Solicitor Negligence? Nobody told me they were going to build a bridge...

kafkaesque_2

I found out about the bridge when a work colleague mentioned that there might be a bridge being built right next to my lovely new home.

As it happens, I don't really care about the bridge. There are debates on both sides about whether it is needed, or cost effective etc. I am just furious that I wanted to live somewhere quiet and residential, and that I will soon be living opposite a major building project that will be ongoing for many years. If just one person had told me that the area was getting another bridge (and I believe the intention is to keep all three bridges open) then I just would have moved to one of the other quiet residential areas around Edinburgh (of which there are plenty).

Instead I don't want to live here. Presumably nobody else is going to want to live here either (what with pollution, noise etc) and I'm not going to have the capital to move somewhere else.

I am certainly not the only person in South Queensferry who is upset by the building of the bridge. However I have not lived in the area 20 years (apparently the fields opposite my house have been earmarked for another bridge that long) and to repeat myself (because I am furious) if just one person had mentioned it, I wouldn't have bought it. Simple as...

Thanks for the replies. I guess I will talk to a solicitor and ascertain the extent to which I have any recourse.

poppysarah

This is one of the problems with not exploring the area more and reading up as much as you can.
And asking the vendor "Do you know of any developments planned for the area?"

kafkaesque_2

As I said in the first post, what with 2 bridges in the area it stupidly didn't even occur to me to ask if another one was going to be built.

But yes, I certainly take some responsibility - finding a perfect house in a lovely area, silly me for not imagining that it was going to become a warzone for almost a decade.

Surely that's what surveys etc are supposed to tell you?

And cutting comments aside, it really is me who is paying for it.

silvercar

Surveys comment on the structure of the building; searches tell you what is happening in the area, as does the local plan.

If something is missed on a survey, the surveyor is at fault. If something is missed from a search the solicitor could be at fault.

poppysarah

It might not have been a bridge, it could have been a big industrial unit, a football stadium or anything else that you wouldn't want to live next door to.

Think of it as positive improvements in local transport links? ;-)

besonders1

"Think of it as positive improvements in local transport links? ;-)"

Oh well there you go, a good selling feature (from an estate agents point of view) LOL

ILW

The Dartford Bridge on the M25 actually has a viewing point where you can just sit and take in its majestic beauty.

mlz1413

This happened to me in England I bought a house that looked out onto a road and after that open garden, this belonged to a large old house which for decades had been a council run care home. I knew the area well and this old house had been left to the town by its owner well over a 100 years ago to be run as a hospital (it had become a care home 50+ years later).

Within in months of moving in a two houses appeared, I knocked on my neighbours door and was outraged to find out all the surrounding area had been sent letters about this a year or so before. I contacted the solicitor who said it hadn't come up in a search as it wasn't ajoining land. With hindsight I probably could have complainted more, but I was young and I didn't.

I would say hound your solicitor for answers - why didn't they tell you, why didn't they know, etc.

Also you could put the house back up for sale and see you get any interest, (nothing ventured nothing gained).

churchrat

I always thought that searches just applied to the property that you were buying, unless you asked for the solicitor to check other things. ie, I thought that they looked at the utilities, land adjoining your new property etc, but not the local area unless you asked them to do so.

Is that wrong?? be really pleased if someone could answer that for me
churchrat

kafkaesque_2

Thanks for the comments (both amusing and sympathetic). There is not a whole lot for me to add, that I haven't already said. Even if it turns out that the solicitors did not think to share this information it does appear as if everyone (except me) knew about it, and at the very least the sellers were underhanded when asked about why they were moving etc (they were asked about the area etc - just not if a THIRD bridge was being built, silly me).

Anyway I will ascertain whether my solicitor was negligent, and other than that there is not a great deal that I can do. Putting the property up for sale is going to be more hassle than it's worth, given they're building a bridge opposite. (I need a head butting brick wall smilie).