Developers offer on my property

julicorn

I would absolutely accept the offer, but would also want the current value to be written into the contract as the minimum, as well as clarity on how the property is to be valued. 

Section62

nicknameless said:

Kinada66 said:

nicknameless said:

Please can we know the ballpark figure value of the property?  If £50k this is a £150k inducement.  If £500k it is £600k.

Double £0 is £0 folks

Was recently valued at 600k

I'll give you £650k cash right now ?

You could take advice but I'd be seriously considering signing on the dotted line.  Essentially if the contract is watertight they are offering you £700k to move.

£100k right now.  A total of £1.3 million* if they buy within 5 years.

(*subject to detailed terms regarding the market value)

Ath_Wat

anotheruser said:

sheramber said:

What surrounds the fields on the other three sides?

The farm?

This is almost irrelevant and not sure why some care so much about it.

The farmer owns the land (let's call it a field).
The housing developer wants to buy the field.
The farmer is happy to sell the field to the housing developer - OP, how much is the farmer selling the land for?
The only way to access that field properly is through the OPs house.
The other three sides of the field could have roads (not on all three sides), other fields, a protected wood, a castle - anything you want.  The result is the same - the famer does not want to sell those other fields so the only opportunity is the OPs house route, which makes sense if there is already an existing track leading to the field.

That's the point isn't it.  If it is fields then whoever owns them will sell those fields, or parts thereof,  if offered enough.  The question is what is on the other sides and at what point is it going to cost them more to buy that than the OP is asking.

Unless there is protected land absolutely all around the place except a  chunk precisely corresponding to the OP's house, which seems unlikely, there will be other options for a price.  What is that price?  Who knows.

GDB2222

I think that this is becoming a circular argument. The op knows the layout, and nobody else does. The op says that there’s no alternative entrance to the site, and it’s futile arguing.  The fact that the developers are prepared to offer £100k for an option to pay double for the house does certainly imply that this is their much preferred  entrance.

Adam16

As a large scale property developer, I’ll give a simple answer. 

Take the money. 

Thats a solid offer for an option agreement and subsequent purchase of what is essentially a ransom strip. 

Get them to pay your legal costs, and make sure its watertight. 

Most people offering advice here likely have no experience of property development on this scale, how developers think, and how to negotiate.

Starting with the basics… don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. 

GDB2222

Adam16 said:

As a large scale property developer, I’ll give a simple answer. 

Take the money. 

Thats a solid offer for an option agreement and subsequent purchase of what is essentially a ransom strip. 

Get them to pay your legal costs, and make sure its watertight. 

Most people offering advice here likely have no experience of property development on this scale, how developers think, and how to negotiate.

Starting with the basics… don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. 

If, as a developer, you were looking at a potential profit of say £15m from getting planning permission, what would be your absolute maximum for the ransom strip? 

I assume that you would be sharing the £15m with the farmer, but even then you might feel it worth getting out of bed for. Would you just walk away from this, or would you prefer alternatives, such as trying to get the council interested in a CPO?

Oh, and if you do get the council interested in a CPO, why would they stop at the access ransom strip? They might as well buy the farmland, too, and cut the developer out of the deal. Farmland without PP or access would not have a lot of hope value, perhaps?

Section62

GDB2222 said:

Oh, and if you do get the council interested in a CPO, why would they stop at the access ransom strip? They might as well buy the farmland, too, and cut the developer out of the deal. Farmland without PP or access would not have a lot of hope value, perhaps?

A CPO for highways purposes (/enabling) is a different propositon to a CPO for building a housing estate.  In the latter case you'd need to justify the need to buy that particular land to build houses on.

GDB2222

If the council do use their CPO powers to buy the ransom strip, what price would they sell it to the developer for? Why sell it for less than a few million, if that’s what it is worth to the developer?

ProDave

GDB2222 said:

Adam16 said:

As a large scale property developer, I’ll give a simple answer. 

Take the money. 

Thats a solid offer for an option agreement and subsequent purchase of what is essentially a ransom strip. 

Get them to pay your legal costs, and make sure its watertight. 

Most people offering advice here likely have no experience of property development on this scale, how developers think, and how to negotiate.

Starting with the basics… don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. 

If, as a developer, you were looking at a potential profit of say £15m from getting planning permission, what would be your absolute maximum for the ransom strip? 

I very much doubt the development would make £15m profit.  house building costs are rising rapidly and at a time now when house prices might be starting to fall.  The farmer will be looking for a large wedge to sell this field as well as the price of this house for the access.

I would personally accept the offer once you have it checked by your own solicitor (proper solicitor not just a conveyencor) Having double (plus the £100K) the value of your present house gives you lots of scope to buy a replacement house.

twitwoo

Adam16 said:

As a large scale property developer, I’ll give a simple answer. 

Take the money. 

Thats a solid offer for an option agreement and subsequent purchase of what is essentially a ransom strip. 

Get them to pay your legal costs, and make sure its watertight. 

Most people offering advice here likely have no experience of property development on this scale, how developers think, and how to negotiate.

Starting with the basics… don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. 

Sounds like Adam16 knows what he's talking about.

However best not to rely on anyone's advice (including mine) from a public forum.

It may well be worth you seeking advice from a chartered land surveyor or similar, who could advise on the value of your property in relation to the proposed development and help you negotiate from a strong position with the property developer.

Also worth seeking advice on potential capital gains tax liability for any money you receive for the option agreement.

Best of luck OP.