advise needed for someone who may have gone thru this or can advise generally

This may be long winded.........

so, we bought our home last April and the back of our house faces out onto council land were garages etc are. Well no one uses this land any more tends to be a little it of a dumping ground (were i live its pretty quite and all ex council) when we purchased the house the old owners had a garage on this land but the back fence was just tacked onto the back panel of the garage. It was an old rickty thing and more of a death trap. few months after we contacted the council to explain that its had been broken into an that it was a death trap but its was full of asbestos old tyres etc and as this wasnt ours could they take it down and remove of the waste there response 'this is on YOUR land so its up to you to remove etc' so we moved the asbestos 20 bags plus and removed the garage, we then put up a new fence and a extended a little about a meter out and we now have a new shiny high fence. We did this as next door said they had years ago for nothing and also according to them the garages and land was ours when it needed removing. when we contacted the council re the garage all of a sudden they spend 'thousands' coming and clearing the whole grass land we were actually there when they did and they trimmed a few hedges and took a few bricks still it looks like a dumping ground. So now we had a knock on the door last week saying we have taken abit of there and as this is there asset we either have to buy the land we have taken or rent.

now this is were it gets tricky if we leased the land they should have numbers and prices straight of i would have thought.......but no we have to pay in the regions of £700 administration fees for them to tell us a price for lease and also to buy and this is not guaranteed if we can buy or lease! i think this is far too expensive for land that has not been used and as our other next door neighbor has said (he is a legend and is now classed as a close friend) in all the 30 plus years he has lived there they have never maintained the land or anything............i would have of happily come to an agreement that both parties benefit from. I having taken pics and will be writing a letter and also been advised to drop the old MP in (need to find out who he is first )

so am asking a wide range of people who could may advise, may have gone through this or if im lucky someone who works for the council........

The price of land is astronomical at the moment. So it mightent be far off the price tbh.

The best thing you can do is either phone or make an appointement with citizens advice (I assume there is citizens advice on the mainland). I had a few problems a while back and they provided me with excellent advice.

Good advice from Mat. Also, I would advise that you look at your deeds and determine exactly where your boundary extends to, and whether it included the old garage or not.

Citizens advice me thinks .

So if I understand this right when you wanted the garage to gbe got rid of it was on your land ?? But when you encroach on the old garage sight by 1m then you are on their land ???

Have you got any proof of communication from the first issue with getting the garage cleared

Tricky, being the council and having £££ behind them they will always tend to win, but put up you argument, contact the CAB, the mp and also the paper if you think there maybe a story, don't take it lying down but at the same time expect them to win, they generally do, sorry to be a pessimist Xx

MatLogan wrote:The price of land is astronomical at the moment. So it mightent be far off the price tbh.

The best thing you can do is either phone or make an appointement with citizens advice (I assume there is citizens advice on the mainland). I had a few problems a while back and they provided me with excellent advice.

yes we have one on town, we know its exopensive these days but its land they do not use or maintain so they should either have prices for lease or come to a small agreement you would a thought!!??

Dave wrote:Citizens advice me thinks .

So if I understand this right when you wanted the garage to gbe got rid of it was on your land ?? But when you encroach on the old garage sight by 1m then you are on their land ???

Have you got any proof of communication from the first issue with getting the garage cleared

yup you got it in one, they wouldnt do naff all for us not even come collect the asbestos they was going to charge us summate stupid per bag!!! when we asked for help it was our problem even tho the rent on the garage sight had not been paid by previous and we did not at the time take this over our selfs

there will be proof somewere plus phone call log, it was my MIL who contacted them first the my OH who dealt and she actually came out to speak to us did the women BUT this is now a different department we have to deal with now. We asked how nxt door had got theres for free and all they said was that was private and the could not discuss this!

to me they should offer the land to all houses as when you think about it what it is supposedly costing to maintain they would save this in the long run! we fuming dave

janey wrote:

Tricky, being the council and having £££ behind them they will always tend to win, but put up you argument, contact the CAB, the mp and also the paper if you think there maybe a story, don't take it lying down but at the same time expect them to win, they generally do, sorry to be a pessimist Xx

i knew we would have a fight as like you say when financial gain comes into it there greedy so and so's! it just frustrating OH is like a dog with a bone as he put the new fence up and he wants to finish the garden off for the dog and ryan so he just getting more pished off!!

rebeccaleanne wrote:yes we have one on town, we know its exopensive these days but its land they do not use or maintain so they should either have prices for lease or come to a small agreement you would a thought!!??

Over here atm land is so expensive a lot of the farmers aren't able to afford to pay for the land and then can't grow a big enough crop to in turn pay for the land. It really is extortionate. Even for rough/unused land.

I really suggest you fight it though. It might seem like you would never win but there's always the chance. Been there before

Edit : Obviously after contacting Citizens Advice first

MatLogan wrote:

rebeccaleanne wrote:yes we have one on town, we know its exopensive these days but its land they do not use or maintain so they should either have prices for lease or come to a small agreement you would a thought!!??

Over here atm land is so expensive a lot of the farmers aren't able to afford to pay for the land and then can't grow a big enough crop to in turn pay for the land. It really is extortionate. Even for rough/unused land.

I really suggest you fight it though. It might seem like you would never win but there's always the chance. Been there before

Edit : Obviously after contacting Citizens Advice first

im just worn out with it all matt now i have to get up and fight

Good luck, not the same but still a battle I took my ex employers to court for unfair dismissal, it dragged out for nearly 3 years, I won but to be honest could have done without the stress. I hope it works out for you, never give up a fight Xx

janey wrote:

Good luck, not the same but still a battle I took my ex employers to court for unfair dismissal, it dragged out for nearly 3 years, I won but to be honest could have done without the stress. I hope it works out for you, never give up a fight Xx

cheers janey well the good new is this is our forever home so i have all the time in the world xx

>< Go for it and good luck Xx

Following on from all the advice given above you may also want to contact your local mayor. Our experience is that they will get things sorted out quite pronto.

My hubby had an issue with a council tax payment and contacted our local mayor, it was sorted out that day after just one email to him. I was very impressed with that.

Just as an aside Rebecca - asbestos seemingly costs an arm and a leg to get rid of. I had an old central heating system replaced 2 years ago. the company doing it put most of the debris into my drive. Thank you local scrap metal dealers - the scrap metal "disappeared" overnight. But the asbestos cement pipes remained. I contacted the heating engineers and they grudgingly removed the pipes.

Later, when it was found that the central heating engineers had destroyed part of my roof causing leaks, the roofing people discovered more asbestos cement pipes in my loft. After a fight,I got the central heating people to repay me for the damage caused to my roof, but they refused to take away the asbestos cement pipes as "it costs too much". And there they remain to this day. If they can avoid the cost of removing asbestos they will!