Had unsolicited letter regarding some land I own

teachergirl

Firstly, I am not sure if this is the best place to post this but I have not been able to find any similar posts. I have inherited some land. It currently has some stables which are let and some fields which have cows on. They are 200 miles from where I live.
The fields next to them have been sold to developers and have new houses going up on the land.
I have had a letter from a chartered surveyor saying that they are acting for the people who own the land directly next to mine offering to promote the land to the county council for strategic development. The land that they are suggesting they promote is owned by several people and I assume this person must have written to all the other people as well.
I have always intended selling the land at some point but have no experience of this at all. Can anyone give me some advice?
Should I investigate other firms that offer this service? Should I wait and see how all the other land owners reply?  Obviously they expect to be paid for their services anyone have any idea what sort of costs are involved. I just don't want to do something that would be completely naive. I intend dividing any money from selling the land between my two children. I am not in any rush to sell but also do not want to miss this if it is a good opportunity
Grateful for any advice. Thank you ☺️

eddddy

I expect they got your name for the land registry title register - so maybe they'll have contacted any other owners listed on the register.

I guess there's no harm in listening to their proposal (or sales pitch). I guess the key things to find out are...

• What are their fees if they are unsuccessful in achieving development consents?
• What are their fees if they are successful in achieving development consents? (Possibly a percentage of the uplift in value of the land.)

Then maybe it's sensible to discuss it with a few other surveyors / planning consultants - and decide which firm is likely to get the best outcome for you.


(FWIW, a few years ago a farmer was telling me he spent £25k on planning consultants trying to get consent for a golf course on his unused farmland. He didn't get consent.

I think those planning consultants were honest and competent, but I guess there's the risk that some surveyors / consultants will raise people's hopes about getting consent, just to get instructed and get a fee.)

daveyjp

If they are only at the promotion stage any sale could be many many years away.  What they are doing is saying to the Council, "we believe this land should be developed for housing and it should be allocated in line with your development strategy".

The council need assurances that if it is allocated it can be developed, hence why wll owners need to be on board.  The days of councils allocating land in the hope a deal can be done are long gone as the idea of allocation is to get development delivered over the period of the plan, which could be 15-20 years.

teachergirl

Thank you Eddddy some good questions to start me off

Brie

eddddy said:

I expect they got your name for the land registry title register - so maybe they'll have contacted any other owners listed on the register.

I guess there's no harm in listening to their proposal (or sales pitch). I guess the key things to find out are...

• What hare their fees if they are unsuccessful in achieving development consents?
• What hare their fees if they are successful in achieving development consents? (Possibly a percentage of the uplift in value of the land.)

Then maybe it's sensible to discuss it with a few other surveyors / planning consultants - and decide which firm is likely to get the best outcome for you.


(FWIW, a few years ago a farmer was telling me he spent £25k on planning consultants trying to get consent for a golf course on his unused farmland. He didn't get consent.

I think those planning consultants were honest and competent, but I guess there's the risk that some surveyors / consultants will raise people's hopes about getting consent, just to get instructed and get a fee.)

I would add the question of who will be paying the fees. 

You have said "I have had a letter from a chartered surveyor saying that they are acting for the people who own the land directly next to mine offering to promote the land to the county council for strategic development."  

So you haven't asked this surveyor to do anything but the people next door (so to speak) have and likely it would be in their interest to have further development that they can build on and sell and make a profit.  So I'd be wanting to be told that it's the neighbours who are paying for the surveyor not you.  

teachergirl

Thanks Brie . The letter says they will make representations to the council in order to get an allocation on their development plan at our cost. Make a planning application at our cost and if we do not have the funds they can set up a landowners agreement or they can find someone to buy it without planning permission.

I assume that the costs would be shared amongst the land owners. I have no idea how many of them there would be or how the costs would be shared. Ie if your bit of land is bigger to you pay a higher proportion 🤷‍♀️

This would obviously be another question I would have to ask

propertyrental

They are acting for the neighbours, so should be paid by the neighbours. If/when development is agreed, the neighbours will doubtless want to buy your land (for housing).

I would reply saying you are interested in exploring the development and sale potential and would be happy to be informed of progress,  but have no intention of instructing (or paying) them at this time.

Bookworm105

so you have land that has (I assume) an agricultural use restriction applied to it. Important you check that yourself at the relevant council.
Obviously the approach is purely speculative as, at this stage, it is far from clear whether planning permission is possible and could take many years to be obtained.
As you doubtless suspect, if planning permission is obtained the land value will dramatically increase. Play the what if game, will your land change how access to the other land would be possible? 

the comment above from propertyrental is probably the best approach: "reply saying you are interested in exploring the development and sale potential and would be happy to be informed of progress, but have no intention of instructing (or paying) them at this time"

goldfinches

One further thing I might ask the surveyors who contacted you is what experience they have at doing this sort of thing, how successful have their efforts been previously and can they give anyone as a reference for you to speak to?

A lot of these types of things depend on local knowledge and contacts not necessarily in a nefarious way but simply to know what might be possible in a particular area and if they've got experience it shows they have that knowledge and can tap their local contacts.

teachergirl

This is a good point goldfinches they have actually given examples of previous lands they have worked on. in a glossy brochure. Also their work seems to be exclusively in the South West which is where the land is. I will definitely contact some of the people.  Yes Bookworm105 definitely agricultural at the moment. I am sure it will be ages before anything is granted but the town is getting closer all the time as I said already building on the fields next to where this land is. I just never thought it would happen this quick. propertyrental I shall quote you in my reply😉 Thank you

peterhjohnson

I suggest Googling "Gladmans". They are a company that works with landowners to sort planning for housing development. I'm not recommending this firm or any other but the whole process is pretty controversial and the search may give you some useful background.