Acquiring land from my neighbour

cottingham

Hey everyone!

I'm after a bit of advice; our property has been extended in the past by the previous owners, the issue is that the property now sits the full width of its boundary.

This means when it comes to gardening at the back of the property, we have to wheel bins through the house. 

The plan is to build a fence between our property and the neighbour's detached property, allowing us to add a gate and a little pathway that runs around our house. Allowing us to wheel the bins to the front of the house without wheeling them through the house.

The problem is that this new pathway would cut into the neighbour's boundary.
The detached property has a lot of space either side of the house - roughly over the width of a driveway each side, and it currently has bushes in the location that the pathway would be built.

I guess I am after a bit of advice on how I could approach the neighbours to talk to them about getting this bit of land off them to create the pathway. 
Is this a fair request from my part? I'm willing to pay and want to do it all as legitimately as possible.

Thanks very much!

TELLIT01

The first thing you need to do is speak to the neighbour to see if they have any interest in selling part of their land to enable you put a path in.  Unless you get a positive response there is no point in looking into what need to be put in place, such as updating Land Registry information.  There is no harm in asking, but there is absolutely no requirement in law for the neighbour to give up their land to make life easier for you.  They may have plans to extend their own property, or may feel that losing that land would have a detrimental impact on their ability to sell in the future.

You say you are willing to pay, but that surely is a given.  Surely you wouldn't expect them simply to hand over part of their property free of charge.  You need to think of a figure you think is reasonable before speaking to the neighbour.  Even if they are amenable to a sale, their valuation is likely to be much higher than yours.

searchlight123

surely you must have given thought to the fact you were denying yourself access to the rear of your property when you first extended right up to the boundary line? as stated above, your neighbour will most likely have a far different view to the valuation of that strip of land than you. plus he will be losing what may be a pretty hedge and having it replaced with a fence. this may not appeal to him either?

you can but ask the question and take it from there.

EssexExile

tonygold said:

surely you must have given thought to the fact you were denying yourself access to the rear of your property when you first extended right up to the boundary line?

Perhaps that should've read "Surely you should've realised there was no access to the rear when you bought the property?".

OP, you can but ask. I have good neighbours who let me have access to the back garden through their's when required, which admittedly isn't every week with the bins. I can't see them selling me a bit of their land though.

Davesnave

tonygold said:

surely you must have given thought to the fact you were denying yourself access to the rear of your property when you first extended right up to the boundary line?

"Our property has been extended in the past by the previous owners......"

However, the OP bought the property in the form it is now and there is no reason why they should expect interest from a neighbour in rectifying the problem they now perceive.

 Every square metre of land has its price, but as TELLIT says, the amount  the neighbour might require to part with a few of theirs is likely to be higher than the OP thinks it should be. That's because of the value the OP will likely add to their house by creating this walkway, rather than the loss of utility if the adjoining garden is large. There's also the legal cost in altering both sets of deeds and permission to be gained from the lender if the neighbour has a mortgage.

OP you can only approach your neighbour, explain what you'd like to do, including measures to maintain privacy, and ask them to think about it. Don't ask for an immediate answer. You should expect to negotiate on the price if they agree, but you'll have the weaker hand. When I sold land to neighbours, the negotiation lasted over a year and they eventually paid 3x the first amount offered + all legal fees. In my mind, they still got a bargain, but obviously they saw things differently!

southcoastrgi

Leave the bins out the front like most people do 

lesalanos

southcoastrgi said:

Leave the bins out the front like most people do 

How do most people get the lawn cuttings and other green waste from the back garden to the bins at the front?

Grenage

lesalanos said:

southcoastrgi said:

Leave the bins out the front like most people do 

How do most people get the lawn cuttings and other green waste from the back garden to the bins at the front?

If they have a green waste bin, normally in a bag.

longwalks1

As others have said, what you think the value of a narrow strip of land to be an occasional walkway for a wheelie bin may be (in fact it will) will vary massively to what your neighbour will value part of their land/garden 

Davesnave

lesalanos said:

southcoastrgi said:

Leave the bins out the front like most people do 

How do most people get the lawn cuttings and other green waste from the back garden to the bins at the front?

  In 'most' cases they may well compost them.

Put it another way: there are 15 properties near me and one has a green waste bin. Lord knows why, because its owner has over an acre of land, but some people have no MSE in their DNA.

Ectophile

It's definitely reasonable to ask if they want to sell you a strip of their garden.  I know someone who sold a corner of his garden to someone who had built a big house on a small plot, and ended up with no back garden at all.

But your problem isn't about how much a few quare metres of land normally costs.  It's down to how much you need that strip of land, and how much money your neighbour thinks they can extract from you.