Property backs onto a farm - how to get more info on land ownership

[notnowlater]

We viewed a property in a lovely rural village that also has a stately home very nearby.
The house backs directly onto farmland/farm buildings seemingly owned by the stately home Estate.
Does anyone know how we could find out the usage for the farm, and the potential for the land to be sold off in future? Can a 'civilian' apply for a land search, or does it need to be done by a solicitor? (Happy to pay for any search etc that may answer this question definitively for us.)
There was no sign of any animals or activity on the land, but we viewed over the weekend which may affect this.
We are townies, moving to a more rural area for a quieter life, so are probably very naive, but also have future 'development' on our radar, as we are moving from an area that's become very over developed.
Thanks

I think you have to have a realistic hat on when viewing any property that backs on to land, it is possible that the land will be built on at some point.

We’ve bought rurally recently. I found it useful to have a skim through past parish council meeting records, local Facebook groups, planning application history on the local council website. None of these are foolproof but you may pick something up. Solicitor land searches won’t give you the rumours and village chat, only things which are definite.

It's still worth doing - you could potentially see if you could buy a bit of that land. This could create a buffer between you and any potential future development.

I would say that the likelihood of the land being developed significantly decreases if it is
in a conservation area.
Normally, in my opinion, if you don't own the view you can't rely on it long term.
The fact that it doesn't seem to be used at present may not be relevant as the land could be being rested for spring and summer grazing for example.

Thanks @snowjokes, I will do some digging online. The issue is really that the access path/road to the farm buildings is directly on the other side of the garden wall, it's your view out of the bedroom windows. So our concern is deliveries, machinery etc accessing the farm regularly, or in the case of future development, this being the main access in and out of the site, or worst case scenario, the new permanent road leading in and out!
We live 200 miles away, so it's not very easy to pop along and see what the traffic is like at various times of the day etc.

@TwoCoffeesandAMilkshake we're not currently in a financial position to consider buying land, and don't expect to be in the future.

Good points@TheActualDuck , wouldn't have considered the land being rested.

You can download title documents from the Land Registry which will tell you who owns the land at the rear. The title register will also tell you if there are any restrictive covenants on the land eg some agricultural land has a restrictive covenant prohibiting the land from being used for residential purposes or from being developed. If there are no such restrictions on the title the owner is free to apply for a change of planning use to residential. Also have a look at the local authority’s planning website - you will be able to see the planning history for the land which will include new or old applications to see if anyone has tried to get planning permission to develop the land or to change its use.

Look at the local authority's local plan. That will also tell you places earmarked for development in the near future. (Although permission is often given to build on sites not allocated in the local plan)

But ultimately I agree with the advice that you don't own the view. And loss of a view isn't something that can be taken into account in planning law

Anyone can buy land ownership documents from land Registry. As well as the actual ownership have a look to see if there are any entries that might indicate a developer has an option agreement/pre emption agreement or similar

You may not own the view but you will have a right to light and air and any developer would have to compensate you if they constructed buildings that blocked your light and air. I assume it already does but make sure the house has windows on all levels facing the field to protect your rights to light and if you decide to buy it obtain a statutory declaration from the existing owners confirming that they have enjoyed unobstructed rights to light and air during their period of ownership of the house.

It's worth having a look at the planning policy pages on the council website too.
You should be able to see if the land is under any special designations - green belt, aonb etc which will make it harder for future development, as well as any allocation for future development - housing, commercial, education etc. Such allocations in the future may be more likely if the land adjoins a settlement boundary, rather than being in the countryside.
Local plans have to be regularly updated so a lack of exist allocation will not rule out anything in the future, but any of the protective designation will make it less likely.

Find the local Facebook group and ask the question in there. Our village has a planned development of 500 houses on farmland that was formally approved last summer. Building still hasn't started but the locals knew about the two potential sites around 6 years ago and would have happily told anyone where they were.

It’s just a risk you take really.

If it does get developed, that isn’t the end of the world. Land near me was developed into a really nice housing estate and the building noise was a little annoying for the first 6 months but no worse than eg next door doing a loft conversion. If the land is owned by a stately home then thet makes it less likely to be sold imo as there’s probably a trust involved.

Farmland isn’t all that great to live near either, sure it looks nice but depending what they farm you may get the stench of manure when they do ‘muck spreading’, or worse, clouds of pesticide billowing around and drifting over your land when they spray crops.

Worst case scenario would be a noisy cockerel that screams at 3am for years 😬

The countryside isn’t as quiet as you think, if you want quiet I suggest you look for a suburban cul de sac. But if you love this house enough just shrug and take the risk, but do so lowering your expectations.

Anyway. You can do a planning application search on the local planning portal but that isn’t much reassurance.

Great advice, thanks so much everyone.

Any further advice appreciated:

According to the Land Registry there are restrictive covenants and/or easements relating to the property, but no further info is given on the title register.

I seem to be going round in circles on the gov.uk website trying to find more info. If I apply for a copy of the deeds should this give me information on the covenants? Thanks.

@notnowlater Yes it will

@Mumsanetta thank you

I live near two farms which are about half a mile down a hill from me.

muckspreading is awful and it has me gagging, you can’t open the windows.

it’s the only downside and it’s only a couple of days a year but it’s horrible.

horses and tractors are lovely

sometime you get early morning noise and during harvest late night rumbles of vehicles leaving but I actually love that.

Farms don't stop for the weekend. We are just as likely to get a feed delivery at 9am on a Sunday morning as we are at 3pm on a Tuesday.

The kind of farming people find disruptive e.g industrial pig units don't just pack up and dissappear over a weekend, if it wasn't there when you viewed then it isn't there any other time.

If there wasn't much going on over a weekend then it's likely that is fairly representative - you will find the fields fill/empty with animals depending on the season, unless it's a crop but a crop field should have been obvious from your viewing?

But just ask in the village. Everyone will know if there are any plans.

If you live near a farm you need to expect heavy vehicles to use the farm drive - huge tractors and lorries delivering fertilizer, etc. Expect farm smells if you live anywhere near farmland and if it is relatively flat land, expect machinery working day and night with lights on for harvesting or silage making at busy times of year.

As for development, there are never any guarentees and there are plenty of incentives for farmers to convert farm buildings into industrial units or residential housing. I think the safest land is inside a national park, outside of that, even conservation areas don't seem to be completely safe.

We were in a similar position 27 years ago, also moving 200 miles (well 190 but close.) Planning permission had just been turned down on the land at appeal due to special something or other (rare birds nest there) so we have lived with open land to the rear of our property all these years, also with a path directly behind our property.

They are currently building hundreds of houses on the site, we have had months of noise and disruption, all the trees have been removed and the path is now the main route into the site. We were promised replanting but none of it was close to my house, I did appeal that and won.

Be very careful, I think my house will be hard to sell now and will certainly be worth less than it was but to be honest it is the disruption and noise that has bothered me more. I'm dreading the summer as last summer we had huge clouds of dust from the work on very dry ground and it affected my husbands breathing.

I love living next to a farm but its smelly and noisy! The worst thing is the reverse beeping which ATM starts at 7.58 every morning and is constant for most of the day.

Speaking from experience, just because the farm is quiet now, doesn't mean it always will be. The rural ' idyll' we moved to that was close to an unused farm is now close to a very busy farm (new tenant farmer) with constant sound of machinery, cows mooing, filthy roads and farmyard smells.

The owner may rent out usage of the field so you wouldn't know from one year to the next how it is going to be used.

It will and will possibly have copy of the document from which the covenant originated. Are you confident you would be able to interpret it though? Might be worth asking a solicitor for a title report if you're thinking of making an offer

Your best bet is to spend a couple of evenings in the local pub and ask the locals!

If you are not used to country living don't underestimate the legitimate traffic a farm generates. Depending on the season and the type of farming there is a constant flow of deliveries (feed/seed/fertilizer) or collections (feed/animals/dairy tankers). During harvest around us the combines run pretty much 24/7 if the weather is right! Rural living is muddy, can be noisy and smelly. Embrace it, don't be the townies who complain about mud on the roads, getting stuck behind tractors and how early the dairy herd are milked!

That’s true and please don’t complain about being stuck behind massive shitting beasts or tractors…nobody seems to kind around here but it definitely delays you! 😂