Negotiating a new price after quotes

AdrianC

desthemoaner wrote: »

The land currently belongs to a farmer who, I believe uses it for the occasional grazing of dairy cows.

Agricultural use, then, currently.

Have a search yourself of your local planning website. If there's been permission granted, it'll be on there. If nothing's been done to use it, it'll probably have expired. So they'd need to apply again - as they can do in any case at any time, regardless of previous plans - and, of course, you can object then.

lincroft1710

desthemoaner wrote: »

We currently live in a cul de sac, and have kind of got used to cul de sac living. Not only that, but being overlooked by nothing but a few cows and overhead power lines kind of appeals to our elusive dream of life on the edge of the country.

Unless the surrounding land is designated "green belt" (and even that can be altered), there is absolutely no guarantee it won't be built on in the future. The current housing shortage means that land previously considered not suitable for development is being taken for housing.

desthemoaner

Thanks very much.
One further question: on the boundary between "our" garden and the farmer's field is an overhead power line. Does the planning committee have the power to order this to be rerouted in order to facilitate new building? Access to any new property would have to cross the path of said power lines.

thequant

desthemoaner wrote: »

but it still concerns me that there might be something going on behind the scenes.
I take it that the local searches done by my solicitor would identify whether any such applications might be pending?

I was looking a house last year that had some disused commercial land next to it. I asked the EA if anything was happening to that land, response was no and if there was it would be impossible to change it's use.


I did my own due diligence and found that to be the case. It was only when mentioning to friend about the place we were considering buying that he told us. Oh yeah I know where you mean, the council have been unsuccessfully trying to flog that land off for years. The only way they will ever be able to do it, is if they give it change of use.


At the same time, the land was put up for sale yet again, knowing that councils will change a lands designation for the purposes of facilitating a sale we pulled out on that basis.


Lo and behold, in the local newspaper a few weeks ago a new housing development had been announced for that land.


I rechecked the planning portals and the applications had gone in weeks just after we pulled out. So there was definitely something pending when that house was put up for sale (which I suspect the vendors knew) despite the searches revealing nothing.

lincroft1710

desthemoaner wrote: »

Thanks very much.
One further question: on the boundary between "our" garden and the farmer's field is an overhead power line. Does the planning committee have the power to order this to be rerouted in order to facilitate new building? Access to any new property would have to cross the path of said power lines.

There's a whole estate about 2 miles from where I live which has power lines right over it. Plenty of roads are crossed by power lines.

Having an overhead power line on or near a boundary of a house I was thinking of buying would really simplify matters - I'd look for somewhere else!

martinthebandit

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Having an overhead power line on or near a boundary of a house I was thinking of buying would really simplify matters - I'd look for somewhere else!

Me too, unless of course the boiundry was half a mile or more away from the house.

desthemoaner

Oddly enough, the thought of having power lines next to our property doesn't bother me anywhere near as much as the proximity of other houses, with the noise, the traffic etc etc would.

The current (no pun intended) owners have lived with the situation for over forty years, so it clearly hasn't bothered them.
So am I missing something? Is this about the possibility of them falling on us during bad weather? Static in the air making my (remaining) hair stand on end when I'm mowing the lawn? Or do overhead power lines attract alien life forms, who use them for charging the batteries in their flying saucers?
Someone please tell me.

martinthebandit

http://www.hps.org/hpspublications/articles/powerlines.html

Although my main objections are probably the restrictions it would impose on my kids, or rather my grandkids now, no playing with kites etc and I don't find them aesthetically pleasing.

But each to their own, if it works for you, then go for it.

desthemoaner

Oh, I will, but thanks anyhow for the link.
It reminds me of some of the research they began to bombard us with when mobile phone companies started putting their equipment on any tall structure that they could get their hands on....the argument eventually concluding, as much of that pro/anti mobile phone mast stuff did, that no adverse effects are absolutely proven but that its impossible to prove a negative.

Fortunately my kite flying days are over, so (bearing in mind the deadly peril posed by these power lines) if and when grandkids come along we'll take them down to the beach to fly their kites, and expose them to raw sewage and radioactive waste instead.

AdrianC

desthemoaner wrote: »

Oddly enough, the thought of having power lines next to our property doesn't bother me anywhere near as much as the proximity of other houses, with the noise, the traffic etc etc would.

Indeed. We've got the transformer serving our little hamlet of eight houses, sat up a pole in the back garden. 11kV lines going to that. Western Power just very kindly did a lot of gardening for us, at their expense, because of it. Saved us thousands. AND they pay us a few hundred quid each year in wayleave payments.