Approaches from Developers

[BarrieJ]

Both our neighbours have extensive gardens to their rear, maybe a third of an acre each, ideal for infill development, unfortunately for them, access would require either our house or one of theirs to be demolished.
The property to our left is substantial, borders a conservation area, the house to our right a semi detached bungalow. Neither owner would contemplate losing their homes.
There's nothing special about our house, jerry built in 1917, when all the best builders were being slaughtered in France. We don't have any real affection for where we live and have no family ties to the area.
For the market price plus a bit for our trouble; we're not the greedy types, we'd have been happy to sell; the buyer could do what they wanted with it.
Our neighbours had jointly discussed the possibility of developing their combined lands and one had made an approach to a developer, who in turn approached us. For various reasons this company was the first of four.

Without exception, every one of them wanted to rip us off and for diverse reasons our neighbours too.
One developer even suggested that for an undisclosed sum we might agree to demolish part of our house, so that they wouldn't need to buy and demolish the whole, using the new space to squeeze an access road between our house and our neighbours'. The same developer also said they'd want to demolish our front boundary wall to improve the visual splay. 'We' could rebuild it after the site was completed and signed off - apparently.

I'd definitely group property developers with politicians, estate agents, anybody who works for Rupert Murdoch and senior police officers.
Evidence has been produced in the past to reveal a corrupt relationship between a developer and a councillor then serving on the local council planning committee.
Naturally, no action was taken, either by the council or the police.

 

[Seadog]

Evidence has been produced in the past to reveal a corrupt relationship between a developer and a councillor then serving on the local council planning committee.
Naturally, no action was taken, either by the council or the police.

The leader of our council left under a cloud last year. She walked straight into a board job for the company that was/is doing all of the projects in the borough. When this was raised as a matter of concern it seems that all emails, etc. seem to have been deleted

 

[pedrobedro]

No one owns a view !

Chatsworth house had a whole village, Edensor, relocated to improve their view, it was in 1839 though.

 

[Cobbler]

Chatsworth house had a whole village, Edensor, relocated to improve their view, it was in 1839 though.

Nuneham Courteney near Oxford was the same, the landlord stood back to look at what he had achieved & fell down a well, that was the end of him!

 

[bump]

Developers in our area considered this acceptable

Apparently someone stole their wheel wash. I called BS on that when I occupied their sales office. They called the police, who then made them clean it up as it was a hazard.

 

[DennisCA]

I like the system we got here, it's unusual for developers to develop plots or areas, that usually only happens around the biggest cities.

Instead here almost everyone who builds a house chooses their own plot and then contracts a house builder to build their house. Municipalities can also develop areas with plots for people to then buy. I like it because it gives areas an organic variation that you can't replicate if you develop an entire area in a go, every house was built differently to an individual familys needs and desires. It also causes more mixing between the socio-economic strata which is a good thing. One of my my neighbors is an MP, my other neighbor is a carpenter. Our kids goto the same school.

 

[colnerov]

I like the system we got here, it's unusual for developers to develop plots or areas, that usually only happens around the biggest cities.

Instead here almost everyone who builds a house chooses their own plot and then contracts a house builder to build their house. Municipalities can also develop areas with plots for people to then buy. I like it because it gives areas an organic variation that you can't replicate if you develop an entire area in a go, every house was built differently to an individual familys needs and desires. It also causes more mixing between the socio-economic strata which is a good thing. One of my my neighbors is an MP, my other neighbor is a carpenter. Our kids goto the same school.

Hi, Very egalitarian, the class structure is still strong over here.

Colin

 

[owas]

Slight tangent, is this actually a thing here? Popped up on YouTube and I was curious ..

 

[jerrytug]

Slight tangent, is this actually a thing here? Popped up on YouTube and I was curious ..

No it is ******

 

[colnerov]

Hi, Ahh yes 'Adverse possession'. Not ****** but not as quick and easy as he makes out. A barristers (wordy) legal view on it. -

Colin

 

[jerrytug]

Hi, Ahh yes 'Adverse possession'. Not ****** but not as quick and easy as he makes out. A barristers (wordy) legal view on it. -

Colin

For some years there have been new rules on adverse possession, to succeed you have to declare your intention to claim AP, at the *beginning* of the time period you occupy the property or land.
That means publishing your intentions, and trying to find the ownerm and prove you have made every possible effort to do so.
There is practically zero land or property in the UK which is not owned, whether it is on the Land Registry or not.
So in practical terms, it is not realistic.
I wouldn't pay too much attention to the BBB, his YT stuff is mainly clickbait, although he is a real barrister.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

When this was raised as a matter of concern it seems that all emails, etc. seem to have been deleted

Odd how often that happens in many, diverse contexts

I like the system we got here, it's unusual for developers to develop plots or areas, that usually only happens around the biggest cities.

Instead here almost everyone who builds a house chooses their own plot and then contracts a house builder to build their house. Municipalities can also develop areas with plots for people to then buy. I like it because it gives areas an organic variation that you can't replicate if you develop an entire area in a go, every house was built differently to an individual familys needs and desires. It also causes more mixing between the socio-economic strata which is a good thing. One of my my neighbors is an MP, my other neighbor is a carpenter. Our kids goto the same school.

Ah, but you're in Scandinavia, ergo sensible.

 

[Wedg1e]

I seem to recall being told in Norway about 20 years ago that building a house there was relatively cheap, but the cost of living was horrendous.
We were paying a fiver for a (small) beer; a roadside sausage and a can of Coke just about saw change from a tenner.

 

[jerrytug]

I seem to recall being told in Norway about 20 years ago that building a house there was relatively cheap, but the cost of living was horrendous.
We were paying a fiver for a (small) beer; a roadside sausage and a can of Coke just about saw change from a tenner.

Yes Norway is odd like that. £12 for a pint in the pub, but some things are insanely cheap compared to England.
Due to them spending their N.Sea oil money wisely, on hydro-electric infrastructure, leccy is peanuts or even free, it literally falls out of the sky!
The gov. encourages anything electic powered, and Teslas etc are subsidised, or tax free, or something like that.
It was quite odd to see battered Teslas being driven by trawler crews etc, when here they are toys of the wealthy..

 

[Pete.]

I dunno Jerry I seem to remember a few years ago there was uproar about a massive hike in leccy car charging network charges in Norway. They basically cornered the market then ramped the prices up.

EDIT: Here's one reference: https://thedriven.io/2020/01/20/nor...s-make-ev-charging-prices-higher-than-petrol/

 

[jerrytug]

I dunno Jerry I seem to remember a few years ago there was uproar about a massive hike in leccy car charging network charges in Norway. They basically cornered the market then ramped the prices up.

I didn't know that...typical profiteering!

 

[Keith 66]

Friends of our moved to Norway about 8 years ago. As you say very expensive in some ways but cheap in others, Last time we went over about 4 years ago booze prices were an eye opener, beer was expensive but a bottle of plonk in a restaurant was nearly £30
Go to their builders merchants & tubes of mastic were nearly the same price. Yet a galvanised plant trailer was cheaper than here.
They get taxed heavily but energy is dirt cheap as is council tax. Abundant hydroelectric power & north sea oil & gas, most of which they sell to us. But with a total population of approx half that of London spread over the entire country people have room to breathe.
Here there are simply too many people.

 

[daleyd]

I’m not so sure the energy in Norway is that cheap - didn’t we have a Norwegian guy on the energy price thread and he reckoned his electric bill was eye watering

 

[Keith 66]

Probably gone up since i was there! But i always thought that we were catching them up, whats a pint cost in a swanky gastropub in any major city or town these days?

 

[jerrytug]

Probably gone up since i was there! But i always thought that we were catching them up, whats a pint cost in a swanky gastropub in any major city or town these days?

True, although I would say Norway's swollen booze prices are caused by government policy rather than profiteering. The state actively wants to discourage drinking... from an English perspective, it appears they are paranoid about mass drunken-ness. And a bit puritannical maybe.
There are plenty of illicit stills bubbling away out in the sticks though, and due to the relatively high levels of education and income, it is safe. (Speaking from experience)
Unlike the tragedies that sometimes happen in S.Asia for example, where whole villages have been made ill, or even blinded, by accidentally drinking methanol instead of ethanol.