Should I Sign a Deed of Easement?

silvercar

Jackie235 wrote: »

in the convenant on the deed to the house it says we must agree to sign and easments that are presented to us? can i still ask them to move it?????

Again without legal knowledge.

It sounds like an unfair term. If they can require you to sign something they may as well have included a clause to say that you automatically agree with any easements. If you are required to sign why can't they take it as read that you have signed? Probably because they can't force you to agree to anything, it is your property, the deeds contained no easements and you are not obliged to agree changes in the future. You own the land from the centre of the earth to high in the sky.

What they now need to do is to persuade you to come to an agreement. Money talks, get them to build the conservatory!!

princeofpounds

Sorry, I don't know much about the sewer case itself, but the 'you must agree to any easements presented' is almost certain to be unenforceable. You can't get people to agree to any contracts they have not seen. It's like those old wrappers you used to get on software saying 'by opening this you agree to the terms and conditions inside'. You don't see that anymore!

Jackie235

finally had a meeting with the solicitor appointed by grainger homes acting on our behalf, he said that there were grounds for compensation as we were never informed about the sewer in the 1st place. thing is, once this easement is signed, if we ever put the house back on the market, the potential buyer would be informed by their solicitor - "you have a sewer in the garden, you cant build on it, don't buy it!". We never got this chance! We think Grainger should buy te house back, sort 'their' sewers out and then sell it on. Any thoughts

Jackie235

this case is still on going!!

The most recent letter i have recieved is to say that they are taking action to enforce a clause I signed in my transfer deed stating that I agreed to sign any easements for sewers on demand!! why didnt they just add the easement to the transfer deed????

My question is is the term classed as a fair term
under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999,
A standard term is unfair if it creates a
significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations under the contract, to the detriment of the consumer, contrary to the requirement of good faith.

the clause is: 13.5.6 'Immediately on request execute any easement deed or document required by a public authority or service supplier in repsect of the provision maintainance or adoption of the Estate Road, Estate Sewers, service strip and or service apparatus'

poet123

The problem is that if it is indeed on a document you signed (and it may well be on all the transfer documents for all the houses ) then you should really have queried it or your solicitor should have queried it at the time. It may well be a standard clause, and you are just the unlucky one to have bought where the sewer was sited. If it is individual to your deed then you may have more luck in trying to prove that you should have had your attention drawn to it, or your solicitor should have picked up on it. Ultimately, you may not have much of a case as it is caveat emptor.

A friend has just had this same issue with a house she recently bought and she was told she had no case, and the new sewer pipe was put in place last week, her whole garden is to be re landscaped, and she is being compensated. This must happen quite a lot, so it may not be the deal breaker with a buyer you think it would be.

DVardysShadow

Jackie235 wrote: »

finally had a meeting with the solicitor appointed by grainger homes acting on our behalf, he said that there were grounds for compensation as we were never informed about the sewer in the 1st place. thing is, once this easement is signed, if we ever put the house back on the market, the potential buyer would be informed by their solicitor - "you have a sewer in the garden, you cant build on it, don't buy it!". We never got this chance! We think Grainger should buy te house back, sort 'their' sewers out and then sell it on. Any thoughts

The thought I have on reading this thread is that if NW want the easement, they should buy the property off you at market value, grant themselves an easement and sell the property on.

It may be that there are grounds for a dispute between NW and the developer, but you don't really want to become involved in that.