House with land behind

[newtothisconfused]

Hi all, am contemplating offering a house which we like, good size good location. Needs some work done but not much. There is however a large long piece of land behind the house, it sits between the back gardens of the house/ neighbours on the same road the gardens of the houses on the other side. That piece of land is owned by a company. There is a house there, owned by one of the directors if the company. They tried to yet planning permission before to build a few houses on the land but it was refused. My concern is that we move in planning gets approved and then we have more houses overlooking our back garden. What do you think, offer and hope for the best or move on?

It's to build few double storey houses.

They’ll keep trying and at some point it’s likely to get through.

I would imagine it would be built on at some point so if the work or finished houses puts you off then you should move on.

@specialityrasp what a 'helpful' comment. Buying a house is a big investment and I don't want to be paying over the odds for me to then potentially be in negative equity if the planning permission is given in a few years time.
Thank you others, I do suspect it will go through at some point so we will keep looking. I only found out about this after looking through past planning, I don't think the sellers would mention this at all.

Planning often comes up in searches. It would put me off, as they may be granted in the future for a different scheme. We looked at a house many years ago in a cul de sac backing onto a field, one of the features that made it desirable. When I asked about if they had been any planning apps, the vendors were very coy. We decided against it. We bought another, much nicer house, in the same town, within a year, planning was approved on the fields, now home to a large housing estate and the worst thing was it’s now the access road when it was originally a cul de sac.

My house is not overlooked and it very much adds to its value. My home is an investment but I also love the privacy not having houses behind me gives. I’ve paid for the privilege. I hate this catch all ‘NIMBY’ accusation as it’s usually thrown about by people who haven’t paid for something that will then be taken away leaving them out of pocket.

OP, even if the planning doesn’t go through again, will you worry about it? Because IMO even if something doesn’t happen, the small likelihood it might and the worry that comes with that could be just as bad. I think I’d be investigating this all I could and if that didn’t give me definitives then I’d move on.

There’s no way I would buy that.

What we're the reasons given for the rejection, if it's something they can easily alter then they will probably apply again.. We took a risk as land behind us had a historic applicstion rejected and after moving in new plans were submitted but since rejected due to flood risk, its also outside the town plan boundary so I doubt it will get built on.

Intrigued to know why these posts are getting deleted, one would think this is a fairly non contraversial subject but some people always have to be awkward

OP, we visited a small town at the weekend and like most places we go to for a break, fell in love with it. We noticed a huge number of houses going up and it reminded me that I would never buy a house with land around it, I woujld only buy a house that is already in an established road with other roads around it, then you know what you're getting and there isnt likely to be many changes around your actual house.

The poster I replied to (whose post has been deleted) was on a crusade about NIMBYism. I’m not sure what the following one said!

Check why it has been refused OP. Look on the borough planning site and search on the postcode or street name. Or email the clerk at the parish council.

My house backs on to a water meadow. There was a speculative application put in there. It was thrown out and the site protected. It's important to understand the reasons.

We bought a house 25 years ago. There is a patch of land behind it which is owned by one of the properties further along the road. Our solicitor warned after the searches that the land was likely going to be built on. At one point there was a dispute between the two brothers and so the land remained unused. It was regularly mowed and well kept. One of the brothers died, there was a planning application made for one 2 storey house which was refused and then for a bungalow which was also refused. The land is no longer mowed and is overgrown and a haven for wildlife but we suspect that the planning applications were refused because the council have it earmarked for several houses and not just one property. We need to move before it gets built on.

I think there is a high chance that the next government will reform planning. One day it is very likely to be built on, and frankly we need a lot more houses, so I'm all for urban infill. It may reduce the value a bit but I doubt it will push you into negative equity which would require something like a 10% drop. If you buy it plant a big hedge now so it's ready in a few years.

Thank you all for the very helpful replies. I was going through the report on the planning website on reasons it was refused before. One of it is the new development would affect the house that is on that land. But as the land is owned by the same owner, I suspect it will all be sold if that happens. Another reason is overdevelopment. There were some other reasons but I must confess I need to read it again as there were lots of jargons! The width of the land is about 15m so not that wide, and the garden of the house I'm interested in is about 22metres long ( perpendicular to the land) so I think we will be quite overlooked if a double storey house is built. @ACynicalDad the property is not really priced that low at the moment - afraid it's not quite a buyer's market where I am looking at and good ones do get snapped up quickly.

Ned to have some serious thought!

All you need is a different planning officer and it will go through. Our local PO says he doesn’t believe in over development (for infill) so will grant permission for small developments regardless. He says if it’s an area with houses then you have to expect development…….my neighbour is building a whole house in his garden, 2ft from my boundary (it’s not a large garden)

Oh no! Yes I agree, someone I knew bought a property next to a protected woodland, checked with solicitors, all protected TPO’s in place etc. went ahead with purchase, they now live next to a housing estate, how the developers got away with it I will never know, (although I can probably guess) all the neighbours were objecting, didn’t make a jot of difference, the TPO’s were removed, no care for the wildlife. Money talks I guess.

Thanks All, your experiences have been helpful! Despite us loving the house we will not offer. Afraid it's too much risk, esp as we will likely stay there for the next 20 years!