Reply With QuoteI see.Originally Posted by Tom-P
So the OP needs to factor this in unless he's going to retire there.
I wonder if anyone has ever claimed for the effect of an irrational dispute's effect on the capital value of a property.
Only you can decide if this fight is worth it?
I agree with you that if you don't need the aggro then don't bother, it will get expensive if you involve solicitors etc.
However it does seem like your neighbour is trying to pull a fast one which would make me reluctant to just roll over.
I'm confused how important this is to you and what effect it would have on your property etc? Perhaps a drawing would help people's opinions.
I wish you luck and hope it gets resolved.
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I see.
So the OP needs to factor this in unless he's going to retire there.
I wonder if anyone has ever claimed for the effect of an irrational dispute's effect on the capital value of a property.
I can see the allure of a no conflict solution. It’s not pleasant at all having a beef with someone on your doorstep.
However if you don’t stand up for yourself now I think you’ll have more conflict in the future when she wants more for free knowing you can be bullied. Plus you’ll be sat in an unsaleable house and have to live with that new conflict.
As others have now contributed with way more knowledgeable advice from me: it looks to be a lot more cut and dried:
- The burden is on her to take the land off you NOT you retaining your own land
- You can simply say no to the transfer request stating you want your land back.
I know I’ve said this before, but I would never buy a property where it’s obvious a dispute has taken place and the vendor was bullied into giving away land for free. Why would I buy into someone else’s problem neighbour?
All the power is on you and you’ve got such a simple mechanism to retain that power (just by saying no). You paid for that land, why does it now have zero value and more importantly why would you be encouraging that bully next door to spread out and get closer to you?
As lots of people have said, don’t give in to a bully, she has behaved terribly, I too can see your point about just wanting the matter ending with no conflict, why not sell it to her for a sum is just enough for her to know she hasn’t got away with the deception, but cheap enough for her to want to get it done, a Thousand pounds would be my number.
Cheers..
Jase
That’s a great suggestion. But for the figure I’d pick the current top of my list watch price and use it to buy that.
I’m saying that peering out my window and wondering if the neighbours would want my garage for about 13 k. Ha.
Thanks for the further comments; I will see if the legal insurance comes through because if it does I may take a more aggressive approach.
I have not used the disputed strip (0.8m x 9m ish) for the last 17 years so I won't miss it. I only go on it to do maintenance once a year or so ... although now I cant access it.
I think the best solution it to attribute some value to it and sell it and so use it as a bargaining chip over the negotiation over the right of way.
The neighbour is difficult and pushy and had a history with the previous owner of our house.
I do want to conclude this through this process to remove any open disputes to give myself a clean title should I choose to sell; even though I plan to be here for some time.
Did the disagreement show up when you bought the house? From memory, I think the legislation forcing disclosure came in relatively recently.
Sensible approach. BOTH parties need to be pragmatic otherwise you just both end up creating problems for each other, you start by installing an access gate and planting something unsightly on the land that does not constitute a legal nuisance and she...
If the neighbour is difficult, how will you do your maintenance after you have sold your land?
Rights of access for maintenance will be written into the deed.
I will also seek to put other restrictions on it such as height limits on and tree planted as I don't want big trees right next to my outbuilding.
If that’s an issue do not sell it!!! Trying to get a neighbour to prune hedges/ tress is a nightmare if they refuse! Also, if shes’s this awkward is there a possibility she’ll refuse you access even if it’s written in!
From how you describe the neighbour it feels as if there’s a very strong chance it’ll come to a head no matter what. You might as well teach that in a position of power, rather than acting in good faith now to be screwed later
Out of interest I did some research over the value of garden land and it’s so difficult to value, certainly a couple of K at a bare minimum depending on where you are. There were a couple of common themes though:
- Need to take into account both the depreciation of your own house value due to less land and proximity to your neighbour & the appreciation in your neighbour’s property with the now bigger land parcel
- Looks like most times the buyer pays all the legal fees for the transfer and restrictive covenants agreed
In the nicest possible way I do still think it’s going to bite you by encouraging your ‘difficult and pushy’ neighbour to get closer to your house. A few houses back I had many issues with my own difficult and pushy neighbours over a shared drive, maybe that’s why I’m so dead set on pushing back now - unreasonable people can never see reason, it’s in their nature. Restrictive covenants won’t mean a thing to her when her trees get too high and she’s not inclined to cut them down. She’s already proven she’s got little respect or consideration for your own land, never mind what happens when it becomes her land.
I’ll bow out, but please just be careful and don’t let yourself or your family get shafted whatever you decide.
Thanks for all the comments. I’ve spent the day preparing a package of info for the legal insurance claim.
Let’s hope they take it on, seems they have plenty of ways of not paying.
If they will I think I’ll go aggressively... if they won’t and I risk some legal costs I may go for a negotiated resolution
Let’s see what happens.
The neighbour will only be 0.8m closer to the OP. New proximity might be insignificant, depending on size of his garden. Same with depreciation, if he has couple of acres, won’t make real difference.
As for covenants, doubt neighbour would agree to covenant on her original plot so could still plant trees here, only 0.8m from OP and still a nuisance.
There’s always the letterbox option.
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