Landlocked property

FlorayG

Normally, if you want to buy land adjacent to your house, it DOES cost a premium and could be as much as 3x what the land alone would be worth; however, here you have the house owner 'over a barrel' in that he can't sell his house without guaranteed access
So I would think it's for the vendor to negotiate a price that is reasonable, not the OP

FlorayG

oooh OP I have an idea - the value of which will depend on the horse population in your area and how nice the riding is nearby
Buy the field with the house
Separate off around the boundary the track you need for access and fence it. Sell the remaining 1.75 acres to a horse owner. They will rip your arm off for it at a premium price, I know because that's exactly what I bought

caprikid1

"Separate off around the boundary the track you need for access and fence it. Sell the remaining 1.75 acres to a horse owner. They will rip your arm off for it at a premium price, I know because that's exactly what I bought"

Assuming you can get change of use.... there is a reason Pony Paddock is 3-4 times the price of normal farmland !

FlorayG

Most LAs don't bother as long as you're not building stables on it (which probably wouldn't be allowed anyway) and it might not even be classed as agricultural as it's so small. Anyway that will be the buyers problem not the OP's

Statex2_2

Thanks for the replies. i was not aware of an issue with the access when  made the offer I thought the title on the Land Registry and access route was valid but the conveyancer states there is no right of access. The owner of the house stated that the cousin wanted to sell it as it was costing them money to keep it.

When I spoke to the cousin she said there is no problem with the access as it was sorted out in 1960's. The legals say that it is not the case therefore who ever the land owner is has the upper hand and can change their mind at any time. 

The owner of the land was not vety friendly and slightly hostile when I spoke to her. I have also found something about her partner, from past newspaper and court reports. who is probably of the same demenour, I don't want to say too much on the forum. Therefore they may make hostile neighbours. Although they live several miles away. The people who are selling the house are very nice people but they want to have the house signed and sealed before we negotiate with the cousin.

One point that I have noticed on the Land Registry title document is that when they probably inherited it in 2020 they only valued it at £5,000.  it was actually worth at least 4 times that amount as basic agricultural land. Not sure if that was to avoid tax. Surely if they sell it for 10 to 20 times that amount. HMRC would pick that up.

At the present time we are in stalemate, probably someone will pull out of the chain and the whole deal will collapse.

Herzlos

I'd be questioning why the house seller wants that concluded before you negotiate with the cousin. My assumption is because they know that if you negotiate with the cousin first, you won't buy the house.

If it was that simple they'd present you with some legal document guaranteeing access, or some offer to sell the access land.

If they are hostile and the newspaper and court reports seem to back that up, you're likely going to have a hard time legal or not.

sheramber

The vendor probably knows what the cousin is like and doesn’t  want to engage with them.

GDB2222

Statex2_2 said:

Thanks for the replies. i was not aware of an issue with the access when  made the offer I thought the title on the Land Registry and access route was valid but the conveyancer states there is no right of access. The owner of the house stated that the cousin wanted to sell it as it was costing them money to keep it.

When I spoke to the cousin she said there is no problem with the access as it was sorted out in 1960's. The legals say that it is not the case therefore who ever the land owner is has the upper hand and can change their mind at any time. 

The owner of the land was not vety friendly and slightly hostile when I spoke to her. I have also found something about her partner, from past newspaper and court reports. who is probably of the same demenour, I don't want to say too much on the forum. Therefore they may make hostile neighbours. Although they live several miles away. The people who are selling the house are very nice people but they want to have the house signed and sealed before we negotiate with the cousin.

One point that I have noticed on the Land Registry title document is that when they probably inherited it in 2020 they only valued it at £5,000.  it was actually worth at least 4 times that amount as basic agricultural land. Not sure if that was to avoid tax. Surely if they sell it for 10 to 20 times that amount. HMRC would pick that up.

At the present time we are in stalemate, probably someone will pull out of the chain and the whole deal will collapse.

Before walking away , you can throw this back to your vendor. “I will happily continue with the purchase, at the agreed price, if you can provide a formal access agreement. Alternatively, I will pay £xxx extra to purchase the 2 acres of land, and I will pay £yyy on top of that if the land is used for development over the next 10 years.”

FlorayG

I think I would go back and say "you valued £5k for it, I'm willing to give you £10k and a 100% uplift if it gets developed in the next ten years"
I agreed to 100% uplift on mine because I don't want to build on it and the possibility of getting PP would be incredibly remote as to be a non-starter anyway
It begins to sound to me that the cousin and vendor do not like each other at all and the cousin knows they have this 'hold' over the sale. Yet again, it's the vendor's problem to sort. I'm glad you are prepared to walk away - who knows, if you do say "Fine, I'm not buying it then"  they may rush to get the problem fixed and come back to you

PeterE17

@Statex2_2 You want to buy a house not a hassle. Pull out of this purchase, don't buy someone else's problems.