More Land from Building Site

[cassmrc]

Hi

We bought a house from a builder in 2008, they had a site with planning permission for a number of houses.
However, with the downturn not all of the houses have been built. There is a site behind our house which we would be interested in buying as it would extend our garden.

The site has the foundation for the New House and thats all.
We approached the builder about buying it and he asked for 60,000 and we laughed at this, as my brother had bought a half-built property on a larger site for 80,000.
The builder came back to us this morning and reduced the price to 50,000, again we laughed so he asked that we make him an offer.
Apparently the sites are now owned by the banks.
How can I find out how much it is worth and how much is owned to the banks?
The area we live is a small village and I dont believe there will be much need for the rest of the houses to be built in the very near future.

I would like to know who we could talk to about this?

 

[onq]

Re the builder I don't see how he can represent anyone if the banks own the land.
Your nearest Estate Agent may have some information, but their job is to sell at the highest price.
Look for signs on the houses anyway - do not tell them what you want or about the site in question - just find out who the owner is.

The reasonable price of the land will be that of land with zoning, with permission and groundworks completed to a certain state.
You should find out what stage the drainage and/or treatment works are at, in case of future development.
You can suggest all its worth to your is as a back garden, but the vendor may not accept your position.

Believing and selling are two different things of course.