Buying a piece of land adjoining mine

saphydog

I recently began improving the ground at the front of my home with block paving.

there was a small piece of disused land between the council garages and my garden, that was an eyesore so i continued to block pave that as well just so it didnt look scruffy, it was nasty old concrete council with boulders set in it.

Basically as i suspected the land owner (local housing group) decided to get in touch and they want to discuss further...

It was a reasonable letter and didnt include any threats to remove said paving or else.

I suspect they may want to offer me the land

Thing is i have no idea what its worth or how much solicitors fees would be to deal with it.

I have no problem removing the paving should that be the outcome of our discussion but would prefer to keep it for parking in my overcrowded street.

heres the letter i responded with:


[FONT=&quot]I recently received a letter relating to the block paving of a piece of land next to my property at XXXXX

I took it upon myself and at my own expense (approx £2000) to improve this piece of derelict space, which was both unsightly and dangerous.

It was a small area approximately 4x6 meters that was previously an uneven concrete mess and was often used by undesirables to dump their rubbish.

The adjoining garages are already in an awful mess, as they have not been resurfaced in a long time.

The area was beginning to attract unwanted attention from scrap men and youth’s deciding to hang around in their vehicles of an evening.

The access to the garages is a narrow road passing the front of our house and leaves our vehicles in the way of any traffic to the garages and on several occasions resulted in damage to my vehicles.

The block paving of the area was never intended to be a claim of ownership, just a solution to some of these problems.

I will gladly remove it from the land if WHG have serious objections, however this is an area in which I intend to live for many years and would like to ensure it is well maintained and attractive as I’m sure you can understand.

I would be interested in purchasing this piece of land if it will resolve the issue, as I’m certain it has never served any useful purpose.

Improving this piece of land solves many issues and I would strongly recommend you to visit and talk with me personally at my home to discuss the matter further.

You will be able to see first hand; the improvement it has made to the area, the poor condition of the surrounding garages, and help you to understand the issue better from my perspective.

I look forward to a swift response and hope we can agree on a solution.


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Any help or advice appreciated


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Davesnave

It might resolve things neatly if the HA decide they can rent you the piece of land. By entering into a rental agreement, you could be spared legal costs and the HA could be sure that you were not going to seek adverse possession at some future date.

saphydog

I think i would rather it went one way or the other, renting would be like being in limbo.
At least if i did buy i could but a wall and roof over it too.
Cost is the main concern i dont want to be spending thousands on solicitors fees.
I have a pack of land surveys and coal reports from buying the house last year i wonder they would be of any use bringing costs down, the land is directly next to my home.

oldtractor

you shouldnt have done what you did. The land does not belong to you. You should have asked to buy it first, bought it, then block paved it.

saphydog

oldtractor wrote: »

you shouldnt have done what you did. The land does not belong to you. You should have asked to buy it first, bought it, then block paved it.

Thanks for your useful input....

Slinky

Personally I'd be much briefer in my reply - saying yes I am happy to meet with you to discuss the land and suggest they make some suggestions as to when.

Keep your powder dry at this point about wishing to purchase it. If they know you are keen to buy it, the price may go up.....

geoffky

oldtractor is right...imagine if we all done what we like...there are ways of doing this and your way would of got peoples back up...you might of asked them first..

saphydog

geoffky wrote: »

oldtractor is right...imagine if we all done what we like...there are ways of doing this and your way would of got peoples back up...you might of asked them first..

and again, that wasnt really my question was it...?
Why say anything if you have nothing useful?

Thanks to those that replied

somethingcorporate

Not sure about the best way to proceed, you have shown your hand already and already shelled out cash on paving it.

I'd continue to be nice and hope they play ball - you're obviously a generous and caring person if you are happy to spend your money improving things that aren't even yours!

By the way, my house needs painting if you fancy paying for that too?

Good luck!!

dorset_nurse

saphydog wrote: »

and again, that wasnt really my question was it...?
Why say anything if you have nothing useful?

Thanks to those that replied

The posters were just pointing out their moralistic view, which I happen to agree with. It is not irrellevant that as you have already tampered with the land that the owner is less likely to want to cooperate with you.

Your letter is long-winded and comes accross a bit dictatorial to me. I wish you luck.

If my neighbours are reading this; don't you dare pave any of my land without asking first

ceridwen

Personally - I think O.P. is being very optimistic in assuming that the owners wish to talk to him about the possibility of selling that land to him.

I think the meeting will be more along the lines of "Well - we did think about sending you a letter telling you to remove the paving - but we have decided to come and talk to you in person about your timetable for removing it. We also plan on telling you what legal action we will take if the paving ISNT removed from our land."

This has been approached totally the wrong way. If O.P. wants the land - then he should have put in an offer for it at the outset and not just started to treat it as if it IS his (which is what putting down paving amounts to....).

Personally - I suspect the owner has plans of their own for it and is regarding finding someone else's paving down there as an attempted land grab and they are likely to refuse to sell to O.P. on principle.

If anything - if I were the landowner I might well decide to sell my bit of land at this point (even if I hadnt intended to in the first place) and make very sure that it was sold to someone other than O.P. - as my back would have been put right up by the dictatorial attitude taken.