Has any one ever bought land next to their house?

rachelf3361

Hi

I am currently looking to buy a house which is up for a very reasonable price but doesn't have the garden and garage I was looking for.

It does however have a large area of land next to it, which I have found out is owned by the Environment Agency.

I would like to try purchase a small area of the land right next to my property, does any one have any advise on how to go about this?

Thanks

Rachel

googler

What's the adjacent land currently used for?

If it's not currently in residential use (it could be farmland, or in commercial use), then your first obstacle to using it for garden & garage will be Change of Use Permission to convert it to garden ground, and then Planning Permission for erection of the garage.

As regards purchasing it, surely the first thing to do is contact the owners?

tyllwyd

Does the Environment Agency own land? It seems a bit strange to me - I tried googling but came up with no information. If it does, I'd have expected that it's for some specific reason - it's a site of special scientific interest, or something along those lines. Before you go any further, I'd investigate the Environment Agency's exact interest in the land, and whether it is ever likely to be possible to develop the land.

shar46y

Curious to see what people say about this, as we (well, OH) are thinking about buying a strip of land from next door neighbours to put in a drive and garage, but have no knowledge of how to go about this or even if it's possible.

googler

shar46y wrote: »

Curious to see what people say about this, as we (well, OH) are thinking about buying a strip of land from next door neighbours to put in a drive and garage, but have no knowledge of how to go about this or even if it's possible.

Assuming your neighbour's land is already in resdential use, there's no problem buying it. However, if your neighbour's land is farmland or a commercial site, the comments above apply.

The neighbour will have to split their title to separate what you want to buy, and will probably expect you to pay for it. You'll need a solicitor to handle this, and also the sale/transfer of title to you. As above though, first step is to contact the owner.

G_M

As said, you may need one or more of

* change of use
* planning permission
* Building Regs
* ownership
Ask the Local council about the 1st 3, and the owner about the 4th.

rachelf3361

Thanks for the replies everyone. The bit I want is currently just some grassy waste land, and on another part of it there's a row of 5 garages which are privately owned, and an electricity board station. I think the Environment Agency only own it because there is a beck that runs at the far it and some kind of national park just down the road.