Let’s say you found an empty piece of land along a secluded lake, the perfect site for your future weekend retreat. But there’s one problem: There is no existing road to access the land. The only way to reach the property is by crossing over neighboring land.
The land you want to buy is known as landlocked property. If you purchase it, you’ll likely have to turn to legal means to build an access road or negotiate with your neighbors for the right to cross their property to reach your land.
Do these potential challenges mean you should never purchase landlocked property? Not necessarily.
A landlocked property is a piece of land without legal access to a public road. Because it’s surrounded by lots owned by others, the only way to reach the land is by crossing a neighbor’s property.
An example could be a vacant lot behind a shopping mall. If the only way to get to this lot is by walking through the mall's property, it is landlocked. Another example could be land in a wooded, mostly undeveloped area. The land is surrounded by lots owned by others. Because there’s no road providing access, it’s landlocked.
Plots of land don’t have to remain landlocked. A buyer can negotiate with the owner of a neighboring land or property for an easement or right of way. The agreement may grant the buyer a strip of land they can use on the neighbor’s property to build an access road or travel across the property to reach their land. This process could be straightforward or require a lengthy and costly legal battle.
Landlocked parcels are often the result of owners subdividing their properties. Suppose a landowner has a large parcel of land in a largely undeveloped area. They may want to divide the land into smaller plots to sell the parcels.
Landowners are usually willing to negotiate easements for parcels that lack an access road to a main road. The easements allow buyers to build private roads from a main road.