Buying non-building land

[allanb]

Next to our house there is a field which is not being used for anything.  I would be interested in buying it (1) to be sure that nothing can be built on it, and (b) because it is full of large weeds which are ugly and block the view.  I know who owns it, but I haven't approached him yet.

If I bought it, I'm not sure what I would do about cleaning it up, but there's one thing I'd like to clarify.  I have heard rumours that if you enter into a limited agreement for someone else to use your land - e.g. for grazing - it is possible that the other party may acquire some permanent rights over the land, which you might not want to concede.

Can anyone give me any information on this?  Thanks in advance.

[AnOther]

I don't know the in's and out's of it but it's possible it could be rented to a local farmer simply to keep his land area up to the level where he gets a subsidy [;-)]

And yes, you do have to be very careful about letting someone use land. I think if it's used for income it might be very difficult to get someone off.

Take professional advice as always in such matters. 

I have an area of land in front of my house which could possibly be open for development at some time in the future but it's very steep, quite small and not not what you'd call an attractive location or site to build on (dodgey immigrant neighbours for one...[:D]) but I'd consider buying it to for the same reasons as you. The owner is aware of the potential but I think has a very over optimistic idea of what it's likely to be worth and is unlikely to sell just now so I would probably have to wait until a PdC was granted and see what she asks for it then.