HELPED I've been duped (planning permission)

pickles_pink wrote: »

In 2005 I bought a new build propery (a flat in a block of 12) and have since learned that it does not comply with planning permission and as such cannot be sold.

Horrifying that this could happen!

pickles_pink wrote: »

I reported my solicitor to the law society who listed the complaint in the "most serious" catagory and ordered that they repay 50% of our conveyancing fee - £400 - this really has not helped.

Blimey. No.

pickles_pink wrote: »

The builder was ordered to submit retrospective planning permission, which has been contested.

On what grounds? How significantly did the property built vary from the planning permission granted?

pickles_pink wrote: »

I am so desperate to move but with an unmortgageable property and my equity all tied up i'm in a real mess.

Worse than that. At the moment you have no equity. In fact (it won't happen) in a worst case scenario the council could demand the whole lot be demolished and put back how it was (Honest, it won't happen!)

I have no idea what to suggest, but my immediate and random thoughts are:
- do your lenders know?
- do other residents know? Are you all working as a team to put pressure on to get a resolution?
- has anybody else sold theirs or are you the first to try?

How much did you pay for this property? How much would it be marketed for and how much would you be expecting to get for it? So, how likely is it that the developer might be persuaded to buy it back? From the developer's perspective he sold the property so it's your problem now. He's got his own problems. He might not be able to raise the money to buy yours even if he wanted to.

Keep us updated and good luck!

awww. This is awful. It's bad enough just trying to sell a normal place

pickles_pink wrote: »

The property was built 3m too big to the front elevation and a flat was built in the roof space that should not exist. Each flat was sold with 1 parking space but there are only 7 (12 flats - 13 if you count the one that shouldn't exist)

So the argument is that each flat needs to have 3m knocked off its length, which is of course .... unlikely! It wouldn't be easy for the builder to pop back, take your end walls down and rebuild them 3m up your living room.

pickles_pink wrote: »

One of the other residents is suing privately. (This happened to 12 people using 12 different conveyancers so something funny must have been going on)

My feeling is it would be easier if some kind of group claim could be brought asit wouldn't be covering the same ground 12x. However I would then think "yeah, but if I get in first/early, I've got a better chance .... last 8 might find he went bankrupt paying the first 4"

pickles_pink wrote: »

I hadn't thought about getting him to buy it back - but we'd loose any equity we've made (or should have made) we paid £125,000 it should be worth £135,000 ish now.

You don't say if anybody has sold a property since they were built. Or if you can see what somebody else paid/got for theirs to make a comparison.

But £10k equity could easily have disappeared anyway. Maybe a buyer would only offer you £125k because of the stamp duty threshold and you'd have sat on it for months.

You could bear in mind the time it takes to sell, the stress, the estate agent fees (£1500-2000).

With so little theoretical equity, so close to a stamp duty threshold, it would be difficult to achieve your price anyway I think. Maybe you'd have accepted £132k, paid out £2k estate agent fees ... and so come away with £5k at most.

It might be worth asking the developer to buy it back at what you paid and to pay your solicitor costs.

Then take out a separate claim against the original solicitors for your perceived lost equity. Perceived because any property is only worth what somebody is prepared to pay for it - and right now nobody is prepared to pay a penny

However, you really need good legal advice on this one, to work out what's easiest/cheapest/quickest/most assured in order to achieve you the least loss. While you are in the property it is costing you probably £600 interest per month - or £7000 a year.

pickles_pink wrote: »

Someone did try to sell and secured £145,000 back in 06 (we got our flat as an apparrent Bargain £15,000 less than every one else - I know this cos I checked houseprices.co.uk) it's true what they say if it seems too good to be true it probably is! my estimated equity of 10k was probably consevative but I've learned not to be hopefull where this is concerned.

Tricky isn't it.

pickles_pink wrote: »

I sent all the details to my lender but they have never replied. Someone suggested posting them the keys and walking away - not a good idea i know but it sounds like bliss.

I am surprised they didn't reply, but this is probably an oddity and it may have fallen into the hands of somebody who didn't understand the significance of your letter.

Mortgages are secured on property - and right now they've lent you money for something currently worth £0 (exaggeration, but you know what I mean).

Walking away is not an option. You will still owe the money. And, say, in the circumstances they auctioned it off and just got £40k for it (somebody who thought it was worth the long-term wait and gamble) then you'd still owe about £80k to them.

pickles_pink wrote: »

I thought being a first time buyer was hard but this is. . . . words fail me :-(

I've tried CAB who put me on to the law society.

It's difficult to know just who to go to/who is best ... maybe somebody will give some sound advice soon that will give you a fresh route of attack.

pickles_pink wrote: »

I think were going to move into rented accomodation and rent this place out. Just to save our sanity - it's not nice when your home feels like a prison.

While I can see that this seems like a great idea, in my opinion it is compounding a bad position.

To rent it out you would have to ask your lender - they might even say you have to have a Buy to Let mortgage on it, at a higher rate. They might refuse that mortgage as the amount you are getting in is less than the mortgage.

You then need to find a tenant - and they need to be a good one. You might get voids. The tenant might not be a good one, along with all the trouble that can cause (damage, non payment, etc)

When there is a void at your flat, you aren't just paying the mortgage on the flat - but also the rent where you've moved to. And what if nobody wants it for 4 months?

It also costs quite a bit to rent - you'd have to pay for credit checks and supply up to 2 months' deposit. So that's probably over £1000 to find up front. You can't use your tenant's deposit to put down as a deposit on the one you want to rent either as their deposit has to go into the Tenant Deposit Fund scheme where it is protected.

If there were a sudden change in things, giving a resolution (e.g planning permission is granted, developer offers to buy back, whatever) you might then find you can't easily get the tenant out of your flat in order to sell it quickly to get on with your life. If the market DOES fall, you will need to immediately be able to market the flat to get shot of it before it falls further. If you have to wait a few months for the tenant to move out, then go through redecorating it, you could be delayed by 3-4 months getting it to market.

Good luck!

*hugs*
Great! Go you!

Sometimes life is tough. And you have to drag yourself through quagmires, while all around you smug people make out they'd have not got into the same situation. They would.

You've done nothing wrong. Everybody else is wrong.

This won't be easy. You'll feel despair, anguish, stress. You'll cry, swear and stomp your feet. But soldier on! If only because you don't have any other ways of handling it at the moment.

Good luck!

Which town is this in by the way?
I won't ask the address/developer!