Is this possible? Steep side garden to house, how to incorporate in to back garden?

getmore4less

Probably worth the X*£3/£6 to get the basic land registry entries  if the vendors don't have that detail to hand.

There are at least 3 for that plot.

Section62

theoretica said:

Section62 said:

RubyShoes said:

The land is leasehold, and the owners tell me that as far as they are aware there are no covenants on it, and the reason they built the fence where it is was for privacy so it wasn't too low, and because they couldn't be bothered leveling it out so went with the easiest option.

I'd be very surprised if the BiB is correct.

The retaining wall is a substantial one, and will need periodic maintenance.  Whoever owns the wall (and/or is responsible for maintenance) would almost certainly have wanted a covenant restricting use of the land immediately behind the wall to ensure access for maintenance is retained.

There's also a good chance there are planning conditions relating to the openness of that area, either for the overall 'open plan' nature of the development, or possibly for sightlines.

But if the house owns the wall and is responsible for maintenance, no other party would need a covenant to make doing that easier.  Definitely a question to find out definitively who is responsible for the wall.

If that property owns the wall then I'd expect there to be covenants requiring them to (a) keep the wall maintained and (b) not build anything on the land above which would hinder that maintenance.

So I'd still be surprised if there were no covenants on a leasehold(?) property in a relatively modern development, with the additional complexity of a retaining wall to one side, and by the looks of it another to the rear.

Eldi_Dos

The way the landscaping has been changed to a grassy area is dangerous if a young child runs about the grass and is something I would want addressed.

RubyShoes

getmore4less said:

Probably worth the X*£3/£6 to get the basic land registry entries  if the vendors don't have that detail to hand.

There are at least 3 for that plot.

Yes, I have obtained these already. 

RubyShoes

Emmia said:

Is the land actually leasehold (how long is the lease, level of ground rent / service charges etc.)? Or is that a typo?

If the land is leasehold, you'll need the freeholders consent for the works you're proposing - and if they say "no" then I'm sorry but you won't be able to do the works. 

Personally, I wouldn't buy what appears to be a house that either is leasehold, or is fundamentally associated with a leasehold... it's fine for flats with shared areas, but when you're the sole occupier...

Did the current owners get permission from the freeholder for the fence? If they did,  do you know if/how much the freeholder charged?

Do you know if the current owners have sought to buy the freehold for the land? Or have a quote for that?

Yes, it is leasehold. £75 per year, 980 years remaining. Costs have remained the same in the 22 years since it was built. 50% of houses in this town are leasehold, so I don't have swathes of choice in the market as it is. 
I'm aware I need leasehold and planning permission. 
I don't know about the permission for the current fencing. It will be something to check.
I asked about the lease and the owners has been quoted £1200 to purchase, but just hadn't got round to it.

RubyShoes

getmore4less said:

no bath and stairs from the lounge.
is that other downstairs front room a converted garage

Planning show it was an old opencast mining site.
No further planning since it was built.

land reg has both freehold and leasehold entries for the property site
XX at......
land at.....

I'm not sure what your points are in relation to my query. Can you clarify please?

RubyShoes

I'll attach a few pics to see if anyone can shed any further light. Pic 1 is the boundary from title deeds. Pic 2 is the deeds showing the covenants. Pic 3 is the original planning application which seems to show fencing (and the fencing is further down the slope if I'm not mistaken). Pic 4 is my rough ideas for doing the work. Does it look possible? What kind of cost are we looking at for a professional? I have about 7k. Not sure if it would be within a couple of k of this. 

daveyjp

Unless you are going full DIY, your budget is actually £6k plus VAT for design, planning, materials and labour for carrying out the work.

That isn't realistic for what you are looking at doing,

RubyShoes

Well, please tell me what is then instead of being patronising. I have 20k, but have other jobs I wanted to do. So I can alter my budget if necessary. I just need a ball park figure to consider.

twopenny

We have a lot of these on newish estates. Getting the info is very difficult. I've tried several times. The information on what can and can't be done is stipulated at the time of build. It vanishes.
It's only when you start the work it all kicks in. Not impossible but a lot of paperwork and delays.
With the fencing you could be looking at Highways and the sightline for the junction. Extra wide ones on new builds.
Also from a builders point of view a lot of expense and hard work on a sloping site.
Moving the fence is one thing. And how it will affect your privacy.
Filling in is going to be a reinforced wall from scratch, overall drainage. Where will the water go.