Buying land from the council

My parents bought house on a corner block. They want to subdivide the back to sell.
On land title there is an alley/lane that goes from my parents house all the way through whole block to the next street, however all the house that have that lane/alley running through its backyards have already extended their backyard boundary over that alley/lane. this can be viewed on goole maps.
The area is about ~35m2, does anyone know what is the process to buy this land off the council? Thanks

 

Can/do any of the neighbours use the laneway to access the rear of their properties? If access still exists, then you will need to convince the others that they don't need it. This will cut off their access at the rear and limit their development potential and will cost you $$$$.

In NSW you'll need a S138 under the Roads Act (permanent road closure), have the minister sign off the planning proposal and zoning get the land titled or consolidated with the adjoining land etc. That's after you have agreed with council (disposal of operational land) and the neighbours.

@lixas4 is a Victorian surveyor who could help.

 

We dont know. We only bought this house a month ago. The plan clearly show a laneway and google map clearly shows every single houses in that block have extended their fences all the way. I know the next door neighbour hasnt bought his part of land.

 

The going price is $40-50k to buy a rear lane from Council in Melbourne.

 

There is a process to go through. Most councils have a fact sheet on their website outlining the process.

Steps:

1. Who owns the land? Is the road on councils road register? Do they maintain it? Is it used? Is it still in the name of the original developer?

2. Do you or the neighbour to the rear occupy the land (have you or the neighbour fenced it in)? If you have, and its still in the name of the original developer, and not in councils, then there may be adverse possession available.

3. If it is councils road, and they do want to sell it to you, then there is a process. And they probably wont just want to close and sell your portion, but they will want to close/discontinue and sell the whole road (although it sounds like they might have done this to part of the road already?) The discontinuance and sale process can take some time, and you will need to buy the land off council based on a qualified valuation.

If you want to go down this path its best to start with a surveyor to work out the status of the road, and whether you could adverse possess it if you are occupying the land, as this will be cheaper then buying it off council.

If you start by talking to council then sometimes they use their legislative powers to vest the land in themselves before you can get an adverse possession claim in, resulting in you losing the chance to adverse possess the land, which means your only option is to purchase the land off them at a higher rate. Not all councils do this, only some.

Roads are pretty complicated and the process can be long and expensive. Get some advice before deciding.

 

Thank you so much for the detailed answer. "adverse possession" is the key word. I will look into it more.

 

This will mean that you have excluded all other users from the area for 10+ years, maintained the land/property/fences, possibly also paid the rates, electricity for the street pole etc.

 

The comments by lixas4 are solid.
You could try calling the Council, but talk to someone in property/assets, NOT in town planning (you won't get a sensible answer), they sould be able to tell you if the land is available

 

I couldnt figure out how to upload photo. The image option isnt working.
The place can be view in 42-EC29-D7-53-F0-4942-A3-A9-C3810-C6376-EF

 

@yamahamoto

most important first step, who owns the land.

or it could be a "right of way" possibly for access to the old Dunnies ?
check your property title and Deposited Plan for any notation indicating an easement.

 

Looks like the road has already been closed, see the local government dealing number LGD8373 on the plan.
You should look up who owns the land, it looks like you are occupying it.



If you are planning to do a development, ask your planner/architect/land surveyor to look into it for you.

 

If you look on Streetview - I reckon the guy behind is occupying it?

Edit - no, looking at the RE.com.au listing I think No 1 is already occupying it - check out photo #9.

 

Search for the title lot 1 on TP944142 and you will get your answer.

Ask one of the abovementioned consultants, or a conveyancer / lawyer. Or search yourself at Landadata.

Let us know what you find out

 

We were too busy with the renovation and only started to looking at this now.
The title search for that lot of land is belonged to a private company since 1962. I called the council and they have no record of it, the person i spoke to even suggested the process of "adverse possess".
I contacted a land surveyor in the area and after looking at the paperwork he said we have a good chance of claiming the land. He mentioned that we need a solicitor to file the paper work (something along section 60). Is there a conveyancer/solicitor on our forum whom has done this before? Thanks in advance.

 

Is there possibly a stormwater channel underneath/some sort of easement?
There's a street drain at both ends of that 'path'.

 

yes there are street drains both end.

 

You can still adverse possess the land with a drain and/easement. The easement continues to encumber the adverse possessed land. But you may not be able to build on it afterwards unless you get build over easement permission.

Your surveyor should be able to provide you a name for a lawyer who specialises in claims. I have a couple, they would too, probably the same recommendations.

You are applying under section 60 of the transfer of land act. Its about 10k all up, give or take depending on the difficulty of the legal work, and survey work.