I get so many people asking me the same questions: Where should I look for land? What should I check before I buy? Can I actually build a natural home there? What about planning, water, access, materials and all the other things I hadn’t even thought about?

Finding the right land can be one of the biggest decisions you make when planning a natural home — and it’s an area where getting things wrong can become very expensive.

Over the years, I’ve spoken to plenty of people who have fallen in love with a beautiful piece of land, only to discover later that there are significant planning, environmental, access or servicing constraints that make their original vision difficult, expensive or sometimes impossible.

So, rather than answering the same questions one at a time, we’ve been developing a few different resources to help people understand the basics and take them with them on their own journey.

Start with the land — and the landscape

When you’re looking for land for a natural home, it’s tempting to focus on the things you can see: the view, the trees, the creek, the soil, the size of the block or how cheap it is.

But there’s another layer to every property. What is the land actually zoned for? Are there overlays? Is a dwelling allowed? How will you access the site? Where will your water come from? What about wastewater? Is the land bushfire prone or flood prone? What are the neighbours doing? Will it impact you and your dreams?

And then there are the questions that are particularly important for natural building: what materials are actually available on or near the site?

If you are dreaming about building with earth, is there suitable clay on the property? Could you potentially source sand or aggregate locally? Are there other resources nearby? Are there rocks that could be incorporated into the building or landscape? Is there suitable timber nearby? Is straw available from local farms?

You might want to think about reaching out to the local permaculture group, they often have a wealth of knowledge of land, ecosystems, climate and how to build considerately within it.

These aren’t just questions about saving money. They can influence the building system you choose and the relationship between your home and its surroundings. it’s also a good idea to look around the town or community you’ll be buying into and see what sorts of homes they’re building, or what’s lasted the test of time?

Learn to read the site

One of the things I encourage people to do is slow down and learn to read a site before they start thinking too much about the house. Start with the aspect. Which way does the site face? Where does the winter sun come from? Where does the summer sun travel? What are the prevailing winds? Is the site exposed or protected? Look at the slope. Where does water move across the property? What areas stay wet? Where are the good soils? What vegetation is already growing?

And then look closely at the ground.

Are there large rocks or boulders sitting exactly where you were hoping to put your foundations? Is the soil deep or shallow? Is there clay? Gravel? Sand? Could excavated material potentially become a building resource, or will it all need to be removed from site?

These details can have a surprisingly big impact on the design and cost of a natural home. A site with good clay might make an earth building system particularly attractive. A property with abundant stone could offer opportunities for retaining walls, landscaping or building. Local straw supplies might make straw bale or straw-clay construction more feasible. The aim isn’t to force the building to use everything the site provides. It’s about understanding what resources and constraints are already there.

Planning still matters

This is where my planning background comes in.

Natural building doesn’t sit outside the planning system. You can design the most beautiful straw bale, hempcrete, cob or timber home imaginable, but you still need to understand what is permitted on the particular piece of land.

Zoning, overlays and local planning schemes can have a major influence on what you can do. Bushfire, flooding, environmental protection, vegetation, heritage, access and wastewater requirements can all affect the feasibility of a project.

And this is why I always encourage people to investigate the land before they buy it, rather than buying first and asking questions later. If you need to, contact a local planner or someone who deals with overlays and what’s likely to affect your particular bit of bush.

What makes a good site for a natural home?

There isn’t one perfect answer.

A great site for one person might be completely unsuitable for another. Someone looking for a small off-grid cabin will have very different requirements from a family wanting a productive property, an owner-builder planning a large natural home or a group looking at a landsharing project. The important thing is to understand what you actually want to achieve before you start looking. Think about your priorities. Do you need reliable water? Good solar access? Productive soil? Flat land? Privacy? Proximity to services? Space for gardens or animals? Good access for construction? The ability to live off-grid?

And then think about your building materials.

If you want to build with earth, what kind of earth is available? If you want timber, where will it come from? If you’re considering straw, is there a local supply? If you’re interested in stone, is there suitable stone on the site or nearby? Is there a willing community that will help out with equipment or other material support when you start building ?

The more you understand about the relationship between the land, materials and your building ambitions, the better decisions you can make.

Don’t just fall in love with the view

Buying land is exciting, but it can also be an expensive learning experience.

Before making an offer, I recommend developing a simple checklist of the things you need to investigate. Talk to council. Look at the planning scheme. Check the zoning and overlays. Investigate access, water, wastewater and bushfire requirements. Understand what services are available and what they might cost. Walk the site at different times of day if you can. Look at the aspect, sun, wind and drainage. Walk around after rain. Look at the vegetation. Look at the soil. Look at the rocks. And ask yourself a really simple question:

What is this piece of land already offering me?

The answer might influence not just where you put your house, but what you build it from.

We’ve created some resources to help

I know that not everyone wants to sit down and read a planning textbook before they start looking for their future home.

That’s why we’ve been putting together a range of practical resources covering some of the questions I get asked most often — designed to give people a starting point and something they can refer back to as they work through their own projects.

One of these is our Build Outside the Box: Buying Dirt Cheap Land module.

It’s free to access and is designed to help you think differently about finding land, what makes land affordable, what to look out for and how to approach the process before you commit to buying.

Build Outside the Box — Buying Dirt Cheap Land

You can also reach out to me, Rachel, and I’ll help talk you through some of these things with sites that you’re looking into, making sure one of your biggest purchases is the right one for you!

Find my directory listing here

Finding land is really the beginning of the journey. Get the land right, understand the constraints, understand the resources available to you, and you give yourself a much better chance of creating the home and way of living you actually want.