Buying out houses from neighbours

[KateAlexander]

Hi everyone

We live in a terrace and there are four out houses on our garden. Two of them are ours and two belong to 1 neighbour.

Basically we'd really like to buy him out of his out houses, not only so he can no longer walk across our garden whenever he pleases (so awkward) and also we would knock down two of the out houses to give us a larger garden.

Does anyone have any experience with this process and how you went about it? I'm guessing we would need to get the outhouses valued, offer the value to next door, if they are up for it we would need a solicitor? Would it be added to our mortgage? And then we would need land registry amended to remove his access over our garden?

Any advice appreciated . If it's an incredible hassle and cost we would rethink.

Before spending any money, find out if they would be interested at all first. They might not be interested at all, and quite happy with the arrangement.

A solicitor will be able to organise everything, but valuations on such an unusual thing are unlikely to be very accurate (from experience with other similar property deals).

Check your title register and his title register first - download copies from the gov.uk Land Registry website for £3 each. He may have what is called an easement, a right of way, and that would need to removed/bought out in addition to the actual our house structures. It sounds as though your back garden/yard area may have originally been used by two or more back-to-back type houses. He also needs to be willing to be bought out. If he would lose garden space himself by having to replace these buildings on his own land, why would he do it?

An easier and cheaper alternative might be to fence off part of your garden to give you privacy but ensure he still has access to the outbuildings.

Thanks both

Yes he may well say no, but I was thinking that the money would be an incentive maybe? Hence why I thought to get them valued first, if I can say 'would you be willing to sell' he would of course say no, but I was thinking if I said ' would you be willing to sell for X' it may be a more desirable deal.

Does it cost more to buy out an easement?

It's a typical set up of every two houses on the terrace row share 4 outhouses but the outhouses are only in one of the gardens.

And yes we are going to fence off some of the garden to give privacy, as well as some taller fences. He is not the nicest of characters shall we say. It has very much affected our new house, we are heartbroken.

This is potentially a lot more complicated than you might think. If you remove his right of way and possibly the outbuildings you can potentially increase the value of your property. If I were him I'd be asking for a share in the uplift in value of your place if you were to sell in x years.

Like I said, it could get complicated.

wowfudge Thanks, we did suspect this because of how old the laws are around rear access etc.

Maybe I'll plant the seed casually in conversation and say if you ever wanted to sell them for some extra cash we would definitely go for it.

Then the seed is planted, if he ever wanted to he knows where we are.

Right now with how unpleasant the situation is we're going to look at doing the kitchen and decorating everything and move within 3 years. We're gutted. We now suspect the man who sold us the house probably did so because they moved in! Timings all fit.

Wish surveys told you if your soon-to-be neighbours are a total nightmare!

We need a diagram really, but, if his outhouses are adjacent to the boundary, could you dog leg the boundary so he's not coming in your garden. You would be giving him a little of your garden, but perhaps it would be worth it. Then, to reclaim the space you've lost, knock down your outhouses and make good. Your deeds would need changing and the easement removed, for which you would probably need legal advice, but it would be a lot cheaper than trying to buy him out.

Diagram incoming!

Unfortunately the out houses don't share the boundary, they're on the other side. He is the only neighbour that has access over our garden, we have access across his to use the gate on the diagram also (we rarely use this).

Hope this makes sense Lucisky

What's on the other side of the outhouses? Can you access your back garden without going through his garden / through your house?

As wow says, this wouldn't be a straightforward transaction as there will be a number of legal documents to complete/ ensure it's all properly registered at the Land Registry. So if you're thinking of £X, in his shoes I'd be saying £X plus all my legal fees. It won't be cheap.

Very clear diagram thanks!
Could you offer to build identical outhouses at the bottom of your garden so he could access them from his property? So in effect give him a little bit of your garden? You will get that area back when you knock the whole block down. It would still be the cheaper option.
They are in a very inconvenient place. Were they originally loos and wash houses?
In the past I have always rejected purchasing houses with rights of way for this very reason. Hope you can sort something out.

Lucisky - never thought of that! That would be an option.

It is just him walking through the garden that drives us mad, makes you constantly on edge and feels like you can't relax in your own space.

And yes they were originally loos.

namechange - other side is our neighbours outhouses, the street is sloping though so theres a big step down so not really an issue (much more private).
Yes, access across his garden is the only way to get to our garden other than through the house. TBH we only ever use his access if we've got something large arriving for the garden, we are unpopular and keep our wheelie bins on the front garden (why on earth would I want the bins in my garden).

In all honesty I think you're going to struggle. You need to maintain the right of way over his garden (for future purchasers of your house) and so asking him to give up his rights - even for money - when you want to keep yours will be a big ask I expect.

Did you not know the position before you bought the house?

namechange yes, we've lived in similar properties in the past with no issues. This is more a personal issue with the neighbours.

Never mind, live and learn.

Thanks for all your help.

In your place I don't think so would keep my bins round the front of the house when he is still crossing your garden to access his outhouse. Might seem petty, but if those are your rights, keep exercising them.

We tried to do this in our previous property. We would have needed to pay both ours and the vendors solicitors fees, pay to get both sets of deeds amended/alterations to land registry, and yes, it was possible that we would have still had to apply to remove access rights (which is not always, apparently, straightforward). In the end, we decided it was too much effort and money for us.

perhaps tell him there a damp problem 😉 and you want to rebuild the out houses at the bottom of your garden. Then fence that area off and replace his gate into that little annexed area. That way he still has access to your land, it will just be private now.

Maybe not the most valuable piece of advice you've had here, as more of an oppinion, but if I was him and I was a bit of an awkward sort, I wouldn't be impressed you were having my property valued even if it is on your land. Is he likely to find out, or is it possible he would believe you plucked a figure out of thin air?

How often does he access his outhouses? What does he keep in there?

Even if you buy the outhouse, the easement exists until it is extinguished.

A neighbour had right of way over our garden. The outhouse was long gone!

We did get it extinguished. It cost £900 in solicitors fees. The neighbour didn't want any money though, so that was the only cost.