Road access: the thing buyers check last and regret first
Road width decides what you can build, how you will get materials in, and what the plot will be worth when you come to sell.
Two plots side by side, the same size and the same price, can be worth very different amounts. Often the difference is the road.
Width decides what you can build
Building rules tie what you may put up to the width of the road in front of the plot, and require you to set the building back from the road edge. A narrow lane can mean fewer floors and a smaller footprint than the plot size suggests. Before you buy, ask the municipality what is allowed on that plot, on that road.
Getting things in and out
A plot a truck cannot reach is more expensive to build on, because everything arrives in smaller loads. Think about a concrete mixer, a truck of bricks, and later an ambulance or a fire engine.
Blacktop, gravel or earth
A blacktopped road is worth paying for. A gravel road is usable but becomes hard work in the monsoon. An earth track can be impassable for weeks at a time. Ask who maintains the road, and whether it is a public road at all: private access across a neighbour's land needs a written right of way, not a friendly understanding.
Planned widening
Roads get widened, and the land taken usually comes from the plots along them. The municipality can tell you whether a widening is planned. It matters twice: you may lose part of the plot, and what is left may be worth more once the road is better.
What to look for on a visit
- Turn in and out of the plot in a car
- Walk the road to the nearest main road and note where it narrows
- Look for drainage and where water goes in heavy rain
- Come back in the evening, when traffic and parking look different
Every land listing on this site records the road width and surface, so you can filter out the plots that will not work for you before you spend a Saturday visiting them.
