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Subdividing your land
The subdivision of land into smaller lots can make it easier to sell or develop. It often offers you more flexibility, but whatever size your land is, it can be a complex process with several key steps. You need to ensure you’re getting the best value for your land while also complying with important legal requirements.
Land subdivision surveys can help you to understand more about your land, plan the best way to subdivide it, and follow all the regulatory and legal steps correctly.
The challenges of land subdivision projects
What is the land subdivision process?
Subdivision of land involves dividing a parcel of land into two or more smaller parcels. You might have a large section of garden you want to sell or a much larger piece of land e.g. farmland or a brownfield site. You will need to establish the new legal boundaries and ownership for each plot, which must be submitted to the Land Registry.
Exploring the land’s potential
Determining whether subdividing your land is actually worth it.
Land Registry
Ensuring the proper process is followed for updating the Land Registry.
Infrastructure
Separating access to utilities, roads and drainage can be complex.
Managing costs
Being aware of all land subdivision costs that could impact any profit.
A Guide to Land Development and Subdivision: Key Considerations
Look at your local authority’s local plan to see if any regulations apply to your land’s use. You will need approval for the land subdivision. The local plan might influence whether it will be permitted and what can be built on it. You should also investigate the land itself to check how suitable it is for construction.
Infrastructure is one of the biggest land subdivision costs, so you should find out about the nearest utilities early on. Existing utilities will need to be extended or, if the land currently has none, installed from scratch. These costs can be expensive and may impact the viability of a project, especially if your land is in a more rural area.
The UK government provides nationally described space standards for new homes, which you should consider if you plan to subdivide your land for house building. It’s up to local authorities whether or not they adopt these, so check your council’s local plan.
These technical housing standards vary depending on the number of bedrooms, number of bed spaces and how many storeys the property has. For instance, the minimum gross internal floor area of a 1-bed flat for a single adult should be 37 square metres.
You will need to register the new titles with the Land Registry. This is essential for legal ownership and future sales. Each new plot will need its own title deed, with the new boundaries and owners updated with Land Registry.
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How surveys benefit land development subdivision
With the right survey information, you can accurately assess any limitations of the site.
Land surveys can help you to identify soil stability, gradient changes and natural features, like water and vegetation, that can impact the subdivision’s potential. These surveys can also show you elements relevant for utilities, like manhole covers. You can then plan around these and choose the most suitable portions of land for building.
Land surveys enable you to plan roads and other access points for the subdivided land, ensuring each plot has legal access.
Clear boundaries for each plot will be particularly important, especially on larger projects like housing estates. You will also need the boundaries legally determined as part of the Land Registry process. A boundary survey can support this.
Setting out services ensure your subdivision plans are precisely marked out on the actual site. The land surveyor can set out individual plot positions, as well as further development work including road and pavement positions, drainage, and foundation positions.
When you register the new land titles and plans with the Land Registry, it’s crucial that the details provided are accurate. If not, you risk registration issues and title defects that will have to be fixed later, which can be time-consuming and costly.
You should speak to a surveyor early so they can advise you on the Land Registry process and help to produce compliant plans.
What surveys could you need?
As-Built Surveys
A fully up-to-date record of what has just been constructed, ensuring it matches the proposed plans. Useful for producing further plans that require an accurate site layout.
Floor Level Surveys
Quality survey check for various floor construction stages, from existing floors to newly constructed slabs.
Garden Surveys
Highly detailed, specialist topographical survey for garden landscaping and redesigns.
GPS Surveys
Ideal for covering large open spaces, like fields, or where access may be restricted or challenging.
Measured Building Surveys
3D site survey of a building’s layout and structure that can also be used to produce floor plans, elevations and cross-section drawings.
River & Floodplain Surveys
Surveys of riverbanks and beds, as well as adjacent floodplains. We record water levels and significant features for flood risk assessments and erosion monitoring.
Road Surveys
Comprehensive record of current road layouts and levels, including kerbs, street furniture and road markings. Ideal for visibility splays and new highways designs.
Setting Out
Geocordinated setting out services for building groundworks and steelworks for new housing, commercial and industrial sites.
Surveys for Land Registry Title Plans
Site surveys for creating Land Registry compliant plans to record areas of sale, transfer, correction or first registration.
Topographical Surveys
Accurate, scaled plan of a site’s terrain, and a record of the position and levels of both manmade and natural features.
Volumetric Surveys & Terrain Models
Measuring the total amount of stockpiled, extracted or collected materials and aggregates. Suitable for construction, calculating and auditing.
How we work
Step 01
Request a quote
We’ll need your project’s address and a site plan. We’ll then get in touch for a consultation to confirm site details and understand exactly what your project needs.
Step 02
Quote accepted
Once your project is confirmed with us, we’ll arrange a convenient date for your survey.
Step 03
We complete your survey
We’ll visit your project site to carry out the survey. We can meet you on site if needed. We will then process the survey data and create a survey drawing.
Step 04
Receive your survey
We’ll share the survey data with you, usually within a few days. We use industry standard file types and can issue all the drawings in multiple formats.
Who we work with
Why choose Cheshire Surveys
We provide a range of surveys and related services across the North West, Cheshire, North Staffordshire and North Wales.
Passion & technical expertise
25+ years experience
Quality services tailored to your project
