Buying residential land on a main road? Access?

[GSPORT]

This is something I've been wondering about for a while, but I've seen some residential plots up for sale on some of the bank repossession websites and some are on main roads. There was one in Aradippou on a dual carriageway type of thing with a metal barrier on the side of the road and I would guess on that one, you would have a hard-time opening up an access road from the main road onto your plot and could only access it from the backside however from the backside there were about 5 or 6 plots you would need to gain an access road from.

I've found this specific plot in a village near Limassol and it's on what I would call a main road but there are houses in the area, it's in zone H4 which I believe is residential and good for building (I get confused about the different zones and whether you can build on any type of zone as long as it's residential no matter if it's Ka6 or H5 or whatever letter/number combination), to access this specific plot off the main road, it looks like there is an opening from the steel barrier on this one and a couple of others which means you should be able to drive a car onto it from the main road (it's single lane) but if I wanted to build a house, could one expect planning permission to be granted so you could build it front facing the main road, with a front garden or driveway from the main road into the land or your own access road/driveway from the mainroad onto the plot? I've attached a picture below for reference and opinion. Thank you.

[Nigel Howarth]

H4 is a residential zone, but it looks to me as if the road falls away and the barrier's there to prevent vehicles going off the road. If that's the case, I doubt you'll be given access. You'll need to visit the site and inspect it and speak to the planners to see what's possible.

You'll also need to check the building density, and maximum height permitted.

Regards

[GSPORT]

Thanks Nigel, Yes I haven't visited it yet. I've checked the plot on the DLS website and I can see building height and density is fine. It's a 2400sq meter plot and it's something like 8.2 meters high and building density is 0.4 and coverage 0.25 so I think there should be no issues there. I can also see on the photo some other properties a bit further up which look like they have access from the main road i.e looks like a car garage or workshop or something. I would need to go and see if you can drive onto the plot from the main road or if it's a big drop. The barrier is open exactly in front of the plot so I'm thinking it could already be open for access but building and accessing it formally as a drive way/front garden could be a another story.

I'm wondering if the planning department could answer my question before I make an offer for the plot so I know if I am interested or not. Accessing it from behind will be a headache because it's landlocked from the other side.

[Nigel Howarth]

There seems to be access immediately opposite the plot. You could park there and walk across the road.

I've been looking at the shadows cast on the road by the trees and bushes and I'm certain the land is lower that the road by the plot.

The planners should give you an 'off the record' opinion, but you will not know for sure until you file a planning application. Also, there may be a requirement for pavements and possibly hand over some of the land for a green area.

The safest thing to buy is a building plot 'oικόπεδο' (ikopedo). This will have road, pavement, electricity and water to the plot.

Regards
Nigel

[GSPORT]

Thanks Nigel.

It's the price that got me from a bank repossession. Around 50,000e for 2000sqm which is great because around Larnaca and the surrounding area they are going for 100.000e for 400-500sqm and I think it's a lot of money for a plot that isn't that big, I want big garden space. I guess I'll really need to go and see it for judge but it's probably not right for me if there will be access issues from the main road and parking across the road or in another field etc and walking isn't really convenient for a long term property.