To not swap land with my neighbour?

[TreeTrials]

Our neighbours are wanting to renovate their garage to incorporate it into their house. It sits alongside our garden boundary wall which is at an angle. Than angle makes it hard for them to do the changes they want because the room would be very narrow at the bottom.

They have previously talked to us about swapping land so they have a more regular shaped room. We expressed reluctance as we don't need the land they were offering and we have some mature bushes/trees growing out of the wall (it's a wide very old stone one). These trees and bushes provide privacy screening so that we don't see their house. If they are cut down, or die due to disturbed roots, we'll be staring at the side of their house rather than greenery. That was the end of the conversation.

They have now sent through technical drawings for their proposal and the proposed wall for the renovated garage appears be to on our land. It feels a bit cheeky given how we'd left things.

Should we let them proceed? The land is the corner of our garden and isn't used for anything useful - it's very dark and full of garden junk. I feel for them that the shape of the land makes their plans pretty hard to achieve with the boundary plan as it is.

My main concern is loss of privacy from the loss of the trees. But then I'm wondering what the situation would be if they change their plans to follow the boundary - they may still end up killing the trees as I imagine the roots will be disturbed whatever work they do. If this is going to be the case (not that I want them to kill our trees!) should we just suck it up?

I don't know for certain, but am reasonably sure the wall is ours as our house was built a long time before theirs. I've attached a very bad drawing.

YABU - it's only a small amount of land and makes their plans possible. Suck it up.

YANBU - you don't have to give away your land and lose your trees to make your neighbours' life better.

[porkincider]

Not a chance. You need to nip this in the bud now and make it clear that it’s not what you want before they apply for PP.

[Shoxfordian]

You can say no because it’s your land

[FuckyouCovid21]

YANBU, they can't just take your land so tell them no

[Crazycakelady17]

One word NO it will be a nightmare it’s not your responsibility ignore the CFs

[ThatWouldBeEnough]

YANBU to say no in the slightest and they are being CF to have included it in the drawings.

[Lougle]

No. It's your land and it's your lovely old wall.

[ChainJane]

If they wanted to buy the land off you that is one thing, land you don't use might be worth a few thousand to them. But there's no benefit to you just swapping one bit of land for the other, so let them know you're not interested.

Their proposals mean they get a benefit while all you get is potential drawbacks. They need to make it beneficial for you - what sort of figure would you be happy with to put up with the inconvenience? £10k, £50k? Once you work that out you can have a proper conversation with them.

[BruceAndNosh]

If it was just a piece of empty land, yes. But I wouldn't want to sacrifice the trees in a land swap.
They might not get planning that close to established trees

[Whaleandsnail6]

What do they mean by swap? What are they offering you in return for the land?

[Taliskerskye]

How old is the wall?

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

Er, no. You need to put your foot down. If you did want to do a "land swap" then you would need to have it done properly, new boundaries surveyed and submitted to the land registry etc. You can't just decide to swap land like that, not without massive issues anyway. They are being huge CFs.

[LookItsMeAgain]

You would need to get a solicitor involved with this as I can see it all going belly up in years to come if it isn't sorted out properly (from both parties sides) from the outset.

[bigbaggyeyes]

No, if you don't want to them don't do it. There's no way I'd let them do it. Just go back and refuse the plans, get a solicit onboard too as they don't seem to taking you seriously

[NotTheCatsWhiskers]

They can’t just take your land because it suits them.

[Notimeforaname]

Yes what are they offering? It's your land do as you wish of course.
If the only problem is the tree roots being disturbed and you dont mind the bit of land being used, tell them it's on condition they buy and plant tall trees/shrubs/bamboo to immediately screen again.

[RandomMess]

I would be prepared to sell it on certain conditions.

That they move the existing wall not build a new one.

They plant mature trees to replace those that are being disturbed/cut down.

Any chance their is a tree preservation order on any of the trees?

[Floralnomad]

Absolutely not a hope in hell that I would agree to anything that changed my boundary . Don’t linger on it just tell them no .

[Birkie248]

Nope nope nope, if and that’s a bit if you chose to do it, it will all have to be drawn up properly, legally and subject to surveying. Without this it would be a legal mindful if you sell.
Total CF to have assumyyou are going ahead and give you plans as if it’s a done deal! I’d write across the plans ‘we are not selling you the land’ and post back to them.

[Birkie248]

Mindful = minefield!

[TheQueef]

What are you getting for the swap?

[sunflowerstory]

Absolutely not. I'd love my south-facing back garden to be a bit bigger but if I asked my neighbour to have a chunk of his lawn in exchange for a bit of my front yard patio, he would correctly think I was nuts.

[NotTheCatsWhiskers]

You have to do this legally else no one is going to buy your house if you sell or it will cause all sorts of problems.

[Wankerchief]

No. They should offer to buy it not swap and even if it's unused you can still say no..

[Sporranrummager]

You'd both need to get permission from your mortgage lenders in case it changed the value of your properties.
They'd have to be payingall my fees (legal, mortgage lender, surveyor for plans, Land Registry, Party Wall surveyor and agreement if needed) along with giving me the land.

[NeedNewKnees]

Hell no.