What does the estate agent have to tell you?

On a similar note,


We specifically asked the estate agent at the beginning before putting in an offer if there was any restrictive covenants, they answered 'No' , we pushed them more to check, apparently the vendor had written 'none' on the information form, and then we got the EA to phone the vendor to double check, and they came back saying 'cant build on the side of the house, due to drains'
So we put an offer in, eventually had an offer accepted and progressed with the purchase.


As soon as our solicitors got the particulars we had them check about the covenants, and subsequently found what we didn't want. We went along the route of getting a 'letter of permission' from the beneficiary.


Later on the vendor pulled out for unknown reasons after 11 weeks.


We have subsequently complained to the EA about this issue, and another about piece of the land not being included in the sale that was advertised.


The EA have washed their hands and basically said they done adequate checks.


I will now be forwarding my complain to the property ombudsman.


Moral of the story, 'Don't believe Estate Agents.'

dares_uk wrote: »

On a similar note,


We specifically asked the estate agent at the beginning before putting in an offer if there was any restrictive covenants, they answered 'No' , we pushed them more to check, apparently the vendor had written 'none' on the information form, and then we got the EA to phone the vendor to double check, and they came back saying 'cant build on the side of the house, due to drains'
So we put an offer in, eventually had an offer accepted and progressed with the purchase.

To a certain degree EAs have to rely upon the information given to them by the vendor. It appears in this instance the EA had asked the vendor whether there were any restrictive covenants, and the vendor had replied in writing that there were none.

It is of course possible to obtain a copy of the title for a property you may be interested in from the Land Registry website, and this will tell you whether any covenants exist.

Moral of the story: "Don't always expect the vendor's estate agent to do your solicitors job for them."

dares_uk wrote: »

Although saying that its down to solicitors to check is correct but the estate agent also
has the responsibility to provide you with the correct information/answers so you are able to make an informed decision (consumer rights and mis-descriptions act)

As I said above, to a certain degree the estate agent has to rely on the information provided to them by their client, the vendor of the property being sold.

It seems that in line with advice from the National Association of Estate Agents to help comply with the Consumer protection Regulations (The Property Misdescriptions Act was repealed in 2013, and no longer applies), the estate agents asked the vendor to complete a form to provide information about the property, and one of the question seems to be whether any covenants affect the property, and the vendor had declared that there were none.

aneary wrote: »

Unless I'm wrong Grade 2 listed refers to external only as a flat owner generally you won't be changing the external make up of the building.

If I recall correctly Grade II listing applies to any alterations that materially affect the character of the building, be they internal or external.

For example if I wanted to take a wall out in a property I would normally only need to obtain building regulations approval to confirm the work had been carried out correctly, and the freeholders permission in the even of it being a leasehold property. However, in a listed property I would also need to obtain listed building consent.