Selling a small portion of garden to nextdoor that does not have a garden

DRP

SailorSam wrote: »

I don't think i'd be wanting to sell, it would always be on my mind that when i come to move any buyer i find is probably going to want a bigger garden.

Do we know the existing/proposed size of the OPs garden after selling to the neighbour?

Flugelhorn

I have seen houses where the kitchen window or living room window was immediately overlooking someone else's garden. If it was my garden I think I would want to sell the the strip of land.... not keen on someone standing watching you while they are washing up ... worse still if they want to start having conversations while you have some P&Q on the sun lounger

moneyistooshorttomention

I_have_spoken wrote: »

Hmm, not so sure. Having folks sitting out smoking, BBQ smells, radio on, boozing until after dark in what used to be your garden doesn't sound too clever.

Seconded.

There is also the fact that maybe some bits of your house would be there in what would then be "their territory"? When it comes to needing to do maintenance work on your house then it all becomes more awkward having to ask permission to go onto someone else's property. Would all walls of your house/fascia boards/etc still be easily accessible from your territory?

Even if the current neighbour is decent/would only use the garden as a visual amenity (rather than doing anything noisy etc in it), you don't know who might own that house next and what they might do.

Always best to have (literally) as much space as possible between yourselves and next door neighbours. They can still create problems even then, eg by trying to argue that some of your garden is theirs:doh:, but its best to keep opportunities for Other Peoples Selfishness/Awkwardness to a minimum.

Mojisola

Flugelhorn wrote: »

I have seen houses where the kitchen window or living room window was immediately overlooking someone else's garden.

If it was my garden I think I would want to sell the the strip of land.... not keen on someone standing watching you while they are washing up ... worse still if they want to start having conversations while you have some P&Q on the sun lounger

So instead of having someone inside their house you could have someone out in their garden, just the other side of a fence, talking or playing music?

ladyabouttown

Put up a temporary fence and let them use the space. Then see how you feel in a couple of months.

movilogo

ladyabouttown wrote: »

Put up a temporary fence and let them use the space. Then see how you feel in a couple of months.

If you do so, make sure you do it thru proper paperwork. They might start assuming as if it is theirs once they are used to it

Davesnave

So many people here rush to judgement with no evidence, or disregard what there is!

We don't know the size or aspect of the OP's garden, but we're given the size of the plot. This would preclude the erection of any conservatory, as people are not allowed to cover more than half of their garden land with sheds conservatories or w.h.y.

OP, I have done this on the last town property I owned. It cost nothing in lost privacy and made me £20k, but every situation is unique.

What you must do is negotiate for the value added to the purchaser's property and get them to pay the fees for transfer and good fencing (to your spec.)

I'm assuming they are keen to buy. If not, then the land is probably best kept in your ownership, until someone moves in who is.

PasturesNew

It sounds to me as if the OP's got no use for this bit of the land at all, so it's no skin off their nose if they sell it or not.

If I were looking for a 1-bed house I'd be looking at paying £8-12k extra for a nice bit of garden.... but it's always area/property dependent. A land surveyor would be able to give a true value ..... else it's down to asking estate agents and/or pawing through rightmove for comparisons.

DigForVictory

While it's a kind idea & gets the neighbours out of the OP's garden as it were, they bought their place without a garden.

If they're seriously pining for a bit of green of their own, they can move.

However if you do go ahead, solicitors for each side, full formal notification to the land registry etc.

Davesnave

PasturesNew wrote: »

It sounds to me as if the OP's got no use for this bit of the land at all, so it's no skin off their nose if they sell it or not.

If I were looking for a 1-bed house I'd be looking at paying £8-12k extra for a nice bit of garden.... but it's always area/property dependent. A land surveyor would be able to give a true value ..... else it's down to asking estate agents and/or pawing through rightmove for comparisons.

I would opt for the pawing through Rightmove option.

My purchasers commissioned their own surveyor without discussing with me and, surprise-surprise, he valued the plot as "garden land," divorced entirely from its situation!:rotfl:

That report was as relevant as last weeks lottery numbers!

So, I valued it. Say the house was worth £X. It already had a tiny garden, so I figured it would be worth about 3% to 5% more than X with an 'average' garden.

However, there are other costs for the purchaser, like conveyancing, fencing etc, so one has to be realistic. I set the price at around the 3% of house value level to allow for that. The purchasers baulked, thought about it for some months, then caved-in.

In the OP's case, it sounds as if the most significant extra cost for the purchaser would be altering their house to gain a rear exit. That, in itself, might be a deal-breaker.