A piece of prime real estate belonging to Highland Council has gone up for sale in Inverness – but with potential legal complications.
Wayside Car Park, on Culduthel Road, Inverness, is currently leased to the backpackers hostel the Inverness Student Hotel.
The council bought the site in 1965 with the intention of developing it into a multi-storey car park, but the plan did not come to fruition and began leasing it to the hostel.
Now the cash-strapped council has decided to sell the site, describing it as surplus to operational requirements, and is looking for offers over £70,000.
The schedule describes it as a “rare development opportunity” with the purchaser able to apply for an alternative use of the site, subject to planning.
However, prospective buyers will have to ensure vehicular access and parking is considered for neighbouring house, Viewmount.
A council solicitor said: “It’s possible that under the terms of the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 rights of access/parking may have been created.
“However this would require certain legal conditions to be met and we are not sure that they have been, such as : someone else accessing/parking for a continuous period of 20 years openly, peaceably and without judicial interruption and not as of right by having it let to them under a lease.”
