ferguson_tom Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 Hi Everyone, A neighbor has asked me if i would be interested in selling a strip of my garden. By doing so he will be able to gain a parking space and side access to the rear of his house. The size will be about 3' x 40' in total and to be honest i am not going to notice it too much as my garden is quite a large plot already. He will of course have to pay all solicitors fees and new fence costs etc but I was wondering what sort of money I should be asking. To be honest I dont think its worth the aggravation for much less than 5k but would i be considered greedy for this or am i really undervaluing it. We are in a small village in Suffolk. Cheers, Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 Ask him to make you an offer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brett1985 Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 I would be inclined to get someone in the know to give you some idea of how much value it will add to your neighbours house, then go from there. no point selling yourself short for someone else's benefit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 if you sell it put a condition on it....that it will be used only for gardening or access...and not building on.....they might sell the house with OPP for a rebuild which will overshadow your house and devalue it.................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bostonmick Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 5k is not a lot of money these days,i think you should think very carefully before selling as it may affect you adversly in years to come.also is your property mortgaged if so i believe you may have to get permission from your lender as they are the owners and have an interest . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitebridges Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 If he's a decent bloke then have a deal. If he's an #### then don't do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 if you sell it put a condition on it....that it will be used only for gardening or access...and not building on.....they might sell the house with OPP for a rebuild which will overshadow your house and devalue it.................... tell him you are inclined to sell him the land with a covernent on it ...he is to pick up all the legal costs....then see if he wants to buy it...................if you have land then hang on to it ...cause they dont make it anymore...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digger Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 How much value would it add to his house ? Any chance it could be deemed access and he could build behind both your properties ? get a land valuer at his cost and whack a restrictive covenant on it. Then if they develop the land you get a nice pay day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuji Shooter Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 I have offered the old dear next door £25K for a strip of her land 25ft wide but she keeps telling me she doesn't need the money as she has no family and she is 92. Looks like I am going to have to wait for the house to come up for sale when she pegs it. It would add an easy 100K to our house if she went for it. I would say 5K is way to cheap, start high and come down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerCat Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 Can he stick a house on it? Be careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 The correct value is the amount that the additional piece of land increases the value of the adjoining house. You should be looking to see this value in before and after values of your neighbours house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leadbreakfast Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 Also look into keeping a ransom strip. If your garden would gain access to his or other neighbors in the future that could sell to build on the backs. They would have to pay you to use the strip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oowee Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 The correct value is the amount that the additional piece of land increases the value of the adjoining house. You should be looking to see this value in before and after values of your neighbours house. Exactly right 'marriage value'. I am working on one just now, for a buyer. He was hoping to buy an acre for £10k but the value increase on his house is circa £100k. The buyer has no where else to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamster Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 (edited) The value increase of the buyers house is only a partial issue, the true value as with all things in life is what someone is prepared to pay for it. In simple terms this means even if you can prove to the buyer that his house value will increase by thirty grand it still matters not a jot if he can only afford (or is prepared) to pay 5-10k. Replies regarding the prevention of future building etc, are sensible but remember that the strip of land is likely to be of any use only to one or at best two different households so don't assume it's worth a fortune. I bought a piece of land from an old lady whose garden even now is still enormous and together with the associated costs of solicitors, rubbish clearance, turfing, planting and fencing could have bought a rather decent gun and yes it prolly has been a good investment but years ago she told me three different households had been approached by the farmer and asked whether they'd like to buy a chunk each for silly cheap money and all refused so she bought it all and spent years growing veggies until old age caught up with her. In my opinion five to ten grand is about right unless a very obvious route into building a new house can be spotted in which case it's worth much more. Edited August 2, 2016 by Hamster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buze Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 Perhaps just lease it to him for a nominal fee. That way you are covered both ways, and he gets his parking space! Personally I wouldn't sell, as as mentioned by the previous posters, you don't know when someone decice to make a block of luxury flats there.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lord_seagrave Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 Perhaps just lease it to him for a nominal fee. That way you are covered both ways, and he gets his parking space! Personally I wouldn't sell, as as mentioned by the previous posters, you don't know when someone decice to make a block of luxury flats there.... There you go. LS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted August 3, 2016 Report Share Posted August 3, 2016 (edited) I would be inclined to allow him to use the land but you retain all rights, properly agreed in writing so he, or a future owner, can't claim title by possesion. You don't know what will happen in the future, for £5K its not worth the risk imo If it gives him enough room to park a car it could be built on, anything that gives him rear access adds a lot to the value of the property. Edited August 3, 2016 by Vince Green Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Geordie Posted August 3, 2016 Report Share Posted August 3, 2016 Back in 2003 my old man had to pay near £2k for a 12' x 6' parcel of land "under duress" or he couldn't have work carried out to his property that was ongoing in the area! Like an idiot he paid! Local council took him for a mug, as his house was prorate in the centre of a row of town houses, they said unless he paid for the land, and pay another £5k for converting a flat roof to a standard tiled roof, they were going to leave the entire block! Of course dad didn't want to upset the neighbours! So paid! It transpires that others on the estate refuse to pay, and the council contractors did the work anyway. I was livid! If such a small plot was worth so much then I assume yours is worth what your asking! As has been mentioned though, if you can, try and write in a clause for no building work! I offered to buy the corner garden from my dads new house! It's big enough for a small home to be built with garden on each aspect! I would love that, as it means I would be close to care for them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferguson_tom Posted August 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2016 Thanks for the advice everyone. There is no concern of selling this land allowing access to a new building etc. Even if they extended their current house to the new boundary it won't make much difference to us but can't see that happening anyway. I have said we would be open to the idea and to make us an opening offer and we will go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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