Jardin Smith's Investment of land site in Greater London, Gerrards Cross

Patrick

You need a little more awareness on process
Ownership of land can be established through the UK land registry here.

http://www.landreg.gov.uk/kb/Default.asp...

You will have to pay a fee of £4 (S$10)

I can pretty much guarantee that the land you are being offered is protected either as Green Belt or under other protected category. The UK local authority should be able to confirm that for you. If land with a possibility for building land were available in Gerrards Cross I assure you it would have been snapped up by UK investors. Gerrards Cross IS a prime area for land because of its location and because most of the land around it is protected. I have no doubt you are being told of this lands close proximity to London, Heathrow, M25 etc. Unfortunately I am sure you are not being told that the land is protected land.

Patrick this request has been set up under the correct local authority here.

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/st...

The above link contains the response from the land registry where they confirm the land is registered and being sold off in small plots. They also confirm that it is being sold to people who want to buy a "small piece of England" . It is not being registered as suitable for building.

The land mentioned in Gerrards Cross is Green Belt land.

South Bucks Local Authority have clearly stated their policy on this land here

http://www.southbucks.gov.uk/environment...

In summary

".....the Council can meet its development requirements at least to 2026 without the need for the release of any land from the Green Belt for development.

Therefore if the plot of land you are interested in is currently in the Green Belt it is very likely to remain as Green Belt – in which case the strongest policies of restraint upon development will still apply.

Please give serious consideration to the above points before purchasing any plots advertised as an investment opportunity. It is likely that they are not."

Thank you Joe and Steve for your valuable advices.

kindest regards.

Well, enough said! Invest Land in the Canada or the USA instead. I chose Walton!
It just makes perfect sense, land being cheap and there is so much of land to grab in Canada compared to the UK.
Just look at the statistics below and you'll understand why.
With Jardin Smith, you'll be buying land in a country way too congested. The density per sq km is 652 in UK.
In Canada, the density per sq km is only 3!
I leave it to you to make the right choice. The best investors always go back to basics, which is demand and supply!
Once you do that, you will always be able to make a better decision!

UNITED KINGDOM
Land area: 93,278 sq mi (241,590 sq km); total area: 94,526 sq mi (244,820 sq km)
Population (2010 est.): 61,284,806 (growth rate: 0.2%); birth rate: 10.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 4.7/1000; life expectancy: 79.1; density per sq km: 652
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): London, 7,615,000 (metro. area), 7,429,200 (city proper)

Read more: United Kingdom: History, Geography, Government, and Culture — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108078.h...

CANADA
Land area: 3,511,003 sq mi (9,093,507 sq km); total area: 3,855,102 sq mi (9,984,670 sq km)
Population (2009 est.): 33,759,742 (growth rate: 0.8%); birth rate: 10.2/1000; infant mortality rate: 4.9/1000; life expectancy: 81.3; density per sq km: 3
Capital (2004 est.): Ottawa, Ontario, 1,142,700 (metro. area)

Read more: Canada: History, Geography, Government, and Culture — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107386.h...

It is not the land it is the land plot schemes. The Land is sold at a very high markup to investors in Asia (and some of the UK land is sold in Canada as well.) These markups can be as much as 15-100 times true value today.

The UK land sold in these schemes is worthless because it is protected or greenbelt land and even with the high population density mentioned by not.law the UK still has plenty of empty land that can be built on. So the investor cant sell land to a developer.

The Canadian land can be built. There is so much land in Canada that a developer does not need to pay a premium for land. So the land investors loses most of their money when they sell because they paid such a high price for the plot when the bought it.

Jardin Smith is a Singapore based company selling UK Land Banking plots. They sell small plots of low value agricultural or greenbelt land which is protected from development by UK law. JSI sell this land claiming a high potential for housing development. Jardin Smith claim this strategy has a high chance of leading to substantial investment returns "in the future".
The investment return proposed is based on the fact that green belt conversion and development is theoretically possible by challenging the legally protected status of the land.
However the plots are selected by the land banking company for their low price and high profit margin not potential for development. There have been no successful conversions of land offered by UK land banking plot companies ever!
The purchase price of the plots is typically tens of thousands of UK pounds. The open market resale value of the plots without planning approval has typically proved to be less than zero after selling and administrative costs.

If you still wish to consider this kind of investment research UK Land Banking investments very carefully. Search for news, government and consumer protection sources in the UK and Singapore. Check with UK local authorities. There have been considerable and substantial losses of savings as a result of UK Land Banking plot investments. Based on all available current data the most likely outcome from this kind of investment is you will lose all of the money invested.