To want to buy the house but only with the land?

[Sp3849]

So we went to view a house we loved. A rural farmhouse with small parcel of land however on viewing realised it has another parcel to the side of it with caravan on. Asked the agent who it belonged to and they were vague. So before we made an offer I knocked the farm next door. To mainly discuss the access track that runs over thier land and they told us that small parcel of land next to the house with caravan was actually owned by the house In question. The grandchildren of lady who had lived thier (now deceased) frequently partied there. We then went and had a nose and there were beer bottles etc everywhere. I then referred this back to agent who then came back with that the family wanted to keep that part of the land to continue to stay in the caravan a few times a year and share the houses water supply (a well). We have gone back and said we would happily buy the house for the guide price and pay additional 15k for land which is approx 1/3 acre but won't consider buying it without it. My primary concern is that 1. Grandchildren could still party there and 2. What's stopping them renting caravan out etc? It is our responsibility to maintain track etc which they would also need to use to access caravan. Also where would they go to toilet etc. It is currently linked to house electrics which obviously it would be disconnected. I worry it could cause alot of issues. They are still yet to respond to our offer (made 8 days ago) they have had no other offers. Why are they taking so long to respond its driving me insane. Should I ring and put a deadline on the offer? Are we being unreasonable with concerns?

Depends where the house is. Here in Cornwall, small parcels of land like that which you can put a caravan on are going for silly money and people are hanging on to them.

I agree with all your concerns though.

It's perfectly reasonable to request and they can refuse.
Personally it would probably be a no from me for all the reasons you list. If they say no then just move on it's not worth the hassle.

Sounds like there could potentially be a huge amount of issues.

Also quite sneaky not to mention up front about the shared water supply etc. I would wonder what other undisclosed implications there could be.

Yanbu to only want it with the land
Tanbu to keep the land, but need to sort out their in generator and waste disposal.

I completely agree with all your worries etc and I’d probably chase up the offer to give them a nudge. I couldn’t blame them for wanting to keep the little bit of land but I wouldn’t want to be linked up to it if that’s the case.

You are not being at all unreasonable. I would 100% not buy the house as you describe it at present.

I wouldn't touch it with a 40 foot pole without all the land. I get why they want to keep it but it has trouble written all over it. I had a holiday home with shared facilities and it was a nightmare

Ps do they even have planning permission for the caravan?

Pigs would fly and Hell would freeze over twice before I bought that house without the land being included. It has disaster and nightmare written all over it.

Maybe they could even eventually get planning permission to build a house there. But £15k doesn't sound much for the land. But wait and see what they say. I don't think you are being unreasonable with your concerns.

YANBU
Is also be really concerned at some point they might intend to apply for planning permission for a house.

If its a family dealing with it there could be delays due to arguments over what they want to do. Definitely chase up your offer but not a chance I'd buy that house without that land being included. It sounds like a recipe for disaster without!

I would ring the EA and push for an answer. The sellers have had eight days to think about it, they should know what they want to do. Putting a deadline on your offer sounds sensible.

Don't you need to sort out access to the caravan if you maintain the road. They surely can't assume that you will give them access without it being legally agreed can they? Would they get permission for a different access - probably not.

Definitely push for an answer. Other than the caravan does the land have the potential for them to do anything else? I’d be worried about sanitation and noise. Also how much if your property would they need to use to access the site?

It's Aberystwyth way in Wales. Yes they could build on it if they had permission. I do feel its all a bit sneaky. I don't know where they would stand legally with use of the track it leads to our house and the farm next over. I have spoken to farmers and they own the track but put a new one in separately as they had issues with the old dear and her family not maintaining it and openly said that if we wanted to do any works to the track they have no objections will split costs or sell us the track so we own it. But obviously the selling family would need to use it to access the caravan. I Honestly wouldn't have known if I hadn't done a bit of digging around. Which does make me wonder what else is being hidden.To be honest I would pay a little more if they came back and asked for it. However The house is a wreck (unhabitable) needs complete gutting and the asking price is high so to pay that and an extra 15k for the extra land is a generous offer I feel. In total it would be 315k with house and 0.75 acre total land. We could buy something that needs no work for the same budget (we don't need the land) I just really loved the character and location of the house its a good commute for my husband and not to far from kids schools. We are renting at the moment we sold our house previously to put us in a better position we could do the work whilst staying in our rental

I wouldn't buy without also being able to buy that parcel of land, think it would open a can of worms.. I'd also worry about potential of it being built on and what else the EA has left out of the picture.

That’s not a good update that the neighbour has had issues with the family in the past.

There's no way on earth I would buy this house without the land, particularly in light of your most recent update!

OP have you downloaded the title deeds from the Land Registry? It will show you exactly what the extent of the property is and if it does own any of the access roads. It might also give you any heads up on any covenants (including things like rights to water, access, easements, not being able to build without permission etc etc). In my experience EA are always in the dark about stuff like that ….or they know and pretend that they don’t. That way you don’t find out the dealbreakers until very late in the conveyancing process.

If I were you I would under no circumstances buy the house without the additional land.

No way would I buy it without the land.

@Daisydoesnt no I have not I didn't realise this could be done. I will definitely get onto this. Thankyou. It will definitely put my mind to rest in regards to wasting time and money and issues arising further down line

You are absolutely doing the right thing. As heartbreaking as it may be to walk away from, it could possibly be much worse further down the line after purchase….
Hopefully an agreement can be reached. Even if it means paying a little more for the land.
The other option is to have a restrictive covenant imposed on the land. Prohibiting any other use of the land, than short stays in the caravan of no more than 28 nights per calendar year. (Not consecutively). Although this protects you from them developing the land, it would be more difficult to stop the parties.
Good luck OP

I wouldn't buy it. You'd be up for a lifetime of potential misery