rights to see information (boundary dispute)

Zoe2006

Hi, I phoned the estate agent on saturday with a query regarding a boundary dispute. Basically as per my last thread it looks as though next door have built an extension onto the house I am trying to buy, while the house was vacant or when the old lady was in hospital, I doubt that it is above board and a colleague that qualified as a solicitor told me that she is doubtful that planning permission would be granted for it. I showed her a photo and she agreed with me.

The response from the estate agent has annoyed me. I was told they'd get in touch with solicitors and phone me back today, they didn't so I phoned them and this is the response;

she basically said it's a case of alot of the gardens are not straight (that's rubbish, you can clearly see the line), and it's a case of what you see is what you get! The only way to know for sure is to have a full survey and they don't have any access to the deeds.

Now surely they need to know what they are selling and if there is a dispute it should be disclosed? I would say that an extenstion actually built onto someone else's house on someone else's land could potentially be a big dispute!

Anyone know how I could find out if this is legal? This estate agent is really unprofessional in every way, there are other things that have happened which I prefer not to disclose. Thanks.

princessamy86

EAs rarely see deeds, that tends to be the sole provision of solicitors. They don't have to check the boundaries at all Although I have to say they do sound deeply unhelpful. If there is a neighbour dispute then yes, they should tell you but I've never dealt with one so I don't know where you would check it. Hopefully a more knowledgeable person will help with that! Can you go on land registry and print a copy of the title plan (cost £3)? That will show the boundary at the very least. Sorry, haven't read other thread so might be re-iterating but have you spoken to the planning office? They might be able to tell you a bit more

sooz

you haven't bought the house & already you have a (potential) dispute with the neighbours?
I'd walk away now.

I haven't seen your other thread, but have you made the offer yet? Why aren't you considering a full survey?

Zoe2006

The house is being sold by solicitors, I'm not in a dispute, I'm just concerned that one could arise if I wanted to build my own extension. I just wanted to clear up what I'd be buying. "What you see is what you get" is not a response I'm happy with. The EA have been nothing but unhelpful and incompetent, other people have complained to the manager about some of the staff. I'm seeing a solictor in a few days, it's not that I'm not considering a survey, I wanted to know if she was lying because they've been incredibly dishonest (even for EAs!) so far. I feel that they do know but are holding back.

Do I have to put in an offer before getting a survey, could I lower my offer depending on the results? does my offer have to be accepted before getting a survey. There is so much to know and they are no help.

princessamy86

By all means, if your survey comes back with loads of problems I would definitely try and negotiate. Just a quick note, I'm an EA and I'm trying to be helpful lol so we're not all dishonest. They sound rubbish, and I'm sorry for you on that front. The planning office should be able to tell you if permission was given, if not I think they inspect and can insist on it being pulled down (depending on length of time it has been up for). I wouldn't pay for a survey unless your offer has been accepted, otherwise you might end up chucking money away for no reason. Could you phone the solicitors who are selling it? Just to get info, I'm assuming they will be well equipped with title deeds etc. Or get your solicitor to phone them up? I think, emphasis on think, that if your offer gets accepted at a level you're happy with, your solicitor should be raising a lot of enquiries regarding this anyway. They shouldn't exchange until every enquiry is satisfied but I'm not a solicitor so sorry if it's not right. Maybe one of the solicitors that post on here could help? Any questions on buying process though feel free to ask, I'm happy to try and help you with as much as I can and I'm sure others will too.

RAS

get copies of the deeds for both properties from the Land Registry and go to the Planning Office and see if the extension has planning permission. Also make a phone call and find out if it would be permitted development. Even so, I expect that they would need Building Regs.

There has been at least one other poster here whose neighbour built an extension on land that belonged to the OP.

lincroft1710

Some planning applications/decisions are online, so just google in the address, you never know what you might find!

Debt_Free_Chick

You can see "a line" but you don't know if this line is the proper boundary or not.

It's notoriously difficult to establish where a boundary is. Even with the deeds, how do you translate a line on a page to a line on the ground, when there is no reference point? It's quite possible that the boundary doesn't run in a straight line from the property.

You can download the deeds for £3 each off the Land Registry site, but they should be in the HIP. Have you asked the EA for the HIP?

To be honest, the EAs rely on representations made about the property by the sellers. Those representations need to be honest, but it's up to buyers to do their own digging and identify any issues such as this.

Start off with the deeds to see if that sheds any further light on the situation, but you are going to have to do your own research.

Debt_Free_Chick

A survey is not going to deal with this issue. If the deeds are not clear, then you will need a completely separately land survey.

Can't you just view the property and ask the seller outright?

Zoe2006

princessamy86 wrote: »

Just a quick note, I'm an EA and I'm trying to be helpful lol so we're not all dishonest.

Lol, I meant that bit light heartedly, I expect them to try and squeeze as much of an offer as possible, there's a recession and they want the most they can get, fair enough, it's a game we have to play. Your one post has been more helpful than every conversation I've had with them put together!

With regards to the "line", I've been on the property and studied the photos, I don't want to post them but trust me, it's blatantly obvious that they've crossed the line and they've attached their extension to the house, which means that I couldn't do anything with that part myself. what I want to know is whether or not the old lady granted them permission to do so and signed that piece of land over, or did they do it on the sly when she wasn't there or too ill to fight it. Even if she did (doubtful), because of the way it's been done, it is highly unlikely that they had planning permission.

I don't know who the seller is, just that it's solicitors because the lady had no family. If the EA knew they couldn't clear this up, she could have told me on Saturday instead of telling me that they'd phone the seller and get back to me on Monday (which they didn't, I had to phone just to be fobbed off). I'm sure the seller could clear this up quickly, I doubt they've even asked them and they won't say who they are so I can't contact them myself.

P.s thanks to everyone for replies, lots of different opinions are great, lots to think about and raise with solicitor.

Debt_Free_Chick

How do you know that the line you can see is the actual boundary line?

I'm confused about the extension being attached to your property as you say it's a terraced house .... so weren't they attached, anyway?