How much for land?

**Goldberg** · 25th July 2011

Hello all.

Started another thread/discussion to find out the owner of a property/lease.

My plan is to add a small garden, enough for a BBQ with about half dozen people I guess, onto the side of our property.
In order to do so I would need to buy some land off a Neighbours back garden that finishes at our side wall (where we would add a French door).

They don't use the back end of the garden, in fact it is currently a dumping ground for rubbish! My question is how much does land cost per Sq foot if I was to make them an offer?
I would want the garden to be as wide as their garden is now (will get measurements) by about 10 - 15ft deep. It would not take too much off their garden now, it must be about 100ft deep, and the rest.

I have a friend back in the North East who works for a Conveyancing Solicitor so the legal part of it is sorted, it's just the cost and then the building work of putting the door in and building a wall (with Planning etc).

Thanks,

Goldberg

**Roach-Rampino** · 25th July 2011

This is a very hard thing to put a price on as it will all come down to how much you are willing to pay. Because that piece of land is unique, there is no set guide price. I have just been through a very similar situation over the past 2 years with one of my neighbours.

I wanted to by a section of a neighbour’s garden that juts into mine. It measure roughly 3m x 6m. I approached them first and they seemed keen. So I offered to have a valuation conducted and to pay any legal costs for both parties (to sweeten the whole process). The valuation was a farce; the guy started at around �3k over the phone, came and measured up and was talking about �5k then as the next 2 weeks passed and I chased him for the report it went to �8k then �10k...when the valuation finally came through they recommended a sale price of �15k. He also told me that the neighbours had bright ideas of �40k! My argument was that in terms of a "market" to sell to it was worthless to anyone else but me. There is no way that it could be used for a "back garden development" despite them telling me that they had been approached about it.

Just like you it was the bottom of their garden completely overgrown and unused. The report said that it would not be detrimental to the price of their (the neighbours) house but it would raise the value of mine (which I already knew). Any way I went in with a few offers but the greedy cunts turned me down. I told them on the last offer that it would be my final one and that I would go ahead and get the whole garden landscaped without the additional piece of land. True to my word I have just had 8 weeks of work completed at the house and they must be able to see that I have gone ahead without their land. If they ever did change their minds (or move house) I would still be able to incorporate the additional section into my existing garden with little fuss.

**Goldberg** · 25th July 2011

Thanks, I envisage such a problem if it is a landlord I have to deal with who is in the know.
Because their garden is so large and the area at the bottom is pretty much redundant to them (I will post an image from my roof window to show you what they have done with it), it would as you say not take any value off their property but would increase the value of mine (by up to �50k potentially!)

**Roach-Rampino** · 25th July 2011

Originally Posted by Goldberg

Thanks, I envisage such a problem if it is a landlord I have to deal with who is in the know.
Because their garden is so large and the area at the bottom is pretty much redundant to them (I will post an image from my roof window to show you what they have done with it), it would as you say not take any value off their property but would increase the value of mine (by up to �50k potentially!)

All you can do is ask. Hopefully they might be sensible people and you can come to an agreement without having to shell out for a valuation. I actually struggled to find a company to do the valuation as it is hard thing to put a price on. That said a very reputable company took it on for �500+VAT! The legals were going to be about �3k (total for both parties) so do bear those costs in mind. That said a mortgage company would probably be keen to lend if you needed them to as it will be adding value to the property.

I approached my neighbours with a letter in the post so that they could sit and digest the proposal.