Professor Property Advice

I am in the process of buying a house, and have only just fond out that the garden actually belongs to Railtrack.  The vendor bought the property in a auction, and was not aware of this.  We spoke to neighbours who are paying £50 a year to lease their gardens, but I was advise that any new leases would be charged at £500 per annum and increase with inflation.  I have asked about buying the land, it is about 40 feet in length, and they said the minimum purchase price would be £50K, even although it might be worth less.  Other neighbours have asked that I dispute the amount to pay on the lease, as they feel it would set a precedent.  Do you know if there is any arbitration you could appeal to on the grounds of the increase in leasing the garden?  It is a very nice house, just what we are looking for – if we could get the issue of the garden resolved.

Another couple bought a house a few doors away and did not realise the back garden issue, neither their estate agent, the vendor or their solicitor spotted the garden didn’t form back of their land, and are in dispute about it at the moment.

Apparently the land although owned by Railtrack is not registered by them with the land registry office.

Any info or advice would be appreciated – I expect you will say don’t buy it!

Why shouldn’t you explore the situation carefully. The things to think about are: -

1: Are you paying too much?

2: Will you mind living in a property with a leased garden?

3: Can you acquire the garden at an economical price?

If you have already agreed a figure with the owner then make them aware that you are concerned about the impact that the non ownership of the garden has on the purchase price.

The straightforward answer is that you should be able to get a fair rent set through arbitration and if you cannot then, I am afraid, you may have to leave it.

Obviously you need the owner to Investigate the situation with more urgency than hitherto. £50K seems steep for landlocked land next to a railway.

It may be worth visiting www.lease-advice.org/

To see if you can locate a surveyor experienced in lease negotiation to help you.

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