Agricultural Occupancy Condition - Help please!

GDB2222

Davesnave wrote: »

No chance of being grassed-up where I am, unless you do something really outrageous, like both working in town all week and/or upsetting influential neighbours by siting a couple of pig arks at the end of their garden!

Plenty of abuse goes on; so much that my solicitor says the council really don't want to know. If it was all reported they couldn't handle it.

OTOH, mortgage payments will probably not be at an attractive interest rate, as many lenders aren't touching them, and those that do will want payment for the extra risk.

I hadn't realised that. So, even with the discount, the higher interest rate cancels out the advantage.

For a cash buyer with nerves of steel, it seems a good ploy. Keep it for 10 years, then apply for a certificate of lawful use. Bit unfair to the locals, though. Well, very unfair, actually.

Davesnave

GDB2222 wrote: »

For a cash buyer with nerves of steel, it seems a good ploy. Keep it for 10 years, then apply for a certificate of lawful use. Bit unfair to the locals, though. Well, very unfair, actually.

No comment! Mine will probably kill me inside 10 years. :rotfl:

They are not all locally tied. Mine isn't, but most are.

It's a bit of an archaic system. Few local ag workers can afford to buy places with land, but even if they do get a bungalow + a few acres to farm, in 9 out of 10 instances it's not going to provide a springboard to a larger farm. The days of eking out a living on a small acreage are gone for ever.

I know someone who makes & sells jams, pickles & chutneys etc on a cottage industry scale. That's the sort of thing which could work. But as for producing all the ingredients....that's a pipe dream, she's too busy making and selling at markets.

divorce_man

Please could anyone help me regarding an issue i have with my agricultural tie.As my name suggests I'm going through a divorce at the moment and my wife has had the valuations in for the property which have come out a lot less than we paid .We have lived in the house for 7 years and neither of us have ever been connected with agriculture. Before we purchased the house it was rented out by the last owner for 4 years,my question is quite simple does this qualify the tie to be dropped because its over the ten year mark.

GDB2222

divorce_man wrote: »

Please could anyone help me regarding an issue i have with my agricultural tie.As my name suggests I'm going through a divorce at the moment and my wife has had the valuations in for the property which have come out a lot less than we paid .We have lived in the house for 7 years and neither of us have ever been connected with agriculture. Before we purchased the house it was rented out by the last owner for 4 years,my question is quite simple does this qualify the tie to be dropped because its over the ten year mark.

There's a very clear article that answers your question here. http://planninglawblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/agricultural-dwellings-and-other-houses.html

Although this may give you some ideas, the court won't accept your word for it. You'll need to bite the bullet and get your own valuer.

GDB2222

By the way, you'll need to do more than show it was let out for 4 years previously. You'll need to show that that was non-compliant with PP and also that the occupation was continuous with your own.

If that does not apply but you or your nearly-ex is going to continue to reside in the property, the valuation ought to include some hope value for the 10 years being completed uneventfully in 3 years time. In other words, applying the full ag discount would be wrong IMHO.

Davesnave

divorce_man wrote: »

.... my wife has had the valuations in for the property which have come out a lot less than we paid .We have lived in the house for 7 years and neither of us have ever been connected with agriculture.

All country property values in Wales have seen significant falls in since 2006.

In most parts of England, I'd expect values now on an ag-tied property to be much the same.


Is the down-valuing a regional matter?

divorce_man

Thankyou for replying.
The low valuation is not regional,it's financial.My soon to be x-wife father wishes to buy me out so she can still reside in the property.
The last tenant was still living in the house when we exchanged.The only problem with the 10 year qualification maybe that after taking ownership i modernized the house for 7 months and increased the footprint by 50%.During the renovations we were not living there but i was working there every day
The house has no land only a very large mature garden laid out when the house was built,it was originally built for the farm next door as a retirement home for the farmers mother.

Slinky

What is it you are hoping to acheive here? That the value of the property is higher than the valuations you've been given so you get more for your part of it? Or is her father getting a mortgage?

If you can come to some arrangement which suits you both does it really matter what the so called 'valuation' actually is?

Davesnave

divorce_man wrote: »

exchanged.The only problem with the 10 year qualification maybe that after taking ownership i modernized the house for 7 months and increased the footprint by 50%.During the renovations we were not living there but i was working there every day.

This could be a problem if you were not paying the full council tax on the property during the renovations, as for that period it could not be counted as your residence. Whether the CT records go back that far is another matter. The planning department's files will, however.

With ag-tied property, there is a ceiling beyond which adding value becomes difficult, and this is especially true when there is no land. It is one of the reasons why so many of these houses do not receive the sort of updating and refurbishment their situation would otherwise warrant.

Nevertheless, these properties are usually in desirable rural locations, each with its own special character, so it is difficult to place exact valuations on them in a generic manner. For that reason, you should satisfy yourself that the figures obtained by your wife are realistic. The market itself is the fairest test.