To buy this land and risk upsetting the tenants next door

[Mrsdavidcaruso]

Long story short. My house is at the back of a large house which was converted into flats last year. I own the freehold to my property and have had problems with the tenants of the flats parking on what is actually my land. It got bad when the LL of the large house 'rented' a part of my property to one of his tenants as an extra parking space and it took a long time and solicitors letters to get it all sorted.

I also had to spend money on getting bollards and a fence to ensure no-one parked on my property.

My property is at the end of a T shape and I part is used as a passage to my house ( I have legal access over it) and a parking area for 5 cars rented by the LL to his tenants

However because of all the problems my solicitor has done some digging to ensure my legal right of way and that nothing comes back to bite me on the bum with the owners of the large house.

It then got interesting - it seems that the LL bought the large house at auction on a 99 year lease. My Solicitor saw the legal pack and there was no mention of the land on the paperwork.

He has now found out through the freeholder that the land does not actually belong to the large house but to the house next door.

The freeholder of the house next door has confirmed yes its his land but as he does not live in the house was unaware that the LL of the large house was using it as far as he was aware only I had access to it.

He has now contacted my Solicitors and offered to sell me the land, If I don’t want to buy he is going to offer the LL the chance to lease it from him but if he does that I am worried about my own access across it.

I am very tempted I can enlarge my garden and my husband (who rents a garage ) can also park his car on the property we can afford it and it may increase the value of my house and provide a safer environment for my DS and bump when he/she arrives.

But that is not going to sit well with the tenants of the large house and I can forsee huge problems with them as a couple were very abusive to me during the problem with the parking before.

I have a couple of weeks to decide. I know it would not fair to the tenants but its something they will have to take up with their LL as either he has been badly advised/mistaken or is chancing his arm renting out parking spaces when he knows its not his land (I suspect the latter).

According to my Solicitor there would be no legal or planning issues if I wanted to change the area to a larger garden (although I will check with the council myself)

So would I be UR to buy it

[anonacfr]

BUY IT BUY IT BUYIT BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT. Buy it.

[Rumplestinkskin]

Defo buy it....... but expect it to kick off once the LL realises

[Piscivorus]

Agree, buy it.

You can always set up rental arrangements with the tenants of the larger house if you are minded to do that or, as somebody else said you could allow OH to park on it and tell tenants to rent garages as he had to.

[Zamboni]

Agree with everyone else. Buy it.

[OTheHugeManatee]

Another one saying buy it.

[NetworkGuy]

BUY IT. BUY IT. BUY IT. BUY IT.
Buy it. Buy it. Buy it. Buy it.
Can it be any clearer ?

[CSIJanner]

No brainer. Buy it before the LL does then worst case scenario, build on it. Which what happened to my friends with no legal recourse.

[thankfeckthereischocolate]

Buy it, no matter what.

Even if you decide you dont want any aggro you can buy it discretely then sit quietly until the next issue arises. Then you can waggle a deed of ownership and they wont be able to do anything about it.

Seems to me that you will be investing in a bit of peace and quiet

[DameDeepRedBetty]

An unanimous response OP, possibly a record in AIBU with more than 100 responses!

Come on someone, there must be somebody who can come up with a convoluted, strained argument for OP not to buy this freehold, and accuse her of drip-feeding or something as well while they're at it?? Or is this going to be a truly unique AIBU

[sebsmummy1]

Yep, buy it. Get this thread deleted and then start a new one when you are the new owner and the fall out kicks in

[NoseWiperExtraordinaire]

Yup, another one in agreement. BUY IT.

I'd also be inclined, as others have said, to perhaps offer to rent part of it for the tenants for a fixed term out of good faith, but I'd give the Ll first refusal to rent it for his tenants, as he is clearly charging the tenants for it already! Cheeky sod.

[NoseWiperExtraordinaire]

Yes, DameDeep, perhaps one for classics

[Geckos48]

Don't wait 2 weeks! Buy it now!

What a wonderful opportunity for you, fuck em! If they hadn't been awful to you then you wouldn't have looked into it in the first place.

Buy it now!

[Joysmum]

But it...

...but be really really really thorough on the legalities of the rights of the tenants who have been using it unchallenged, and how you should complete the sale and take back possession. It may well be that buying it isn't enough to be able to take immediate possession.

[Joysmum]

*buy

[vj32]

Buy it, just make sure you send all the tenants a solicitors letter explaining what has happened so that their LL gets all the shit from his tenants not you!

[SaggyOldClothCatPuss]

Don't buy it.

[SaggyOldClothCatPuss]

Who an I kidding! Of course you should buy it!

[PigletJohn]

buy it and quickly turn it into a building site, but I wouldn't do any letters or tell the tenants, all that will do is set off arguments. What business is it of theirs?

Let things blow over before you let anyone know you are the owner.

[SantasLittleMonkeyButler]

BUY IT! But, if there is room for cars to park without inconveniencing you - why don't you let spaces out to the Tenants? Get things on a formal footing & make the land pay for itself a little.

But, yes, if you can afford it, definitely don't let the other LL get his grubby mitts on it!

[WeAreEternal]

Absolutely buy it, no question.

Any abuse you receive as a result report to the police.

[whattoWHO]

I can't see any good reason not to buy it!

[wishful75]

I agree with joysmum. There may not be an existing ROW but they can be claimed through years of usage and your solicitor should have mentioned the possibility of this. The onus will be on the LL/tenants to prove this however via user evidence in an application to the registration authority (usually the county council).

I would still buy it though.

[SoupDragon]

but I wouldn't do any letters or tell the tenants, all that will do is set off arguments. What business is it of theirs?

Well, they'll need to move their cars for a start. I don't think you're allowed to bulldoze a parking space with a car still parked on it tempting though it may be in these circumstances :o

[YellowDinosaur]

Another buy it vote.

If the tenants have only been parking for a year max (deduced from op) I doubt they will have acquired any rights as my understanding is that this takes many years. But yes check if you haven't already.