Conveyancing/land registry question for buying land

newscambank

Hi everyone,wonder if anyone here can help!

I am looking to buy a field, not attaching it the house, no change of use and will continue as grazing land.

Rang the solicitor i used for house/sale purchase as they were pretty decent., and trying to get a basic quote from doesnt seem that straight forward and i get the feeling they might not be able to help.

Having looked on google doesn't throw up much either (or i have not looked in the right place)

Can anyone with any experience of purchasing land tell me what is involved as opposed to buying a house (apart from the obvious).

Is it low value purchase. Is this something that if i was organised and had attention to detail could do myself?

Any help much appreciated

G_M

It's no different (apart from the obvious, like no survey!).

Is it registered or unregistered land? If not sure, check with a map search at land registry.

Are you getting a mortgage?

newscambank

G_M thanks for the quick reply

I am not sure tbh, (our house was "unregistered, all that meant was more expense at land registry lol)

Yea no survey as the field suffers from damp! ha!

No , no mortgage, going to be keeping sheep and goats!, dont think i will get a mortage for a goat shelter

Its 2 acres with a really large pylon in the middle,

G_M

newscambank wrote: »

I am not sure tbh,
Well, 5 minutes/£3 to check
(our house was "unregistered, all that meant was more expense at land registry lol)
Pretty minimal expense

Yea no survey as the field suffers from damp! ha!
You can get a free survey from a damp proof specialist, but given the likely length of the perimeter, installation of a damp proof course will cost significantly more than 1st registration with the LR.

No , no mortgage, going to be keeping sheep and goats!, dont think i will get a mortage for a goat shelter
You could still get a mortgage for the field.

Its 2 acres with a really large pylon in the middle,

The pylon will probably provide a source of income - the National Grid will pay an annual rent.

newscambank

Yea it pays a small amount each year

having trouble with the land registry for this field!

G_M

Map searches can be tricky. Sometimes the only way to precisely identify which Title relates to exactly which land is to identify several adjacent Titles in the area and buy the Plans for all of them, then study each Plan.

Or maybe the problem is that the land is unregistered......

But either way, the answer to your original Q is tat the principals involved in conveyancing a plot of land, field, mountain or house are all the same. Any decent conveyancing solicitor (and I mean, not a cheap online conveyancing outfit) should be able to do the job.

But a rural solicitor may have more experience of farmland idiosyncracies than a city centre solicitor.

newscambank

Thanks G_M i wouldnt touch an online outwith with a bargepole, i think your last point about a rural solicitor might be a better idea and that could be my best move

And yes it is most likely unregistered!

Davesnave

With fields it depends very much on location, but the sort of complication you might have is an easement for someone's septic tank soakaway, or rights of way for walkers or other land owners.

There may be odd differences in the boundaries too, some being on one side of a hedge while others are on the opposite side. The latter can be significant as regards maintenance.

Similarly, bear in mind that you may well be expected to carry out seasonal maintenance on hedges bordering a public road, removal of fly-tipped rubbish and clearance of watercourses.

You will want to know if there are any farm payments registered to the land, or any grants with conditions attached. I eschew things related to government involvement, but this is a personal choice. Frankly, for two acres, nothing they could offer me would be worth the hassle.

Land_Registry

newscambank wrote: »

Yea it pays a small amount each year

having trouble with the land registry for this field!

Do you mean identifying it or is it the next step and not being able to get a positive search result online?

If it's a field then you should be able to locate it on the map and then zoom in sufficiently to then activate the Find properties radio button. If you have done that and the result is 'No information available' then the odds are it is unregistered.

To be certain you would have to complete a postal search of the index map
The search result would either confirm it as being unregistered or provide you with the title number(s) which you could then search against online for the registered details.