Developer interested in my land

bristol_rob

OK - I know this is a bit left-field for this thread but I wondered if anybody had any advice or experience on the following.

I moved to a new house a few months ago that has a relatively large garden. We have had a letter this morning from an agent acting on behalf of a developer. Essentially they would like to investigate buying part of our land to increase the size of plot for a development that is being planned.

Obviously we bought the house because of the plot and not to have 'developments' overlooking us.

However if we were to sell, what rights do we have over what gets put on the plot. What guarantees could we insist on with regard boundaries etc.

I am not asking the questions because I want to sell, because my current view is that I won't. However, it would be good to be armed with as much information as possible when they undoubtedly call.

Thanks in advance for any help

poppysarah

Don't sell it and they can't do anything with it.

Look online at local planning at council/go in and see them and ask what's being planned in your area. If plans haven't been put in yet it *may* be because they need to secure more (your) land.

RLH33

I don't really know what you could do, I suppose you may be able to get something put in the deeds saying no windows overlooking or something.

However what I do know is that I deal with a silly amount of applications where the original land owner objects to an application for planning permission on the land they just sold!! They always say 'that was not what I agreed to when I sold the land'. So be careful!

socrates

I know someone in this exact situation.

They took the money and put it as a deposit elsewhere and rented the existing house out.

I would do exactly that if you can - plus it would be a good excuse to give to the mortgage company for consent to let to say that they are building a development behind you - they will not put two and two together and realise its because of you.

The tenants will rent it knowing there is a pending development.

poppysarah

Do mortgage company not have to know as the asset they lent on just got smaller?

hethmar

I wouldnt be happy - apart from anything else, how come in this market developers are interested? No matter what restrictions you put on it, they can change as the development progresses and you will no doubt be overruled if the PP think the new dormer overlooking your garden is reasonable and would cost too much to change (friends had that one).

Id have them around though just out of curiosity.

bristol_rob

Thanks, you summed up my thoughts entirely.

am partly using it to see the plans

hethmar wrote: »

I wouldnt be happy - apart from anything else, how come in this market developers are interested? No matter what restrictions you put on it, they can change as the development progresses and you will no doubt be overruled if the PP think the new dormer overlooking your garden is reasonable and would cost too much to change (friends had that one).

Id have them around though just out of curiosity.

socrates

They have to pay for your surveyor anyway and he will act on your behalf - plus the local building inspectors are not exactly busy at the moment so they will not be able to pull any strokes.

Sell the land and get another house after all they are paying towards your deposit

zone

Do they already have land behind your garden that they are developing? How long is your garden; and would it affect your own property?

I think if you sold your part of the garden to the developers you would in a way have little choice but to go ahead with their proposals in case they change. But if you can get a good price and they agree to build with your wishes in mind it maybe worth it.

GDB2222

You would need to speak to a solicitor about this, but you can certainly impose conditions on the sale of the land, and these conditions can continue to apply to future owners - google covenants.

Consider what is acceptable to you. For example, the developer may be happy to buy your land for use as additional garden area, which may be much more acceptable to you than building on it. Of course, it may not be acceptable to the developer, or it may reduce the amount he offers.

You really need to know what land the developer owns and what his plans are. How else can you know how much the land is worth to him?

You should be aware that many developers are just looking for options to buy. This is dressed up as a contract subject to suitable planning permission being obtained. You can certainly ask for a non-returnable payment up-front for entering into such an option.

hethmar

gdb, covenants are notoriously difficult to enforce.