Advice on buying a small slither of my neighbours land

TH_JCW123

Hi, I am thinking of approaching my neighbour to ask if I can buy the land that is next to my driveway. The developer of the newbuilds that we are on decided it was a good idea to leave this strip of land to the house next door, as opposed to making the driveway wider. But it means we have to walk across their land to get kids in the car each day.

What do you think it would cost me in ty legal fees to purchase from the lamp post down to the fence that you can see in the picture? Obviously I would pay their legal fees aswell, and I was thinking of offering 500 to 1000 pounds.

I believe it is mortgaged and it is currently being rented.

Section62

TH_JCW123 said:

Hi, I am thinking of approaching my neighbour to ask if I can buy the land that is next to my driveway. The developer of the newbuilds that we are on decided it was a good idea to leave this strip of land to the house next door, as opposed to making the driveway wider. But it means we have to walk across their land to get kids in the car each day.

What do you think it would cost me in ty legal fees to purchase from the lamp post down to the fence that you can see in the picture? Obviously I would pay their legal fees aswell, and I was thinking of offering 500 to 1000 pounds.

I believe it is mortgaged and it is currently being rented.

Developers generally (not always) do things for a reason - if that strip was assigned to the neighbouring property then there is likely to be a reason for it.

Does the neighbouring property have any other external access to the rear garden from the road?  If it were me I'd see this strip as giving at least pedestrian access to the rear garden (even in the absence of a gate) which was worth a lot more than £1000.

If there is something underneath the strip, such as drainage, then I'd be unlikely to entertain the idea for less than £20k plus legal costs.

Where would the neighbours keep their bins if they didn't have this land?

Also bear in mind that even if you purchased the land, you may not be able to pave it without obtaining planning consent, which you may not get.  One reason driveways can be as narrow as they are is to minimise surface water runoff.  There may be planning conditions and/or an Article 4 direction which requires this strip to stay as it is.

p00hsticks

Do you mean that bit that is currently earth rather than tarmac ?
If I was the owner I wouldn't be willing to sell it to you - my gutter probably overhangs it and it would stop me attaching anything to the outside wall (e.g is that an EV charging point on the left ?)  

Who owns the tarmac and what is preventing the kids walking on that ? 

TH_JCW123

For clarity the tarmac is my driveway. The neighbour has their own driveway and garage on the other side of their house, with a gated access to their garden on that side. It’s deceptive but the mud part is about 1 - 1.5m wide. The lamppost is offset so will leave them with around 40 cm buffer to their house. 

Albermarle

If I was the neighbour and sold the land, I would be want to be sure I could still have access to the driveway.( to move bins, maintain the wall etc ) so that would have to be incorporated in any legal agreement.
As the neighbour seems to be not objecting to you stepping on their strip, I would just let sleeping dogs lie.

jimbog

Are all four bins on the driveway yours or are two your neighbours?

TH_JCW123

Albermarle said:

If I was the neighbour and sold the land, I would be want to be sure I could still have access to the driveway.( to move bins, maintain the wall etc ) so that would have to be incorporated in any legal agreement.
As the neighbour seems to be not objecting to you stepping on their strip, I would just let sleeping dogs lie.

Hi. So the driveway in the picture is my driveway. My house is to the left and they own that strip of mud down the side of their house on the right. They also have there own driveway with garage and gate on the other side of the house on the right. So this is more to widen my driveway. But would still leave a buffer up to their house of around 40cm. I’m more interested in what the potential legal costs would be, as I can negotiate a price on the land with the neighbour 

TH_JCW123

jimbog said:

Are all four bins on the driveway yours or are two your neighbours?

All mine. That’s my driveway 

TH_JCW123

p00hsticks said:

Do you mean that bit that is currently earth rather than tarmac ?
If I was the owner I wouldn't be willing to sell it to you - my gutter probably overhangs it and it would stop me attaching anything to the outside wall (e.g is that an EV charging point on the left ?)  

Who owns the tarmac and what is preventing the kids walking on that ? 

My tarmac drive. The kids do, but I drive a mini and we still have to walk on the muddy part to get in the passenger side. 

WIAWSNB

Is this layout typical for houses on your estate? If so, has anyone else addressed this in any way? 

Does your driveway lead anywhere for a vehicle - a garage, for example? It seems strange to have such a narrow driveway intended to park on, with such limited door-opening space. 

TH_JCW123

WIAWSNB said:

Is this layout typical for houses on your estate? If so, has anyone else addressed this in any way? 

Does your driveway lead anywhere for a vehicle - a garage, for example? It seems strange to have such a narrow driveway intended to park on, with such limited door-opening space. 

A number of the houses don’t have that strip and the houses are closer together. I agree it’s a really bad design. The picture is a screenshot of my security camera attached to my garage (which also isn’t big enough for a modern day car)