Offer advice

[Minkyscamp]

We have a second viewing on our property at the weekend, with a couple who have said they are very keen. I’m keeping everything crossed we will be under offer sometime next week.

if this happens we will be making an offer on a house we’ve seen, so just looking for some thoughts on offer level as it’s been a long time since we’ve done this and the market has obviously changed a lot.

The house is listed at £900k. It’s been on the market since June 2025 with no movement on the price in that time. It’s owed by a developer who bought it just over a year ago as he wanted a paddock that came with the property. He paid £970k for the house and the paddock. The house has sat empty for all that time.

The estate agent said the paddock is available too if we want it for an additional £50k.

In an ideal world, we’d buy the paddock too, but we don’t really want to spend any more than necessary as this is stretching us.

Any advice on our offer in these circumstances? I’m thinking around £860k but wondering if we can justify starting any lower? I don’t think they’ve had a huge amount of interest thus far, but the market is really picking up around us so who knows.

I'm still curious what the sewer is for, did he buy the whole property just for access for the sewer. perhaps that has saved him a huge amount of money having to route it another way, so he doesn't mind selling at a loss once he has what he wanted.

Yes me too curious about his motivation behind the sewer

@BadgernTheGardenThanks. Yes I agree 50k is a lot for a relative small and unusable bit of land. But I guess it’s worth whatever someone will pay for it.

I did elaborate upthread I think, but in summary, he also owns some nearby-ish fields which he may want to try to build on in the future. The best/easiest route for a sewer for any such development would be through this paddock, as it’s downhill as opposed to uphill. This isn’t a problem to us - the development wouldn’t be within sight of the house. And we don’t mind granting access for the sewer.

So that’s why he bought the property in the first place - because the title included this paddock. He never intended to develop the house or live in it.

So he bought the entire plot just for the paddock, which the developer is now happy to sell for £50k
and selling the house for less than he, a professional, purchased it for.

Something about this is… off

I would be curious about the why

So that’s why he bought the property in the first place - because the title included this paddock. He never intended to develop the house or live in it.

he spent best part of a million to get his hands on a bit of land, which he’s now looking to get rid of £50k, does that not make you wonder why?

FFS. I wish people would actually read OP's first and subsequent posts before commenting.
I would probably offer £880 for the house and paddock with an agreement for him to install a sewer at a later date if required.
I wouldn't buy it without the paddock if it's part of the view. You could get bloody windmills or solar panels on it in future.

@Redrosesposies I’m glad you said it!!

I think you’re right. And that’s a great example of the kind of thing I’m worried about.

We’ve decided we definitely won’t buy it without the paddock now so just need to think about the price - assuming we get to that point next week. £880 seems like a reasonable place to end up, I think I might go in a bit lower though and see what the response is.

@Andflop no not really, because I know why. As I said a couple of times in my previous comments, he wants to potentially lay a sewer in it in the future. If he sold it to us he would retain a legal right to do so. That’s what he’s paid for. And if he gets permission for a development of 25-30 homes, id say spending that money now is a wise investment.

I can’t conceive how he would retain the legal right to install a sewerage system on your land.

He managed to buy it without anyone having any rights over it

And you’d be happy with a large development popping up adjacent to you? When you have purchased what sounds like a rural property

@Andflop he wouldn’t retain the right automatically, it would be written into the transfer.

And to answer your other, also slightly snarky, post - yes we’d be happy with a development. We wouldn’t be able to see it from the property and it would be some distance away.

if I’ve offended you, please refrain from offering your views. If I haven’t offended you, please also refrain from offering your views. They aren’t the kind of input I was looking for really.

Offended? Um, no.

My point - something sounds a bit off
Throw in fact it’s stagnated since the summer and the developer hasn’t shown any interest in reducing (although given he’s selling at a loss, that is bound to hit a developer’s ego hard ! So I’m not surprised) - I don’t think he’ll accept an offer, but worth a shot. But then if accepted… I wouldn’t be surprised if you uncover the why.

Given the current cost of renovating, would it be cost effective to offer near to or the actual asking price but to include remedying the problems with the layout mentioned upthread and/or any other proposed changes. As a developer, he will have access to the labour and materials to do the work a lot cheaper than the current astronomical rates and it might make negotiations more mutually attractive

@Pluto46 Oh my goodness that is such a great idea. The renovations would include reinstating a garage that was converted (pretty badly) into a downstairs storage room and bathroom, and putting in a downstairs WC. We had decided to offer £850k, but could get much closer to the asking price if he would make those changes. Not sure how that would work in practice - presumably he’d have to do all the work before exchange which adds time pressure to a chain.
Much Food for thought - thanks for that suggestion.

Why would he make the changes
Thats additional cost and time to him and if that was me
I would have done it before it went up for sale and increased the price accordingly

The property has been priced as is not how it could be

No one accepts the first offer unless it’s asking price so decide an increment you’re happy to go up by in the hope that seals it