Buying 6" of land from neighbours

Buying 6" of land from neighbours

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Dr Mike Oxgreen

Original Poster:

4,134 posts

166 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
quotequote all
I'd like to know what the cost, logistics and legalities would be of purchasing a thin strip of land (say 6" or maybe 9") from our neighbour so that we can move part of the boundary to give us more space.

Currently we have a garage at the side of our house which is almost useless because the access to it is so narrow. I can just about get my SEAT Ibiza down there, but it's extremely tight and anything bigger would probably be impossible.

This part of the boundary is defined by the wall of the neighbours' garage, which is slightly further forward than ours, and then a fence continues that line forwards to the front boundary of the properties.

The neighbours have just put in a planning application to demolish their garage and replace it with a two-storey side extension on their house, which would then have an integral garage. The resulting wall of the new extension and garage would be considerably further away than the existing garage wall, and they're planning to extend the existing fence backwards to define the boundary. I think they'll be re-laying their driveway as well.

This strikes me as a perfect opportunity to ask whether they'd be amenable to moving the boundary to make it possible to get a larger car down the side of our house. Even just 6 inches would make a difference, and 9 inches would make a huge improvement - or should I ask for a foot? We wouldn't want to move the whole boundary; just a length of about 15 to 20 metres would be enough.

I haven't yet put the question to our neighbours. First I thought I'd find out what the likely cost would be in terms of buying the land and the legal fees (and any other costs you can think of?), and how much hassle it would be. Would we first approach the council, or go to a solicitor first? How would we go about it?

The properties are in Horsell, which is the northern district of Woking in Surrey.

Any thoughts gratefully received! Has anyone done something similar?

WhereamI

6,887 posts

218 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
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We've done that with our neighbour, we needed the wall between us rebuilding and had it rebuilt in a slightly different place to make getting into our garage easier. No money changed hands and nothing legal, when you are talking about inches the plans aren't that accurate anyway.

In my case they were quite happy to just do it, it made no difference to them, in your case it's going to be a question of what their attitude to it is. They could do it for nothing or could want thousands, it's entirely down to negotiation between the two of you.

GetCarter

29,418 posts

280 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
quotequote all
As they have put planning in, you have the right to object, so a conversation stating that you'll let it pass without objection if they move the fence 9" would probably yield results?

steve2

1,775 posts

219 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
quotequote all
we did a similar thing with our back garden where we squared off so they could put up a small shed and we gained a bit at the back.
The fence now defines the boundary and no costs to either side

jaedba2604

1,856 posts

148 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
quotequote all
GetCarter said:
As they have put planning in, you have the right to object, so a conversation stating that you'll let it pass without objection if they move the fence 9" would probably yield results?
hmmm, i think i'd keep that one up my sleeve, and just ask the question politely.

in my last house the neighbours wanted about a foot, as my garden was up against their end wall and they wanted to install a french drain (something to do with digging a trench and backfilling with gravel) i could've capitalised on it but my suggestion was they paid for the stone wall to be rebuilt between our gardens. felt a reasonable way of compensating. they never went ahead, instead building a monstrosity of a summer house next to the wall, so i had an eyesore of a wall with a stty summerhouse in the background.

the trouble is everyone's out for what they can get nowadays, i guess you have to agree on what it's worth to you and then ask politely - a lot depends on their attitude, you can think your neighbours are ok, and then something like this can change your view.

TTmonkey

20,911 posts

248 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
quotequote all
ask your wife to pop round to your neighbor and ask him to give her six inches. Even better if he can give her nine inches.


I'm sure he'll be accommodating.


uk89camaro

1,399 posts

234 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
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My neighbours agreed to gift me a small strip of land (about 2 feet), but I paid the costs of making it legal and getting the deeds amended. Cost me about £700 or so.


TooLateForAName

4,758 posts

185 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
quotequote all
GetCarter said:
As they have put planning in, you have the right to object, so a conversation stating that you'll let it pass without objection if they move the fence 9" would probably yield results?
I suspect that in many cases that would get you a 'f*ck off!' and blow any chances.

Simpo Two

85,683 posts

266 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
quotequote all
I would offer some money and sell it on the basis that it will help them pay for their extension.

slow_poke

1,855 posts

235 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
quotequote all
TooLateForAName said:
GetCarter said:
As they have put planning in, you have the right to object, so a conversation stating that you'll let it pass without objection if they move the fence 9" would probably yield results?
I suspect that in many cases that would get you a 'f*ck off!' and blow any chances.
Yeah. I suppose you could twist it a bit and say you'll support their application and oh, by the way....

GetCarter

29,418 posts

280 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
quotequote all
slow_poke said:
TooLateForAName said:
GetCarter said:
As they have put planning in, you have the right to object, so a conversation stating that you'll let it pass without objection if they move the fence 9" would probably yield results?
I suspect that in many cases that would get you a 'f*ck off!' and blow any chances.
Yeah. I suppose you could twist it a bit and say you'll support their application and oh, by the way....
Quite, I was thinking more 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours' rather than blackmail... a few hundred quid as a further sweetner. Two neighbours of mine in the Cotswolds did something similar. All very amicable.

anonymous-user

55 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
quotequote all
I've just done this on a larger scale - buying almost a 1/4 acre of someone's garden to build on. They preferred a single story house (which is what I wanted to build) so they actually gave me more land for free to accommodate such a building.

There are 2 ways to 'scratch' backs - only one is the right way wink

Simpo Two

85,683 posts

266 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
quotequote all
GetCarter said:
Quite, I was thinking more 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours'...
That still boils down to 'If you don't give me what I want I'll object to your extension'.

The extension and the land strip are two separate things and should not be dependent on each other; the neighbour has no reason to give/sell you the land if he doesn't want to.

Dr Mike Oxgreen

Original Poster:

4,134 posts

166 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
quotequote all
Thanks for the replies so far!

We're on friendly terms with the neighbours, so we're inclined to keep it that way. I don't want to approach this in a confrontational way, or make them feel that we've finessed them into it. Also, their plans are an improvement for us, because they are in effect "retreating" away from the boundary.

I know they've had to save for a long time for this extension, so offering them some money would help them and make it a more attractive proposition. For us, having a few inches extra space improves the usability greatly and potentially also the saleability of our house. If I present the idea in the right way, it could be a win-win - that's what I'd like to aim for.

But obviously if I offer them some money then it needs to be done "properly" and formalised in the deeds, otherwise it's not impossible that they, or future owners, could go back on the arrangement. The £700 mentioned for legal fees doesn't sound too horrendous, and would be money well spent for the peace of mind. If we could achieve this for a few thousand (legal fees, purchasing the land and moving the fence) then I reckon it's worth it.

I'll have a chat with the neighbours this weekend. Assuming they're interested, should I go to a firm of solicitors for a rough quote for the work, or should I approach the council first?

philmots

4,633 posts

261 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
quotequote all
Keep updating..

How much room is there going to be between the new extension wall and boundary fence? Will they be wanting to create a path down the side to get to the back?

If it's just going to be dead space then I can't see them having an issue... Good luck

Lotusevoraboy

937 posts

148 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
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Why stop at 6 inches...you might want to get a Range Rover down there one day. Push for a couple of foot...make it worth doing.

Piglet

6,250 posts

256 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
quotequote all
Why do you think you need to approach the Council? If these are both owner owned properties there is no need to involve the Council for your changes (clearly the neighbour needs planning consent still).

I'd budget £1,000 for the legal fees, you'll need two separate firms to do the work for you as one firm can't work for both of you.

It's a very straightforward transaction, a transfer of part dealing with the boundary, you'll need a land registry compliant plan (you can check the requirements on the LR website - but needs to have a scale marked on it and a north point as a starter), then the transfer needs to be registered on both titles so you'll have Land Registry fees as well.

sjj84

2,390 posts

220 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
quotequote all
As said nothing to do with the council if they are privately owned properties. Approach neighbour, agree price if they are willing to sell, contact solicitors. Job done.

My brother did similar, although he was in the process of building a house and had only bought the plot of land a couple of years previously so the neighbour sold him a metre wide strip I think it was for the proportional cost compared to the rest of the plot.

pmanson

13,387 posts

254 months

Sunday 13th January 2013
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philmots said:
Keep updating..

How much room is there going to be between the new extension wall and boundary fence? Will they be wanting to create a path down the side to get to the back?

If it's just going to be dead space then I can't see them having an issue... Good luck
Won't they need to keep 1m of space between the extension and boundary for access?

CaptainSlow

13,179 posts

213 months

Sunday 13th January 2013
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Would it help and would it be possible if they didn't extend the fence back?