In between my house and next door there’s a small patch of land. The owner has been refused planning permission to build on it following objections from other residents. Now the land is neglected and attracts fly-tippers, but the owner doesn’t want to know, instead he wants £15,000 for an oversized garden. Is there anything I can do to make him look after his property?
You can’t usually force people to maintain their property unless there’s a covenant to that effect in their title deeds, and that seems unlikely in this case. Your best bet may be to get your solicitor to make the owner a reasonable offer for the land. It sounds as though he may blame you for the fact that he was refused planning permission, but your solicitor may be able to make him see sense.