Buying Land - Where do you start?

[Keimanp]

As title really..

Having never bought anything myself in realtion to property how do you go about buying Land?

There is a peice of land at the side of my house that I would like to buy, it is currently an agricultural field although very poor land and does have a stone track round the edge. It amounts to 6 acres and infenced but it is not advertised for sale. I know the farmer will be wanting over market value per acres (current price in area is about £5-7K asking price per acre dependant on quality). I know what I plan to offer him (I hope he accepts, but willing to negotiate).

So in the possibility he does accept an offer that I can afford to pay. What do I then need to do? Do I instruct a solicitor to draw up plans/deeds of the area in question and then send them to his solicitor (or vice versa??)? What are the land transfer costs likely to be?

Any advice or experience in buying land/property that was not advertised for sale would be appreciated!!

Thanks

Robert

 

[Tinsel Trouble]

That land is worth the uplift in value to your house, not agricultural prices. I would be looking closer to the £10k/acre!

If I were you I would contact a rural surveyors office to negotiate on your behalf with the landowner's surveyor/ land agent, they will be able to advise you of the process, cost and they will deal with the legal side of things and work with your solicitor to purchase the land- should the landowner wish to sell.

If you let me know what part of the country you are in, I may be able to recommend a nice local surveyor to help

This may be more expensive- but at least the job will be done properly!

 

[brucethegypsycob]

Hi - quite simple really - I did the same and bought a field ajoining my property. If the farmer is happy to sell then just go to your solicitor and he will sort out the rest .There will still be all the usual "legal" stuff to do such such as searches, bounderies, any rights of way, ect. Be aware that you may find you have to pay his solictors fees as well as your own - this was a bit of a surprise to me but i did find out that down here (west wales) it is common practice with the farmers. it`s a case of if you want my field then you pay all the costs!! good luck .

 

[YasandCrystal]

Sorry to say but for land adjoining someone's house the going rate in Essex is £50k for the first acre and £20k for every subsequent acre.

If he let's you have it for less bite his arm off!

 

[Orangehorse]

The advice of asking a local land agent is a good one. Don't forget stamp duty to be paid to the Government.

I am afraid that the advice re price is spot on. It isn't what it is worth for agricultural land, but how much value it puts on your house, unless you get a farmer who doesn't realise that - like my brother-in-law who sold a patch of land to a householder for ag. value. Nearly made my OH ill!

 

[Keimanp]

That land is worth the uplift in value to your house, not agricultural prices. I would be looking closer to the £10k/acre!

If I were you I would contact a rural surveyors office to negotiate on your behalf with the landowner's surveyor/ land agent, they will be able to advise you of the process, cost and they will deal with the legal side of things and work with your solicitor to purchase the land- should the landowner wish to sell.

If you let me know what part of the country you are in, I may be able to recommend a nice local surveyor to help

This may be more expensive- but at least the job will be done properly!

I'm between Doncaster and Scunthorpe, Anyone to talk to would be great!

I am prepared to have to pay above market rates for the land and fully expect to, That doesn't mean I should not be aware of its current market potential to anyone else who may wish to buy the land. But I do appreciate that in the end it comes down to what I am prepared to pay and what he wants to accept. I am in the luxury of being bound by three farmers and this is my prefered choice of land, but I am not set on it!

Robert

 

[OWLIE185]

Also make sure that when you buy the land you also buy the Single Area Payment Entitlement at the same time as this will give you some income. (About £50 per acre per year). A 6 acre parcel of Land adjacent to houses in our part of North Hertfodshire was sold in November 2011 for £17,000 per acre. You will also need to apply for planning permission to get change of use from Agricultural to equestrian use even if you just wish to use it for grazing land.

 

[Keimanp]

Hi - quite simple really - I did the same and bought a field ajoining my property. If the farmer is happy to sell then just go to your solicitor and he will sort out the rest .There will still be all the usual "legal" stuff to do such such as searches, bounderies, any rights of way, ect. Be aware that you may find you have to pay his solictors fees as well as your own - this was a bit of a surprise to me but i did find out that down here (west wales) it is common practice with the farmers. it`s a case of if you want my field then you pay all the costs!! good luck .

I don't mind paying his legal fees if I have to get the land, its not to much of concern, just have to make sure it is all affordable!

Might run it past the solicitor next month when I see them about on-going probate!

Thanks

Robert

 

[Keimanp]

Sorry to say but for land adjoining someone's house the going rate in Essex is £50k for the first acre and £20k for every subsequent acre.

If he let's you have it for less bite his arm off!

Thankfully I am not in Essex! I don't know how you all cope with the prices down South!

Its not that bad here especially when buying an acre or more, If you want a small garden size plot then you will pay through the nose!

 

[Keimanp]

The advice of asking a local land agent is a good one. Don't forget stamp duty to be paid to the Government.

I am afraid that the advice re price is spot on. It isn't what it is worth for agricultural land, but how much value it puts on your house, unless you get a farmer who doesn't realise that - like my brother-in-law who sold a patch of land to a householder for ag. value. Nearly made my OH ill!

In terms of value that it will add to the house it isn't likely to affect it all that much due to the situation I have found myself in. In short the house is a large old house with alot of protective restrictions not just on the house but the surrounding land (gardens and fields). It is likely that the land will end up in different names to that of the house (ultimately ending up in trust once probate is settled). So whilst I will use the land there will be no associated mark up directly on the property. In the short term atleast (next 10-20 years).

 

[Tinsel Trouble]

I'm between Doncaster and Scunthorpe, Anyone to talk to would be great!

I am prepared to have to pay above market rates for the land and fully expect to, That doesn't mean I should not be aware of its current market potential to anyone else who may wish to buy the land. But I do appreciate that in the end it comes down to what I am prepared to pay and what he wants to accept. I am in the luxury of being bound by three farmers and this is my prefered choice of land, but I am not set on it!

Robert

I actually work in that area alot, and will be going up tomorrow!

There are two land agents I work in conjunction with, one is called Townend and the other is a guy called Pickup. If you look on the www.caav.org.uk website or the RICS website (find a surveyor) you will find them there- or Townend can be found smiling out the back of the Farmers Weekly in the classifieds every week!!

Those two seem to have the area sewn up- if one doesn't act for the guy, the other one will!

Just thought.. Brown and Co have a north lincs office too!

 

[Tinsel Trouble]

Also make sure that when you buy the land you also buy the Single Area Payment Entitlement at the same time as this will give you some income. (About £50 per acre per year). A 6 acre parcel of Land adjacent to houses in our part of North Hertfodshire was sold in November 2011 for £17,000 per acre. You will also need to apply for planning permission to get change of use from Agricultural to equestrian use even if you just wish to use it for grazing land.

The CAP is about to change and you are unlikely to qualify for the 2014 unless you have the 'golden ticket' which is SPS registered in your name on any piece of land by a certain date (which escapes me right now!)

 

[Keimanp]

Also make sure that when you buy the land you also buy the Single Area Payment Entitlement at the same time as this will give you some income. (About £50 per acre per year). A 6 acre parcel of Land adjacent to houses in our part of North Hertfodshire was sold in November 2011 for £17,000 per acre. You will also need to apply for planning permission to get change of use from Agricultural to equestrian use even if you just wish to use it for grazing land.

This is interesting, Thankyou. I'd not heard of the Single Area Payment Entitlement, I'll have to look into this more!

Thanks

Robert

 

[Keimanp]

I actually work in that area alot, and will be going up tomorrow!

There are two land agents I work in conjunction with, one is called Townend and the other is a guy called Pickup. If you look on the www.caav.org.uk website or the RICS website (find a surveyor) you will find them there- or Townend can be found smiling out the back of the Farmers Weekly in the classifieds every week!!

Those two seem to have the area sewn up- if one doesn't act for the guy, the other one will!

Just thought.. Brown and Co have a north lincs office too!

Townend seems familiar, I'm sure he is advertising some land not to far away (another plot I was considering but much bigger and not really what I want!)

Thankyou very much for your help!