Asking a neighbour to sell their garage, any tips?

Pandilex

Had a look but it doesn't come up, I wonder if it's because it's considered the garage of another house even though it's not physically adjacent, so I'd have to know which one... Hmm...

EachPenny

Pandilex wrote: »

I don't know if my area is an SEA but I read somewhere that the council uses this law to determine it - anyway I guess all I'd need to do is talk to the council and see what they say about it as they'll have the final word either way I guess. I'd put a sign up saying no parking except [reg number], I've seen other people do that across the road although whether it is listened to I don't know.

S84 and Schedule 10 make provision for a local authority to apply to the national traffic authority to designate an SEA, the council would normally publish on their website what areas (if any) have been designated. The take up of these powers is patchy - some still haven't taken on general parking enforcement which is far more lucrative! It only went into the TMA because London Boroughs had already obtained the powers and some authorities outside London said "me too!"

Any sign you put up will have no legal effect on people parking on the public highway. Only the traffic authority can put up parking restriction signs, and these need to comply with regulations or have special authorisation. A sign saying only [vehicle reg] can park here will never be authorised.

But I think it is a good call to forget this and concentrate on a pure financial package. You might want to do some research on the cost of garages in your area so you are prepared in advance. A detached single garage not far from me is currently on the market for £25k. That's about 10% of the average price for a 3 bed house - and we don't have a shortage of on-street parking.

Given the description of the site the other thing to be aware of is if the garage has the potential to be developed as a (small) house - if that is feasible then you'll need a bigger budget!

Pandilex

Thanks mate, do you know how I can find garages? I checked rightmove but it doesn't seem to do them. Some googling and I found an old site but it didn't have any dates on it. I am guessing around 15-20k ordinarily but the garage is kinda useless to normal people because it is on a street that has no parking restrictions anyway and is difficult to access.

It's just garage size so if you could live in a garage with another garage on top, kudos to you! Half the garage would be taken up with stairs unless you had a ladder! That'd certainly make it the most unique property in the area

EachPenny

Pandilex wrote: »

Thanks mate, do you know how I can find garages?

I'd probably start by going to a few local estate agents and asking - say you are looking for one in the general area (avoid identifying the one in your street!!) and wondered what kind of budget you'll need to put together to buy if one does come on the market. Bear in mind they may ask you for contact details, including your postal address - but you are under no obligation to tell them of course.

Pandilex wrote: »

It's just garage size so if you could live in a garage with another garage on top, kudos to you! Half the garage would be taken up with stairs unless you had a ladder! That'd certainly make it the most unique property in the area

You've obviously not spent much time looking at some recent developments in London, where a floor plan the size of a garage might be termed 'spacious' in the estate agent's blurb One developer proposed giving people the option of a fridge or a washing machine in the kitchen.... not the actual appliances, but the option of whether the single appliance space was fitted out for a washing machine or just had a power point for a fridge. They claimed people would either use the launderette, or they would buy a ready-meal on the way home from work so wouldn't need a fridge. I kid you not.

silvercar

If the garage isn't registered at all with land registry, you may want to query the current user's claim to own it.

Pandilex

Gosh the land registry is half stuck in the past, you have to get a postal order for £4 and post it off to them and they will write back with the reference of the location, provided you submit an aerial image at the right aspect ratio blah blah blah nightmare.

Fortunately they let you download local council vector data, and since I am fortunately a software engineer I was able to download and use that to locate it and buy the info online. The gentleman is 81 years old, and has owned the garage since 1983.

Do people still care about money at that age? I guess we'll find out.

AdrianC

Pandilex wrote: »

Gosh the land registry is half stuck in the past, you have to get a postal order for £4 and post it off to them and they will write back with the reference of the location, provided you submit an aerial image at the right aspect ratio blah blah blah nightmare.

Or you could just do it all online...

Pandilex

AdrianC wrote: »

Or you could just do it all online...

I wish, from their site:

The index map contains information on all land and property that’s registered or being registered with HM Land Registry.

Use it to find the title number of a property that doesn’t appear in a search of the register.

Some properties don’t appear in a search of the register because the property boundaries have changed since it was registered, or the property address has been spelled incorrectly, for example.

How to search
You can’t search the map yourself.