ESB want to buy land off me

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Tubbs

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Not sure where this post should go.

I had a bit of a row with ESB who keep coming onto my land, uninvited, to access a substation, damaging plants each time they come (they should try to notify owner according to their charter). They used the argument that they owned the land the substation is on and therfeore had right of way.

Turns out they do not own the land the substation is on (due to an oversight when the estate was built) and now they want to buy the land off me.

They have offered what I thought to be not very much at all. (approx €1200) for the land which is 4m x 4m.

Obviously I need to get a solicitor involved etc but just wondered does this sound a very small amount for a plot of land that they will have automatic right of way to - right across the garden - whenever they want ?

Would this impact on us selling the house in the future ?

It scares the stuffing out of me selling a little bit of land slap bang in the middle of our front garden.
 
Re: ESB want to buy land off me.

Tubbs.
I would not be happy buying a property that was owned partially by the ESB. They could decide to do anything with their little patch..
I think you would be better off arranging access for them based on your terms and a set period of notice..At least that way you maintain control
 
Re: ESB want to buy land off me.

They will not automatically have a right of way across your land unless they rely on some form of precedent where they claim they used to be able to access it across your land, then you sold it to them and so they have an implicit right of way. This is an area you definitely want a solicitors advice on as you don't want to make a mistake which would affect the value of your property.

Given that the substation is *already* in your garden, it is unlikely they will just forget about it and build a new one somewhere else especially since it is already hooked up and in production, so you are best advised to get correct legal advice up front and take it from there.

z
 
Re: ESB want to buy land off me.

You let them build a substation slap bang in the middle of your front garden? What were you thinking? :) I would suspect that an ESB substation in your garden would seriously affect the value of your property.

You definitely need a solicitor.

Some questions I'd be asking if this happened to me:

1. If they don't own the land, do they actually have any right of way?
2. If they need a right of way through your garden, can you force them to buy the "right of way" land (if this is acceptable to you)?
3. If they don't own the land, can you force them to move the substation.

etc. etc.

[post crossed with above 2 posts]

Best of luck!
 
Re: ESB want to buy land off me.

If it were me I would not sell but would arrange for the plot to be leased to the ESB. This way, you retain conmtrol of the site and should you wish to sell the house the fact that a portion is leased should not scare off any potential purchaser. Ensure that the right of way is included as part of the lease but try not to make the lease for too long a period. I would say max 5-10 years. There may be VAT implications in a lease of anything longer
 
Re: ESB want to buy land off me.

When was your house built, before or after the sub station?
 
Re: ESB want to buy land off me.

Normally in new housing estates the ESB will request the builder to have the title of a site for any new substation registered in their (ESB's) name, all at the developer's expense. They would not normally connect a new supply or build the substation until this was done, so your situation is very unusual. As suggested by others I suggest you contact your solicitor, although if this plot is not registered to the ESB it would suggest some fault in your title, given that this structure is existing.
 
Re: ESB want to buy land off me.

agree strongly with Nedd_ie.
talk about leasing and I reckon they won't be long about offering a decent amount which might make the sale worthwhile - by the time your solicitor etc gets paid.
 
Re: ESB want to buy land off me.

Oh and a further point - try to see if they will pay your legals too. Remember - it's them that want to have access.

Agree with Carpenter as well. there may well be a fault in your own title. Get on to your friendly solicitor to sort it out for you. Or you could try to do the land registry search yourself.
 
Seeing that electricity pylons cause a 70% increase of cancer to children living withing 200 metres, the high voltage electicity in the substation is obviously going to cause something similiar.
If the substation is less then 200 metres from your house, I'd refuse to sell them land and also refuse them permission and then they'd have no choice to build a new one somewhere else.
"Not in my back garden" at its finest!
 
It won't take them long to put mobile telephone masts on top of it once they have title. Unless you can live with this possibility i'd say no and tell them to bugger off. If you can live with it then 25,000 is what I'd be asking for.
 
€25K is very small beer in ESB overtime (or even basic salary) terms, Tubbs.

'Hang tough', like Ned_ie suggests. The pressure is on them, not you... ;)
 
Thanks for the advice and opinions.

Next step is to run it by a solicitor.

For the money they are offering, they want right of way from the road to the substation, ownership of the small plot of land it sits on and access to the cables running the length of the garden in case of cable failure.

They will pay my legal costs.

We actually bought the house knowing the substation was there and accepted that ESB would have right of way (as warned by our surveyor before we bought). So our hope is that potential buyers would also not see this as a major issue.

Substation was necessary when the estate was built - so both were probably built at around the same time. There was apparently a mix up between building contractors that built the house and ESB that left this issue untackled 30 odd years ago.

It was only recently when they decided to cut down trees that was camouflaging the box did we really start to ask questions and kick up a fuss.

They did come good and pay a certain amount of compensation for their unlawful act of removing some of our trees/bushes (after I contacted the Gardai)

One of my many fears is that we may be forced to sell them the land. For not very much.

Unfortunatley we are unable to physically stop them coming onto the land as they come when we are usually out (and we are not at that stage yet).

Thanks again - has raised some more questions that I will take to a solicitor.
 
One thought - illegal trespassing. You can actually fence off any part of your land that you wish. I.e. Fence around the substation to avoid damage to your property. If they need access, let them contact you.

Only problem with all of this is that you may (not saying you will) find yourself "cut off" by accident. Doubtful but you never know who's running the show in there!

Another thought (idea bulbs going off like mad this morning!) - what about getting free electricity from them for the house together with a small payment for the land. Even if you were to sell the land the fact theat there is an agreement for free electricity might be worth somehting.

Only a thought
 
I see this being a big weakness in any case you might have:
Tubbs said:
We actually bought the house knowing the substation was there and accepted that ESB would have right of way (as warned by our surveyor before we bought). So our hope is that potential buyers would also not see this as a major issue.
Click to expand...

One other factor to consider; I believe the ESB has an obligation to provide electricity to all, to maintain certain voltage levels etc. Obviously engineering constraints are going require the placement of substations, masts etc. in non ideal locations at times. As a result I believe they are not subject to the same planning constraints as other structures would be.

Did a bit of googling, can't find anything to back this up. The document below gives an insight into how the ESB plan these things (Appendix 2 in particular)
[broken link removed]
 
I wouldn't consider fencing off - at best it will annoy the engineers on the ground and they will take it down to do their work anyway, and at worst it could prevent access to the substation when it is needed in an emergency.

z
 
Tubbs said:
Substation was necessary when the estate was built - so both were probably built at around the same time. There was apparently a mix up between building contractors that built the house and ESB that left this issue untackled 30 odd years ago.
Click to expand...

If it was that long ago I wonder would ESB have a case for claiming adverse possession?
 
My own personal opinion, I would try to get them to relocate the substation. Not having it there would probably increase the value of your house by more than what they want to pay you to keep it there.

In addition, you won't have stray EM waves as mentioned in a previous post.

nimFy
 
if the substation has been there almost or more than 30 years are there not some issues regarding squatters rights, or something.

YOU really need a solicitor
 
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