Self builders should "negotiate hard"

The current property market is a "buying moment" and represents a good opportunity those who are embarking on a self build to pick up a cheap plot, FirstRungNow.com has claimed.

Helen Adams, managing director of the site, has advised that it is a buyer's market and people prepared to "negotiate hard" with propertydevelopers and other land owners can pick up a bargain.

"In the next few months do a lot of research and look at the different options. It may be that this is a buying moment if you can buy well," she suggested.

Ms Adams added that there are "people who need to sell" and this provides an opportunity for self builders to take a small risk and buy now.

The north could be the place to pick up a bargain as this is where there is the widest gap between asking and selling prices was in the north (12.5 per cent), according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

In London there is an 8.5 per cent gap in London, while in the Scotland the difference is just 2.4 per cent.