Have you spoken to the duty planner and got the actual council policy on this deal breaker rule?
Sometimes we invent obstacles and never check them for sure... is this just something an agent told you?
Perhaps council might allow trees to be removed if new ones are planted in appropriate areas? Perhaps they can be removed gradually over the time you live in there as a PPOR rather than tie it in with a DA?
You cannot set a specific % that the DA potential is worth. In the current market it may be worth little. At the end of the day the top price is set by what the other buyers are offering.
Read up on the greater (or bigger) fool theory of investing styles. You can make money from an investment as long as there is a bigger fool willing to pay more. Some would suggest that the fools are thin on the ground at this stage of the market.
The "greater fool theory" or "bigger fool theory" states you don't have to be the shrewdest person in the market. If there is a bigger fool than yourself in the market, then you're in business.
When buying an investment - e.g. an internet stock in the mid 1990s, or property in London in 2004, one should not worry too much about whether your investment is worth what you paid for it or not, or even if there is any reliable way to measure how much it is worth. Even if you believe it to be overvalued, you need only care about if someone else will buy it from you at a later date at a higher price. If you believe this to be so, then you can profit from the investment.
In short, all you have to do is to find a bigger fool than yourself.
Whether this makes you foolish or clever is debatable. And of course, if the bigger fool finds an even bigger fool, maybe they were also just playing dumb. In a bubble, sooner or later the market runs out of fools, reality finally trumps psychology, and the last fool loses money. There are other theories with more long-term sustainability.
Sorry but I am digressing. Simple answer is check for yourself if the trees are a deal breaker. Also check what developers are paying for unit sites in the local area. They generally pay less than Mum and Dad will pay for a nice home - this may be a better use of your money. Buy the PPOR and tart it up to sell to a couple looking with their hearts instead of a developer looking with his calculator.
