Town Planning Consultants to Help with Property Value and Features Identification
Town planning consultants are not only involved in zoning applications, sub-division, and land consolidation applications. They have rather valuable expertise when it comes to property due diligence as well.
If you plan to buy a piece of land to develop into a retail complex, factory, resort, recreational facility, sports facility, private school, residential estate, or even a fuel station, you would need to know whether the property will be suitable for the particular type of development. Town planning consultants can help perform a thorough assessment of the property with consideration of factors as discussed below.
Zoning and Land Use Rights
The Practice Group is an urban and town planning consultancy group with extensive experience in all aspects of urban, town, and regional planning. As such, we deal with land use rights and zoning applications on a regular basis. We understand the importance of buying property that is zoned for the broader category of use you intend to utilise it for. If it is not, you will have to apply for rezoning of the property, which can take some time. However, our consultants are also able to handle this process on your behalf. Zone types range from agricultural to commercial, residential, and industrial to mixed usage, among others.
Topographic Factors
Even if the property is correctly zoned for the intended use, it may still not be suitable for the specific development you have in mind. You will also want to get an overview, as well as in-depth understanding of the elevations, water sources, slopes, ditches, sink holes, and swamps on the property, as these factors will affect the layout of the development, usable areas, building costs, potential usages, and limitations. Having our team perform a due diligence study that includes topographic information, will make it possible for you to determine the costs of the development, possible pitfalls, and how long construction will take.
Moratorium on Building
Even if the property is located within a built-up area, there may still be a moratorium that restricts further building on the particular property and even the surrounding area. The municipality may, for instance, prohibit the erection of a commercial building on top of a small mountain range in the middle of town in order to create a natural open space. Buying the piece of land will mean that you will not be able to erect any permanent commercial structures. You can use it for development of, for instance, a mountain bike trail or hiking and picnic trail, but not for a building. Knowing this in advance will help you save a tremendous amount of money and this why our town planning consultants perform thorough property investigations on behalf of investors and developers.
What Lies Beneath?
Looks can be deceiving. Though the property on the surface may look well suited to the particular intended use, such as the development of an eco estate or perhaps a townhouse complex, it may very well be located on a landfill. Unless you really want the particular piece of property and don’t mind the extra costs of having to remove the junk beneath the surface, buying such a property for development of a residential complex will not be wise. However, should you intend to still use the property for this purpose, you would have to determine the depth and extent of the landfill to calculate costs of removal and building. In both instances, identifying what lies beneath and the scope of the landfill form part of our due diligence services.
Possible Contamination
Building a nursery school on top of contaminated soil or trying to farm, or drill a borehole, in an area where the soil and water resources have been contaminated by industrial waste, is simply unwise. However, the developer may still erect the buildings or the farmer may plough his lands and plant seeds, which won’t deliver as they should, or bring forth toxic plants because the water and soil are contaminated – simply because they are unaware of the contamination. Fortunately, when making use of our town planning consultants to perform due diligence, any such pitfalls can be completely avoided.
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sing town planners to help you identify the usage rights, potential for rezoning, servitudes, possible contamination, topography, and more before buying a piece of land for development will help you save money, development time, and help identify possible problems.