price of land to extend my garden a bit?

[straker]

Hi everyone,

I have some disused land at the bottom of my garden and am talking to the owner ( a developer )
about buying a bit to extend my garden, we are talking about 35 feet long, and probably about the same width.

They have agreed in principle to consider selling to me, but have asked for an offer, I know
less than nothing about land prices, so can anybody help or pass on their experience with buying small plots of land please?

the land is pretty awkward to access in terms of developing, which I hope will lessen its value.

thanks . . . straker

[straker]

the land is kind of boxed in on all sides, housing / railway / industrial, as far as I can search on local planning sites etc there is no planning consent on the land, nor would I expect there to be since access is a problem for any development . . .

thanks .. straker

[astroarcadia]

So it is land locked? Does the developer own any of the adjoining property/land? 20K?

Map link?

[kooky guy]

astroarcadia said:

So it is land locked? Does the developer own any of the adjoining property/land? 20K?

Map link?

20k?? I just bought a stip of land that was worthless to the developer owner for £1!

Admittedly yours will be slightly more useful than mine, but 20k sounds a bit steep.

[straker]

I should of said this is in Sheffield, 20k is a bit high

how were the negotiations to get land for £1? I'm guessing you paid their legal stuff too?

[wiggy001]

My in-laws bought around 75x75 ft of land at the end of their garden a couple of years ago (no planning permission). Owner originally wanted £10k, they finally got it for £3.5k. This included a shed and summer house full of stuff (powertools etc) that have since been sold on, reducing the cost further.

Land like this is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. I found it pretty much impossible to get a valuation of what it might be worth for them.

[kooky guy]

straker said:

I should of said this is in Sheffield, 20k is a bit high

how were the negotiations to get land for £1? I'm guessing you paid their legal stuff too?

No, I didn't have to pay their legal costs, although my own conveyancing costs were out of all proportion to the purchase price.

The £1 was just a nominal charge to allow them to dispose of the land to settle a long running dispute (far too complicated to get into here) - they didn't actually want it and it would be worthless to anyone else.

I suppose in your case it will be a bit different. From what you say, it's possible that other neighbours might well be interested in it which might increase it's perceived value. Ultimately though, as already mentioned, it's only worth what someone will pay for it. There is nothing to lose with starting with a very low offer.

[McHaggis]

You could ask (pay for) for 2 land valuations and offer the average of the 2?

[surveyor]

McHaggis said:

You could ask (pay for) for 2 land valuations and offer the average of the 2?

I would not go down this route.

Consider how much value will be added to your house, and how much loss to his scheme. If he has planning consent this could result in him amending the scheme.

[essayer]

It's hard to guess without knowing the specifics

Who else abuts the land in question? Is it just you, or others as well?

It might be worth a lot to someone who can buy an adjacent plot, then combine it to put more houses on etc.

[McHaggis]

surveyor said:

I would not go down this route.

Consider how much value will be added to your house, and how much loss to his scheme. If he has planning consent this could result in him amending the scheme.

Why? Having the land valuations could strengthen, or weaken his case. He doesn't have to forward those to the developer?

[CraigVmax]

I've done this a coup,le of times. I'd explain its a luxury to you, you have £3000 spare in the bank and would they consider it. I'd doubt you'd get it cheaper than that and its a good starting point

[surveyor]

McHaggis said:

Why? Having the land valuations could strengthen, or weaken his case. He doesn't have to forward those to the developer?

Because they'll either say what he wants or not. If they say what the wants the developer will not like them and will in any case ignore them.

[McHaggis]

surveyor said:

Because they'll either say what he wants or not. If they say what the wants the developer will not like them and will in any case ignore them.

A slightly cynical view, but I understand what you are saying. On the other hand the valuation might say "5k" , the OP might be willing to pay 5k, and the developer accepts 5k, and the has an informed piece of valuation that he never things "was I ripped off?"

[surveyor]

McHaggis said:

surveyor said:

Because they'll either say what he wants or not. If they say what the wants the developer will not like them and will in any case ignore them.

A slightly cynical view, but I understand what you are saying. On the other hand the valuation might say "5k" , the OP might be willing to pay 5k, and the developer accepts 5k, and the has an informed piece of valuation that he never things "was I ripped off?"

Been there, seen it, up to OP.

[northwest monkey]

kooky guy said:

straker said:

I should of said this is in Sheffield, 20k is a bit high

how were the negotiations to get land for £1? I'm guessing you paid their legal stuff too?

No, I didn't have to pay their legal costs, although my own conveyancing costs were out of all proportion to the purchase price.

The £1 was just a nominal charge to allow them to dispose of the land to settle a long running dispute (far too complicated to get into here) - they didn't actually want it and it would be worthless to anyone else.

I suppose in your case it will be a bit different. From what you say, it's possible that other neighbours might well be interested in it which might increase it's perceived value. Ultimately though, as already mentioned, it's only worth what someone will pay for it. There is nothing to lose with starting with a very low offer.

I've done exactly the same with our garden. Neighbour had PP to build a large house in his back garden. There was an odd bit of his land behind us that had an old cattle shed on (crappy corrugated plastic thing) and a bit of a concrete pad. Not a huge bit of land but about 60' long and about 50' wide. We did a deal where I paid £1 for the land, but paid to get the legals done & registered etc (under £1k).

If we'd been talking 'proper' money, I would have paid up to about £5k for it. Difficult for anyone else to value other than the homeowner concerned. For us, it's doubled the size of the back garden & my son loves it as we can feed the horses in the field bordering the new bit of garden. From a 'value' point of view, it's added a lot of value to our property, directly & indirectly.

[astroarcadia]

My neighbour has their house on the market. I would love to buy an area of their garden that backs onto mine measuring approx 15m x 15m. I would jump at the chance to buy it for £20k.

[mondeoman]

How much do you want to pay for it?

[Chrisgr31]

astroarcadia said:

My neighbour has their house on the market. I would love to buy an area of their garden that backs onto mine measuring approx 15m x 15m. I would jump at the chance to buy it for £20k.

In that case pop round and offer them £20k for it. If it doesnt knock £20k off the value of their house they'll probably snap your arm off!

[astroarcadia]

The garden is the best thing about the property but the slice I would like only represents 5-10% of the plot. House in on for £750k. At that level I doubt she is interested in £20k for the admin and hassle.