Boundary not advertised correctly and vendor not playing ball....

davidmcn

boromanc89 said:

Falafels said:

If you loved this property after a year long search, enough to go £17k over the asking price, it would be a shame to walk away from it now. If I were in your shoes, which I'm obviously not, I'd carry on with the purchase and deal with the council at my leisure once I'd moved in. Sure, the council has the right to construct mains pipes etc - but it doesn't seem likely to happen any time soon. You're intending to stay for ten years, but there are 27 years remaining on the lease.

I don't see why you should have any problems with future purchasers. Worst case scenario is that you just tell them that there is a rear garden of XXX size with an uninterrupted view of an area of mature trees, shrubs and flower beds - and that's only if you've got nowhere with the council.

But the lease has a clause which means the council can terminate it with 3 months notice.  Alright, unlikely to happen, but where is the protection for us here?

None at all, but you might have a better idea than us about the likelihood of the council wanting to do anything else with the land (and it doesn't sound like they do, if they're willing to discuss a price for it). Is it even attached to other land occupied by the council? Is anyone else likely to want to acquire it?

Doozergirl

boromanc89 said:

Falafels said:

If you loved this property after a year long search, enough to go £17k over the asking price, it would be a shame to walk away from it now. If I were in your shoes, which I'm obviously not, I'd carry on with the purchase and deal with the council at my leisure once I'd moved in. Sure, the council has the right to construct mains pipes etc - but it doesn't seem likely to happen any time soon. You're intending to stay for ten years, but there are 27 years remaining on the lease.

I don't see why you should have any problems with future purchasers. Worst case scenario is that you just tell them that there is a rear garden of XXX size with an uninterrupted view of an area of mature trees, shrubs and flower beds - and that's only if you've got nowhere with the council.

But the lease has a clause which means the council can terminate it with 3 months notice.  Alright, unlikely to happen, but where is the protection for us here?
This isn't a stepped down, tucked out of the way bit of land, it is a continuation of the lawn and for all intents and purposes has been visibly incorporated into the existing garden. 

You've just said yourself that it's unlikely to happen so why are you focussed on that and not on the fact that they've actually offered to sell it?! 

This are tricks that your mind plays on you, along with thinking that the vendor has been out to deceive you (if they thought it a problem, they'd not have bought the house).  The mind often wants to focus on the bad, not the good and makes mountains out of molehills. 

This can, and will, get sorted.   

getmore4less

Falafels said:

getmore4less said:

you could try the other tactic.

If they won't buy the land you don't want the lease just the house.

Though lifting a lease from a freehold title takes a little while these covid days, and I doubt the vendor would agree to it, if she's not prepared to buy the land. The vendor is already aware that there were people scrambling to buy her property.

Might just be 2 seperate titles.

eddddy

If it were me, I'd be nervous about buying the house, if I couldn't get certainty about buying the land.

Councils generally have a duty to get the best value for council tax payers, so if a neighbour jumped in and offered, say, £10k (versus your £4k) the council might feel duty-bound to give 3 months notice on the lease and sell to the neighbour.

If the vendor is being difficult, it might be easier to contact the council directly yourself to negotiate.

Doozergirl

eddddy said:

If it were me, I'd be nervous about buying the house, if I couldn't get certainty about buying the land.

Councils generally have a duty to get the best value for council tax payers, so if a neighbour jumped in and offered, say, £10k (versus your £4k) the council might feel duty-bound to give 3 months notice on the lease and sell to the neighbour.

If the vendor is being difficult, it might be easier to contact the council directly yourself to negotiate.

I really don't think they're obliged to advertise it to the highest bidder.  The neighbours won't know.  

DRP

Personally I’d just buy the land for 4K after purchasing the house. The risk seems very small that this wouldnt be possible.

id make sure your mortgage co are in the loop about all this though. 

boromanc89

Marvel1 said:

I'm not buying the whole forgot/didn't know the land was leased.

Are you talking about me? Or the vendor?

boromanc89

MalMonroe said:

I'd walk away. There ARE more properties out there, and it's a buyer's market now. Why bother with this stubborn vendor? House buying has been made more difficult by coronavirus but I'm sure you'll end up kicking yourselves later when you realise you have spent far more than you ever needed to on a property that isn't even registered!  (What's that about?)

To be honest, in this area, I haven't found it to be a buyers market.  We were 1 of 7 offers that went to best and final so feeling a bit hamstrung here.  She wouldn't struggle to find another buyer.
The property isn't registered as it last changed hands in 1970, I don't think there is anything controversial about it.

saajan_12

Honestly, its about your attitude to risk. Many things won't have a cast iron guarantee, so you have to weigh up the risk. Yes, it is possible that the council will revoke the lease or not sell you the land for £4k if you buy the house first. But the probability is low. Yes, it is possible that the house sale falls through, but you can assess the probability of that based on how far you are. All in very low risk. 

You can't force the vendor to buy the land for you, so your option is to walk away. That means you'll need to spend time, solicitors costs etc on a new property, which may more / less expensive. To me, that's more risk. 
I think the annoyance of the changed situation and stubborness of the vendor have soured things and you want to have something go your way, but that doesn't make it a rationally better choice to dig your heels in. 

Competsoph

@boromanc89 Although not exactly the same I am in a similar position with my current purchase. The house has extended the garden boundary to include a section of land which at present is ‘unregistered’ however I believe belongs to the railway, which is at the back of the house.
My vendor has been unable to provide proof that this land belongs to the house. This means that I could move in and a day later, whoever comes back to claim the land. Now I’m very much by the book and like things to be perfect but I’ve had to accept there is a small, but real risk, that someone may come to claim that land back meaning my garden would be reduced by a considerable amount. Unfortunately my options are either, go ahead, or walk away.
In the grand scheme of things, I love the house too much to walk away over something which may not happen. I know this isn’t your situation but I have empathy with you as I know how you are feeling regarding this risk. Ultimately, it comes down to the mental impact this will have on you. Why fret over something that may not happen? After all, you don’t spend all of your time living in the garden. If the house is perfect, go for it.