SWOG

by **smojo** » Fri Apr 18, 2014 4:57 pm

Just wondering if there's a way you can research the owners of woodlands. Thinking that in pursuing a woodland to buy, one way might be to approach the owner of a small woodland you have identified and see if they are interested in selling. Obviously if the wood is attached to farmland you could ask the farmer if it's theirs or if they know but are there any official records accessible online or in local libraries or town halls that the public can access?

by **SimonFisher** » Fri Apr 18, 2014 7:46 pm

Have a look at the Land Registry (http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/public/property-ownership), specifically the map-based search.

Unfortunately, not all land is registered - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Land_Registry.

by **oldclaypaws** » Fri Apr 18, 2014 8:41 pm

It'll cost £3 a time to apply to find the owner of a specific wood / bit of land from the Registry map. It may just produce the name of a company or individual with a private address who may chose not to acknowledge correspondence enquiring about the land.

Most land owners sit on their land for generations and regard it as a family legacy. Its a 'personal empire' thing, people are very possessive about land and hold on to it even if they have no immediate use for it. Those who are willing to sell will put it on the market, eg door-knocking to ask if someone wants to sell is very unlikely to get a positive answer and may get a curt dismissal.

People tend to sell if 1) they've died 2) they're selling up and relocating 3) they've run into financial trouble 4) they've retired or have ill health. 5) in the event of selling a pretty small wood, they must have gone completely mad.

by **Meadowcopse** » Sat Apr 19, 2014 11:01 pm

As mentioned above, the Land Registry search is quite handy, particularly if you pay the extra £3 for the title plan as well as the £3 title details.
It's saved me half a tank of Diesel and an unnecessary journey a couple of times, when some of the property details and wayleaves, access and other covenants are off putting...

Weirdest scenario for me was for a small plot with a small brick building near home, that was up for sale by the owner without using an estate agent - when I tried to haggle a bit on the price, they absolutely went off on one when I mentioned how little they had paid only a couple of years before. They weren't impressed that the last sale price is usually on the deeds...