scotland is not the same planning system as for England and/or Wales (which are different to Scotland and also different to each other).

Best advice as a start (i.e. minimum or no expense) is to speak to the local Council’s planning department.

Next step (more expensive) is to speak to someone involved in planning.