Investing in land outside Singapore

Someone sent me an e-mail to explain the "professional approach" taken by a land banking company operating in Singapore in submitting applications for approval for development for green belt land in the UK. Some other people said that investing in these land banking plots is similar to investing in properties in Singapore.

Some knowledgeable people told me the following poitns:
a) The land banking plots were sold at 20 to 30 times of the real value of the greenbelt land
b) The chance of getting approval is very slim (and I guess that it must be less than 1%)

Many  investors have told me that they invested in these plots and, after waiting for many years they have still not got back their investments. If they sell now, there are no buyers for their plots. Some investors bought the land with an option to sell the land back after 6 or 12 months to the promoter. The options were not honored. They were asked to roll over the investments or to wait for new funds to be available in the future. It will be a long wait.

Tan Kin Lian