Selling off land for elderly parents

[movemamamove]

My parents live in a big house with large garden & multiple paddocks - an amazing childhood home for my siblings & I but totally OTT for 2 people who aren't particularly sociable .
We've been trying to persuade them to downsize but they're strongly against so now hoping they will consider reducing the amount of land & look at making some 'future-proof' adaptations to the house.

How complicated is it to sell off paddocks and grazing land? One of their neighbours has always said to ask if they ever consider selling so that's a possibility but would have no idea on value or legal side of things. There's also a large development underway in a neighbouring field so we may also need to consider development potential and how/if this might affect the value as whilst they are greenbelt, this neighbouring field was until they got PP!

Anyone ever sold a piece of land but retained the house & gardens?

you need to get a land agent/planning consultant to value the land and give options
it will devalue the house - you need to take that into account
do not sell to a neighbour as you won't be getting a full value
if you have a power of attorney you to have to maximise the money - you cant just sell

How likely are you to get planning on the grazing? Change of use can be very tricky. Is it green belt?

Yes. We've kept our house and sold land attached to it. You need to speak to a land agent. If you're in the south east I can recommend someone

Selling land as equestrian/agricultural it has a low value £10/acre perhaps. If there's a possibility of building you might get more. It's also likely you can sell with an uplift clause such that you'll get a % of the increase in value of the land if planning is obtained within so many years.
You might be better off getting a land agent to look and value it. Especially one which might have the right contacts wanting to buy and develop land.

An alternative possibility could be that they sell off the main house and retain some garden (which is easier to develop than 'field') to build a smaller modern, well insulated cheap to run house/bungalow that requires little upkeep, and keep the land as a future project to sell off for development to keep them well into their retirement. Many banks would lend against this - so they can get a loan against the main house to build the new house, move into it then sell off the old one to pay off the loan. There's also a possibility they may be able to build on the edge of the land and convert part of the paddock land to garden if the garden plot isn't big enough. But a land agent could advise.

I would look to let out the land and keep it with the house. We have a house with land and it’s very special and can add so much value to a property. Personally, I’d never divide it up. There are so many people looking for grazing land at the moment. Just make sure you find someone who can manage it (harrowing and rolling if needed) if you can’t. Another family will one day love the same sort of magic you did.

£10 an acre?
Where- Victorian Suffolk?

Apologies missed a K off

Why not talk to the neighbours and see if they are interested in buying some. They might not be very friendly if there's a large development on their doorstep and your parents' are still neighbours.
We were offered a field - small paddock with our house as extra - it was offered at £30k, plus stamp duty - get a lawyer to draw up and details.

Look widely for offers.

We have a few acres we are not looking to sell around the house and have had unsolicited offers from £3k for an acre to £160k for two acres and a good variety in between.

A small spot of about 3 acres just down the lane went for >50k last summer. That was where we stopped bidding.

Generally around here larger areas of agricultural ground go around £10k an acre, small plots tend to go for a good deal more per acre as you are into the pony paddock market and can push up to 20-30 an acre if you find the right buyer.

All that said why do you want to sell the land? Do the actual owners want to sell? It costs us less in hedge cutting etc than we get for the silage cutting, and depending on the new subsidy rules you may be able to claim some payment on it also.

1. land agent
2. planning agent
3. topographical, bat and bird, flood and ecology surveys
4. architect if agent advice is to gain planning to convert empty barns or whatever - they'll know what people want in the area

😊

Well of land and they could be surrounded by awful buildings/ developments. Can't you try letting it out?

Sell off, not well of…

This is excellent advice

You need to check whether you will need to pay capital gains tax on the sale of the land.

Thank you all for replying all really helpful . I think letting out the land might be the easiest option as they don’t need the money from a sale it’s just trying to reduce the overall maintenance and responsibility that comes with a larger house and grounds.

I will also approach the idea of engaging a land agent as it would be good to at least have a discussion about development potential if not now then in the future. They are green belt so never crossed their minds until change in local plan shifted the boundaries and a developer got permission for a large development on a neighbouring plot. It might not be relevant now but it will be sold eventually if not now then at least one less thing to worry about when the time to sell does come. Plus I do still think downsizing is a better option so the suggestion of building for their own use is an interesting one.