Buying a piece of neighbours garden (sort of)

ohdarn

Soot2006 said:

how long is left on the lease?

I'm not sure without digging out the paperwork, but it's still a long time, something like 85 years.

eddddy

ohdarn said:

I've just no idea how to go about it as everything I found online related to buying a piece of land from someone else, I didn't know if the lease portion of this prior agreement changed the way it would be approached.

I wouldn't worry so much about the legal aspects at this stage - solicitors can sort that out. (There are different ways it can be done.)

In simple terms, the neighbours need to 'hand over' that piece of land - and that can only happen if you can agree a price with the owners of the house next door.

So you need to start a dialogue with the next door owners. You could try doing that through their letting agent. Perhaps you can ask the tenants next door who the letting agent is.


Edit to add...

ohdarn said:

This assumes they have a tenancy agreement 😁 

The house seems to falling down around the poor people that live in it, I'm not sure the landlord cares about them enough to draw one up.

I very much doubt that somebody would go off to Thailand, and leave tenants in their property with no tenancy agreement, and no managing agent.

ohdarn

ThisIsWeird said:

Are there any conditions/restrictions/covenants written in to this lease doc?

Not that I know of, but we haven't got a copy of the lease that was signed and how much they paid for it. 
We just have a note to say there's a lease and when it was arranged.

propertyrental

Of course the occupants next door have a tenancy agreement. Even if it is not a written one. They are (presumably?) paying rent, and receive a property tolive in in return. They have an AST.

There's no way to get back this land without agreement from the owners in Thailand, so contacting them is obviously the first step.

Assuming they are amenable to the idea, they may
a) need to amend the AST with their tenants (could be oral but any sensible landlord would get the agreement in writing). The tenants might want compensation eg reduction in rent
b) need to get their mortgage lender's consent (if any)
c) want their legal costs covered and/or
d) want compensation for the reduction in value of their property and/or simply want to make a profit

If/when they indicate they are amenable, that's the time to think about a solcitor. Not a bog-standard cheap conveyancing firm but someone who understands leases.

Legally it's not hard, it's the negotiation and practicalities that will be difficult - especially across continents!

propertyrental

ohdarn said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Are there any conditions/restrictions/covenants written in to this lease doc?

Not that I know of, but we haven't got a copy of the lease that was signed and how much they paid for it. 
We just have a note to say there's a lease and when it was arranged.

Why not download the leasehold title from the Land Registry? £3 + £3 for the Title Plan here. That will at least tell you the start date and any conditions. It will also give you the Title number. With that you can request a copy of the lease itself (£7 by post with form OC2 here).

ohdarn

ohdarn said:

This assumes they have a tenancy agreement 😁 

The house seems to falling down around the poor people that live in it, I'm not sure the landlord cares about them enough to draw one up.

I very much doubt that somebody would go off to Thailand, and leave tenants in their property with no tenancy agreement, and no managing agent.

That would be entirely true if everyone did everything properly.

But then their solar panels are attached to their roof via rocks, so that's not always the case unfortunately.

Finding the contact details of the landlord is going to be the trickiest part.

ohdarn

propertyrental said:

ohdarn said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Are there any conditions/restrictions/covenants written in to this lease doc?

Not that I know of, but we haven't got a copy of the lease that was signed and how much they paid for it. 
We just have a note to say there's a lease and when it was arranged.

Why not download the leasehold title from the Land Registry? £3 + £3 forthe Title Plan. That will at least tell you the start date and any conditions. It will also give you the Title number. With that you can request a copy of the lease itself (£7 by post).

We've got the title from the Land Registry but the information is very limited. It's about two sentences long and has the names of the sellers and buyers, the start date and that it's a 99 year lease and that's it.

It doesn't mention how much it was exchanged for or anything else.

user1977

Surely your solicitor got the detail when you bought, and didnt just tell you there’s a lease but not what it says?

propertyrental

ohdarn said:

propertyrental said:

ohdarn said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Are there any conditions/restrictions/covenants written in to this lease doc?

Not that I know of, but we haven't got a copy of the lease that was signed and how much they paid for it. 
We just have a note to say there's a lease and when it was arranged.

Why not download the leasehold title from the Land Registry? £3 + £3 forthe Title Plan. That will at least tell you the start date and any conditions. It will also give you the Title number. With that you can request a copy of the lease itself (£7 by post).

We've got the title from the Land Registry but the information is very limited. It's about two sentences long and has the names of the sellers and buyers, the start date and that it's a 99 year lease and that's it.

It doesn't mention how much it was exchanged for or anything else.

Then get the lease itself. You now have the Title number so just need to send OC2 + £7 to the LR.