Doki wrote:
Lobster wrote:
Bit OT but I'm sure within this group's expertise...

My parents have recently been approached by their next-door neighbour
who wishes to buy a strip off the end of my parent's garden,
presumably with a view to gaining rear access to their property.

My parents just *might* be interested in doing this. One of several
questions raised, though, is how would you put a valuation on this bit
of land? From memory, my guess is that the land would be of no
particular use to anybody else; ie not large enough to build a
separate property on. So I really it's a case of how badly does this
guy want the land, and how much my parents would miss it versus how
much they'd like the cash realised... but where on earth do you start
in terms of coming up with a figure for something like this? My
parents (and I) literally don't know whether 100, 1000, or 100,000
GBP would be the sort of expected value. Is it something an
impartial professional can advise on? Or is it simply a case of my
parents coming up with a figure they could live with, and the
neighbour liking it or lumping it?

My understanding is that a ransom strip is valued at 40% of the value of
the land to be developed. IIRC that's a precedent set in court.

Well unless you have a willing buyer and a willing seller, the 'value'
is immaterial.

And if it takes a wedge to make the seller willing, no court would
oppose that if it was freely entered into by the buyer.


I wanted to extend my drive a bit, and asked the landowner to sell me a
bit of field. HE wanted 17 grand for a 30 meter x 3 meter strip. I let
the matter drop. BUT it would have involved lawyers, contracts, planning
permission to go from agricultural to residential etc etc.