Personally I'd look to spending some time shooting clays before you go down the road of embracing practical shotgun. For practical purposes you'd need a Section 1 shotgun, just to up your ammo capacity when shooting practical so that means applying for an FAC in the outset. However, it would show good intent (my phrase) if you went down the clay shooting avenue first. It would teach you discipline, safety and etiquette, not to mention it's fun and quite addictive in its own right..
Unless you live in a high crime area I don't think that your property, whether it's ex-council owned or not, would hamper your application. Gun security is the watchword..
Hope it goes well for you, and welcome to the forum.