What would I be expected to pay for neighbours land?

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Looking for some general advice/guidance.

I’m looking to plant the idea in my neighbours head of purchasing some of his garden but not really sure what we would be expected to pay. Currently our garden isn’t connected to our house. We have right of access through the neighbours large garden, down a small path to our ‘plot’ of land. I call it that as right now it’s a mess and there are no fences up which I’m going to correct this year.

Directly behind our house, between it and our garden, is a small section of the neighbours garden around 5m x 8m in size. He only uses it as a storage area where his shed is, ladders and garden bins. The rest of his garden is massive so it would be no real lose to him. If we were to purchase that bit of land we would be able to walk straight out into our garden (after we move the kitchen door round) and wouldn’t need right of access anymore.

What would we be expected to pay on average? Our house is in central Scotland in a village and as I said he has a massive garden already. I don’t want to approach the neighbour with a price but instead ask him to come up with a figure, is that a good idea? I’m hoping by removing our right of access it may encourage him especially if he were to sell up which he has indicated he may do in the future.

I've attached a very basic paint diagram to show how this may benefit the neighbour as well as us.
 
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If you were just buying outright I'd say a few thousand but this will vary wildly depending on all sorts of things. But by removing your right of access over their land you are doing them a massive favour and adding value to their property as who would want the neighbours wandering through their garden? I'd be looking for a straight swap. Your access for their land and you pay for any work with new fences and sort the paperwork. It would certainly simplify things for him with any future sales
 
I never actually thought of that.

I forgot we would need to retain a small amount of right of access. Next to our current kitchen door is a close door which we use to take our bins out to the street. So looking at that diagram we would need to retain right of access along the length of our house to take the bins from the garden to the close door.

But we would still be releasing the rest back to him but to be honest I don’t think he would see it as a gain. His garden is in sections and he uses that path to go down the full length of it to the different sections. So I would imagine he wouldn’t change anything and therefore while it’s a gain on paper he may not see it that way. But worth a try I guess.
 
new door and a land swap with your fence on the kitchen wall edge/path edge lhside off the present path
 
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I forgot we would need to retain a small amount of right of access. Next to our current kitchen door is a close door which we use to take our bins out to the street. So looking at that diagram we would need to retain right of access along the length of our house to take the bins from the garden to the close door.
Maybe it's a dialect thing, but I have no idea what that means.
 
I forgot we would need to retain a small amount of right of access. Next to our current kitchen door is a close door which we use to take our bins out to the street. So looking at that diagram we would need to retain right of access along the length of our house to take the bins from the garden to the close door.
Maybe it's a dialect thing, but I have no idea what that means.

What part don't you understand? A close perhaps? If so I guess it's a Scottish word for a shared passage/stairwell. As neither house have access round the side there is a shared passage down the middle of the houses.
 
Aye, to me a "close door" is either one that's near to me, or one that suffered a typo when it was shut.. I'd say you have a ginnel, but that's not a commonly heard term for an alleyway

If it makes it easier, just buy his bit of garden off him and leave the shared bit if it's viewed as a common path. Agricultural price may be £10k an acre, building plot price might be £500K an acre, garden price is anyone's guess.. but essentially it's not related to the size of the land, but the worth it will add to your house. If having that will add £10k to your house, try offering him £5k "because that's what it's worth to you to make your garden touch your house" (it's not; it's actually worth the sum of what extending your house will add to your house value, minus build costs of extension)
 
I'd say you have a ginnel, but that's not a commonly heard term for an alleyway
I know that one.

And snicket.

But there's no passage shown on the drawing - maybe the neighbour's 1st floor is over it?


If it makes it easier, just buy his bit of garden off him and leave the shared bit if it's viewed as a common path.
He could perhaps offer to block access to the guy's actual garden whilst keeping access to the jennel.
 
Would it not be worth purchasing the bit at the back of your current garden as well at the same time?
 
He's not going to sell it. It is his junk area so he doesn't have to look out of his window at it.
 
But there's no passage shown on the drawing - maybe the neighbour's 1st floor is over it?

Correct, part of his 1st floor is over the passge.

Would it not be worth purchasing the bit at the back of your current garden as well at the same time?

That section of the garden is on a steep slope and what we would have including the bit we want to purchase would be a huge area as it is.

He's not going to sell it. It is his junk area so he doesn't have to look out of his window at it.

Well I wouldn't call it a junk area, his garden is very tidy including that area.

There are other areas of his garden that are hidden from view that he could relocate all the items too easily.
 
As an alternative, how about arranging a land swap?

You let him have x amount of land at the end while you have what's closer to your house.

You pay for all the registry fees in making changes etc.

Make it so all he has to do is walk a little further.

You even move his junk for him.

A payment might help ease the matter.
 
As an alternative, how about arranging a land swap?

You let him have x amount of land at the end while you have what's closer to your house.

You pay for all the registry fees in making changes etc.

Make it so all he has to do is walk a little further.

You even move his junk for him.

A payment might help ease the matter.

That wouldn't really work for us. At the bottom of our garden are some nice large trees that we want to make a part of the garden design we have in mind. Plus that area (in fact my entire garden) needs a lot of work done to it so it's more trouble than it's worth to him.

I just want to make it clear, there is no junk in the area we want. There is only a shed, garden bins and a ladder. Just in-case people are picturing a sort of dumping ground for all his stuff.
 
It's crazy that it's ended up like it has. I'd certainly feel under a moral obligation to sell it to you for not a lot of cash.
 
It's crazy that it's ended up like it has. I'd certainly feel under a moral obligation to sell it to you for not a lot of cash.

The bit of land we want to buy actually had another small semi-detached house on it but that got pulled down a long time ago. From what we understand the neighbour owned all the houses, so when that house was knocked down he retained the land.

Why when he sold my house on he didn't include that bit of land I don't know. :eek:
 

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