ianw Posted 8 March , 2006 Share Posted 8 March , 2006 Has anyone established what this plot is worth? What it sold for or whatever? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Jones Posted 9 March , 2006 Share Posted 9 March , 2006 Ian Apparently the site where building work started sold for €36,500. It is suggested that this developer has been paying over the odds and approaching landowners direct which means that the plots do not appear for sale on the open market. The assumption is that Somme land prices are rising because of the TGV train link to Paris and the building of the runway for the Airbus factory which could become a new Paris airport. Regards Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedley Malloch Posted 9 March , 2006 Share Posted 9 March , 2006 Buyers paying people to inspect a property or land and make a written report on it before deciding to commit is peculiarly anglo-saxon way of transferring property and one which has little place in the French way of doing business. French property buyers are expected to buy sight-seen and then it's a case of buyer beware. As I can testify from personal experience telling a French seller that your offer is subject to a satisfactory building inspection only succeeds in attracting looks of baffled incredulity. It's great news that the whole business of permission is tied up with a procès contradictoire. French local government planning permissions does not do fast. It's safe for years now. We are now looking at the sort of planning permission timescales which in the UK would normally be reserved for a proposed nuclear power station or international airport in the middle of Dartmoor. Buying these sites is superficially attractive - but only superficially. It brings with it a world of very special grief. Advocates of this approach would do well to study the history of the WFA's purchase of the Butte de Warlencourt just up the road. Brits moving to France and inflating house prices is an issue with the locals in Nord and Pas-de-Calais and even humorous comments are probably best avoided, no matter how well intended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Poilu Posted 9 March , 2006 Share Posted 9 March , 2006 Brits moving to France and inflating house prices is an issue with the locals in Nord and Pas-de-Calais and even humorous comments are probably best avoided, no matter how well intended. I thought we were positively welcomed..... .....compared to Parisians?! I know the Ovillers area well and I was under the impression most of the recent spate of housing there was a result of (wealthy) French interest? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedley Malloch Posted 10 March , 2006 Share Posted 10 March , 2006 It's more of an issue in the coastal regions and with Belgians, Germans and Dutch buyers moving in, but it is an issue for the Brits too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Simon Bull Posted 10 March , 2006 Share Posted 10 March , 2006 As I can testify from personal experience telling a French seller that your offer is subject to a satisfactory building inspection only succeeds in attracting looks of baffled incredulity. Hedley - did you eventually manage to persuade the vendor to accept an offer on that basis? I am interested because I would one day like to live in Franc, but being of a cautious common- law steeped lawyerly disposition the French way of buying property without prior investigation terrifies me. Do they have an equivalent of the Land Registry to enable one to establish title? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedley Malloch Posted 10 March , 2006 Share Posted 10 March , 2006 Hello Simon, If an offer for a house is accepted one signs a compris de vente; the buyer pays a small deposit. That makes the deal safe for the buyer; he cannot be gazzumped; the seller cannot pull out of the agreement without compensating the buyer. On the other hand the buyer has period of time (1 week? 2 weeks?) to decide whether he or she wants to go ahead; the buyer can pull out without penalty during this cooling off period. When I bought my house in Lille I used this time to get a builder (I could not find a surveyor) in and look the place over. I made it clear that a successful report from him was a condition for the sale going ahead. The buyer agreed, but made it clear to me that he thought I was mad. After this initial perod has passed, then unless the buyer pulls out, the deal is assumed to be on. After that time, the buyer or seller can only withdraw upon payment of compensation to the other party. All property is registered with the local town hall. Your house purchase is conducted by a nôtaire. He/she is not, repeat not, your solicitor or anyone else's. The nôtaire has no counterpart in UK law. Their job is to make sure that French law is respected in the deal; in this respect they are impartial. They do the search at the local town hall and they are obliged to tell you of any charges, planning applications etc. Included in the deeds to your new French house is a dossier with the names of everyone who has owned the house over the last 40 years and what they paid for it. I think that this is a better system than that of the UK. Buyers are not gazzumped and the responsibility for processing the deal rests with the nôtaire so everyone is clear as to who will be sued if the A24 goes through your back garden 2 months after you move in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Simon Bull Posted 10 March , 2006 Share Posted 10 March , 2006 Very interesting - who pays the notaire? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 10 March , 2006 Share Posted 10 March , 2006 As Hedley reminds us, I certainly recall the story of the WFA and the Butte de W - but that was something that people could fall off of ! I am sure we could raise £25k or so - perhaps it's now rather less valuable given that it cannot be built on for the foreseeable. We could all then go and sit on the Glory Hole when we visit the Somme. Yes, I know it's a pipe-dream but there are hundreds off us. I dream on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle bill Posted 10 March , 2006 Share Posted 10 March , 2006 the buyer pays the notaire. Expect to pay up to an extra ten per cent on top of the house sale price, be careful of agency fees as well as they can be around 7 per cent of the value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisharley9 Posted 10 March , 2006 Share Posted 10 March , 2006 As Hedley reminds us, I certainly recall the story of the WFA and the Butte de W - but that was something that people could fall off of ! I am sure we could raise £25k or so - perhaps it's now rather less valuable given that it cannot be built on for the foreseeable. We could all then go and sit on the Glory Hole when we visit the Somme. Yes, I know it's a pipe-dream but there are hundreds off us. I dream on. Ian sometimes dreams can become reality Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedley Malloch Posted 12 March , 2006 Share Posted 12 March , 2006 The fact that the Butte was (is?) a problem for the WFA is not to say that it should not be done again. I am sure most people here, me included, would put in a few quid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark Posted 12 March , 2006 Share Posted 12 March , 2006 the county council has stop the project for the purposes of security and it sounds that the guy who bought the land and started to invest on his property will be in trouble for some years unless the county council covers the mistake of the DDE in buying the land with compensation as soon as possible and protect the aera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potter Posted 15 March , 2006 Share Posted 15 March , 2006 Could you explain why the Butte is a problem for the WFA? Thank Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 15 March , 2006 Share Posted 15 March , 2006 I wonder if the land will be compulsorily purchased by the local council ? If not might the land buyer be open to an offer for it ? The offer of course based on the fact that you cannot build on it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedley Malloch Posted 16 March , 2006 Share Posted 16 March , 2006 There were considerable difficulties concerning the maintenance of the site, path maintenance, vandalism (cratered ground is excellent motor-bike scrambling terrain), and controlling the vegetation which blocked the view from the top. And like many other WW1 sites it is dangerous. Unexploded ammunition, rusty barbed wire - even the soil is still impregnated with poison gas. So what's the worst insurance risk if a 60-strong party of Key Stage 2 students goes up with a bang and who is going to cover it? Of course all of this is going on in the Somme and the body responsible is in London. So it looks great on paper, but the devil is in the practical detail. Ian: this is France. Don't hold your breath waiting for a compuslory purchase order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 16 March , 2006 Share Posted 16 March , 2006 Yes, Hedley, I thought that might be the case. Perhaps there might be an opportunity to buy that piece of land on the cheap given that it cannot be built on for the foreseeable ? I wonder if the sale actually went through and was finalised or whether the council prohibition will enable the buyer to withdraw from the deal ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
achiet Posted 25 March , 2006 Share Posted 25 March , 2006 Here in France a house or a piece of land does not always have a For Sale ( A Vendre ) sign on it. When looking to buy a house or a piece of land you realy need to visit a notaire or agent imobilier or you may find that "the house that you've always wanted" suddenly has a Sold ( Vendu ) sign on it. Even in the local paper the agent will not tell you the location of a property, only the area ......so it's quite understandable that where as a brit, or even a local may notice a "A Vendre" sign ....... they may not notice the rest .......Dawn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ypresman Posted 31 March , 2006 Share Posted 31 March , 2006 Hi As Quoted from 'The friends of Lochnagar' newsletter: "The building that had begun one one corner of the Glory Hole has fortunately come to a halt. It would seem the builder/owner had ommited to apply for the necessary permits to dig his huge foundations(underground garage and all) for the bungalow. The Authorities at Amiens were none best pleased especially so as, apparently they have deemed the site of Historical importance. It would be a tragedy if such an original piece of land was to disappear. As some of you know I tried to buy it in 1980 when there was talk of it being built on and was safe in perpetuity. It was then owned by the grandson of Abel Le jeune, the man who acted as a translator for the 34th Div during the war" Well done to Richard Dunning for his support in this area and as the owner of Lochnagar Crater. He strives very hard to maintain this memorial and piece of history and always on the lookout for more new members. Cheers Marc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papineau Posted 31 March , 2006 Share Posted 31 March , 2006 Does the newsletter imply or state that M Dunning would buy the site now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ypresman Posted 31 March , 2006 Share Posted 31 March , 2006 Does the newsletter imply or state that M Dunning would buy the site now? Hi Well you will have to subscribe to the next newsletter..... No, seriously there is no indication at all of Richard buying out this land. In fact, I fear he is winding down towards retirement, so is only looking to preserve what he has. Cheers Marc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papineau Posted 1 April , 2006 Share Posted 1 April , 2006 Thanks for answering that - I thought it would be the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaycee33 Posted 3 April , 2006 Share Posted 3 April , 2006 The BBC Look North has just had a report on this and they say that houses-(not a house) are to be built on the site. The Maire would not speak to the BBC, so it looks like it may be a done deal as work has already started. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Jones Posted 3 April , 2006 Share Posted 3 April , 2006 Thanks John I have watched this report via the web. It states that it may ‘become a housing estate’. A relative named Patrick Butler (I gather his grandfather and namesake was killed there) was filmed at La Boisselle and had presumably alerted the BBC. He calls for the Glory Hole to be preserved on the grounds that it is a place where thousands died. The Mayor refused to be interviewed on camera and said it is time to move on. Guillaume de Fonclare, Director of the Historial (‘French War Museum’) and Andy Robertshaw (National Army Museum) were interviewed. There was no mention of the actual reason for the work being stopped, ie the existence of several levels of tunnels and possible mine charges. You can watch this, I assume for the next 24 hours, in rather poor quality at http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/looknorthnecumbria/. Regards Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthw Posted 1 May , 2006 Share Posted 1 May , 2006 Hi, Is there anymore news on this? Has the work restarted? Anth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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