Buying part of unused field

Joanie_mac_2

I was wondering if anybody would be able to give me an idea of how much I could expect to pay for a portion of land backing my property, I've been trying to find some info online but unsure of how it would be valued.

My property is a detached bungalow in a rural area. My neighbour owns the field around my property, see yellow are below, and I'm hoping to buy the strip down the side and a bit at the back. We are currently extending to add a granny flat for my Mum so will be splitting the garden and reducing it with the extension.

The land is currently a completely unused field. He doesn't grow anything on it but it is what I would class as agricultural land. It will take a lot of work and some money to get it to garden quality. I've done some rough measurements and I believe it as about 900m2 I want to buy. This is only a section of the whole field, I'd say around a tenth.

Looking online, I found a figure that an acre of agricultural land is worth around £11,000 which after some calculation means this land would be worth about £2,500. Does this sound right?

I'm going to go and talk to him soon, I think he will be very open to the idea as he suggested it himself in a passing comment before we even moved in but I just don't know what to suggest as a price. I don't want to low ball and insult him but also don't want to unnecessarily pay over the odds! 

Thanks very much.

GrumpyDil

No idea on the price but before you go too far have you checked the local authority will agree to a change of use if necessary  as even using it as a residential garden would likely need planning permission.

Emmia

And, you'll probably pay a premium as he has land you specifically want - i.e. that directly adjacent to your property... another bit of land, elsewhere is of no use.

stuart45

Rule of thumb with deals is never make the first offer. For example, if he was thinking of getting £1,000, and you offered £2,500 he's already 1.5G up.
So if he expects a grandbut  thinks he'll say 2, you are still £500 up before you even offer a bit lower.

RAS

What would the purchase of the area at the side of your bungalow do to his access to the rest of the field?

And you'd need PP to turn agricultural land into garden, you might get away with growing field crops but not with a lawn and pretty plants.

Rach273

In my experience the smaller the parcel of land the higher the price per acre. Small plots of land regularly go for >£20k per acre round here (SW).

ciderboy2009

A couple of other things to bear in mind:

1) You will probably be expected to pay for your neighbour's legal costs of the transfer as well as your own.

2) How much will the land increase the value of your property by?  You might find that your neighbour will name their price based on this rather than the value of agricultural land.

Grizebeck

You could continue it as agriculture use by turning it into an orchard...

Grumpy_chap

Joanie_mac_2 said:

I was wondering if anybody would be able to give me an idea of how much I could expect to pay for a portion of land backing my property, I've been trying to find some info online but unsure of how it would be valued.

My property is a detached bungalow in a rural area. My neighbour owns the field around my property, see yellow are below, and I'm hoping to buy the strip down the side and a bit at the back. We are currently extending to add a granny flat for my Mum so will be splitting the garden and reducing it with the extension.

The land is currently a completely unused field. He doesn't grow anything on it but it is what I would class as agricultural land. It will take a lot of work and some money to get it to garden quality. I've done some rough measurements and I believe it as about 900m2 I want to buy. This is only a section of the whole field, I'd say around a tenth.

Looking online, I found a figure that an acre of agricultural land is worth around £11,000 which after some calculation means this land would be worth about £2,500. Does this sound right?

I'm going to go and talk to him soon, I think he will be very open to the idea as he suggested it himself in a passing comment before we even moved in but I just don't know what to suggest as a price. I don't want to low ball and insult him but also don't want to unnecessarily pay over the odds! 

Thanks very much.

How long ago was the suggestion made by the current owner of the land?

If that is in the relative recent past, you could casually mention in passing that he had mentioned that before, it was not something you could consider then, but might be a consideration now and ask him if he had a figure in mind.  The key to this negotiation is not to make it known you want the land.

How would you expect the legal costs to be met?  Both parties will have legal costs and the deeds will need changing (or a new title created).

Whether your £2.5k is reasonable based upon the area of land may become irrelevant.  For someone that owns the land, and assuming they are not in financial dire straights, the whole thing is quite likely simply too much bother for only £2.5k.

Section62

Joanie_mac_2 said:

Looking online, I found a figure that an acre of agricultural land is worth around £11,000 which after some calculation means this land would be worth about £2,500. Does this sound right?

Valuations on agricultural land are based on buying and selling usable fields, the figures aren't necessarily applicable to smaller plots of land.

What you want to buy isn't an agricultural field, it will (hopefully*) become residential garden with possible development potential.  The landowner (if they are sensible) would want you to pay a figure somewhere between agricultural and residential - and I'd expect them to settle on something towards the upper end of the range.

The value of the part sold also needs to reflect the impact on the remaining field size.  Selling 900sqm from a 100a field has little consequence for the remaining part.  Selling 900sqm from a 2a field makes a big difference to what the remaining part of the field can be used for.  The latter may mean the owner simply won't want to sell you anything at the end of the day.

Don't attach too much weight to the land apparently not being used at present.  Under the various subsidy and stewardship schemes farmers can get money for doing next to nothing with land.  Or the owner may have plans to sell the land for development and by not actively farming it they aim to show that it is no longer suitable for agricultural use.

I agree with stuart45 that it would be best to let the owner make the first offer.  I wouldn't be surprised if the figure was in the region of £10k (or more), plus you paying all the legal costs.  This may be why the owner mentioned it in the first place.

*I'd also echo the comments about needing planning consent - and don't assume it is a given you'd get change of use consent.

billy2shots

Ignore online cost per acre. 
The value will be somewhere between how much you are prepared to pay, and how much the owner is willing to sell at.

As mentioned,  speaking to planning first as you will need change if use for the new area.

I had 17 acres of agricultural land and trust me, it comes with limitations.  Council bods turning up because kids were playing whilst we tended animals, 'This is not a garden or park' etc etc were the comments.