Selling a driveway
 

Sounds strange but bare with me.

Earlier in the year I bought a house, it's a semi and there are a total of 3 parking spaces at the front of the properties.

the left one is next door's the right is mine and the middle is shared (first come first served basis).

My neighbour realises that this is shared but lets the property out and states this. Personally I've had no problems with it but in the past there have been some issues. The main one being someone left a unroadworthy car there for a number of weeks. The other issue is this space is directly in front of the next doors living room.

Still with me...

Anyway this chap wants to buy me out of the space. How do I value it? Asked the estate agent who had no idea!?

Personally I think as parking is quite limited in the road it's worth a bit of cash. The houses are valued at about 150k with 1.5 spaces. So a second space is worth how much?????

Also, I have a much bigger front garden and ample room to build a new space, maybe I should get him to just pay for a new space and then give him ownership of the shared one.

Any thoughts would be good!! :)

You'd be best to get a surveyor to come out and value it. Given there is no structure, I guess the starting point would be the sq/ft cost of land in the area.
Certainly in suburban areas of Edinburgh, I've seen garages going for £10k, and in the city centre, parking spaces can reach £10k.

I reckon you'd be looking somewhere around £3-5k, but as I said, you need a professional surveyor to value it.

Of course, a better way may be to rent it to him, thereby keeping ownership of the land, but leaving you the option of keeping it should he sellup or you don't like the new arrangement.

I'd think very carefully before selling. Some people - including myself - won't buy a house without adequate parking, so giving up space might make selling on more difficult. If you don't need the space yourself then renting sounds like a much safer option to me.

Which of you owns the land at the moment? Is it split half-and-half between you?

Rent it

Does anyone remember the story in the paper a few years ago about the standalone garage in Chelsea that sold for £235,000 :eek: ;)

I agree as others have said, rent is the best approach.

If they are renting the house in the first place what happens when the house lease team expires, they then own the parking space if you sold it to term. Rent is the best way

Darren

Whatever value the esate agent comes up with will need to be halved, because the neighbour already owns half of it, he's only buying your half.

they're £35k in london if that helps!

The issue stands as I only own half of it they could in theory prevent me ever using it by parking a car there they don't use often.

DOn't want to rent it really as I doubt I'll be there long enough to make it worth while. Realistically rent can only bring in a few quid a month.

I'll find out from the estate agent how much the house is worth with one space and how much with 2 and with 1.5!!