Land and responsibilities

rqy99g

Hi

My home backs out on to an area of land which is approximately 1.5 acres. 25+ years ago it was a park put in by the builders but the ground gets water logged and all in all is pretty useless (consequently it is no longer a park) however it is used frequently by dog walkers and is a public right of way leading on to better walking area.

There are many trees, a few paths and then over grown grass, that's pretty much it.

I would guess 100+ people walk through every day.

This morning taking a different route to usual I passed a For Sale sign, the land is up for auction on the 25th of this month. The company which currently owns the land has gone in to liquidation.

The auction ad says, 'Reserve not to exceed £2500' which I understand means they don't expect it to go for much more the £2500!?

At that price I would consider buying it just to make sure nothing untoward happens on the land but I am concerned to what I'd be letting myself in for.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Would I need public liability insurance?

Regards

Simon

Comms69

You could buy it, then donate the land to a community interest group, they could then set it up as a nature area?

davidmcn

rqy99g wrote: »

The auction ad says, 'Reserve not to exceed £2500' which I understand means they don't expect it to go for much more the £2500!?

I would take it as meaning that they're happy to sell it for whatever it goes for at the auction, it might attract much more.

If you want to know what you're letting yourself in for then (as is usual with auctions) you need to do all of your due diligence in advance - what do the titles say, for example.

moneyistooshorttomention

Comms69 wrote: »

You could buy it, then donate the land to a community interest group, they could then set it up as a nature area?

Certainly one possibility - which could expand out to putting up a post on local Facebook page asking people to do a "crowd funding" thing to do so.

But, actually, my first port of call in those circumstances would be to get hold Title Register type stuff to see whether the land was actually legally allowed to be used as anything other than parkland. If there is some sort of covenant or something forbidding it being used for anything other than leisure purposes - then, hopefully, it would make it safe from a developer trying to buy it to build on.

You may (or may not) need to get "Village Green" status on the land to protect it from developers. I've known it successfully done before now.

eddddy

rqy99g wrote: »

At that price I would consider buying it just to make sure nothing untoward happens on the land ....

I guess you mean buying it to prevent future development.

Investors and developers will be scouring the auctions. If they see any chance of planning consent for development within the next 10 or 20 years, it will sell for much more than £2.5k.


TBH, given it's a large piece of land on the edge of a large housing development, less than 2 miles from a city centre, I suspect that a few investors/developers would be happy to just buy it anyway to see what happens - for quite a bit more than £2.5k

AnotherJoe

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Certainly one possibility - which could expand out to putting up a post on local Facebook page asking people to do a "crowd funding" thing to do so.

But, actually, my first port of call in those circumstances would be to get hold Title Register type stuff to see whether the land was actually legally allowed to be used as anything other than parkland. If there is some sort of covenant or something forbidding it being used for anything other than leisure purposes - then, hopefully, it would make it safe from a developer trying to buy it to build on.

You may (or may not) need to get "Village Green" status on the land to protect it from developers. I've known it successfully done before now.

Near where i live, about 100 years ago a local benefactor gave a great wadge of land to the local council with some sort of condition, essentially that it was used for leisure / to the benefit of the locals. And so it was for 99 years. Parks, playground. tennis courts. And then the council did something, there was a legal battle and now when i drive by there's loads of building going on.


So I wouldnt be at all confident that by giving it to someone else it would be safe.

25_Years_On

It would be worth checking with the County/Unitary Council to see if it already registered in someway. My Council has a commons register that also includes village greens. This might be why the price is so low. It clearly would be eligible for Village Green status as it's been used for over 20 years. I wouldn't suggest buying it because, if access is allowed, you will have responsibilities.


This really does need a community group or perhaps parish council.

AdrianC

rqy99g wrote: »

The auction ad says, 'Reserve not to exceed £2500' which I understand means they don't expect it to go for much more the £2500!?

The reserve is the "Won't sell for less than this much" price. It says nothing about the guide (what they admit to expecting it to go for), and it says even less about the final bid.

You might be the only person interested in bidding. If so, you're laughing. It'll be cheap.

You might find yourself up against somebody who thinks it'll be the perfect development plot for a medium-size estate, and is happy to put a couple of hundred grand in.


If you're seriously thinking of "saving it", talk to some of the neighbours. Maybe they have similar ideas. It'd be daft to be trying to outbid each other...

rqy99g

Thanks for the replies.

My main concern that the land could be built on. I've had a quick look through the Property Register most of which is double dutch to me: )

The bit which caught my eye is as follows:

The said Transfer also contains the following covenants by the
Transferor
THE Company hereby covenants with the Board as follows:-
(a) To keep the Easement Land forever hereafter open and unbuilt upon
(b) Not to substantially alter the level of the Easement Land from
that existing at the date hereof

Am I reading it correctly... I can't be built on?

Carrot007

rqy99g wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

My main concern that the land could be built on. I've had a quick look through the Property Register most of which is double dutch to me: )

The bit which caught my eye is as follows:

The said Transfer also contains the following covenants by the
Transferor
THE Company hereby covenants with the Board as follows:-
(a) To keep the Easement Land forever hereafter open and unbuilt upon
(b) Not to substantially alter the level of the Easement Land from
that existing at the date hereof

Am I reading it correctly... I can't be built on?

I would read it as just the right of way from that. But I cannot see the thing!

AnotherJoe

rqy99g wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

My main concern that the land could be built on. I've had a quick look through the Property Register most of which is double dutch to me: )

The bit which caught my eye is as follows:

The said Transfer also contains the following covenants by the
Transferor
THE Company hereby covenants with the Board as follows:-
(a) To keep the Easement Land forever hereafter open and unbuilt upon
(b) Not to substantially alter the level of the Easement Land from
that existing at the date hereof

Am I reading it correctly... I can't be built on?

... until someone challenges that in court and wins.