Pulling out of a house purchase

pawpurrs

I cant see why you are pulling out, its just a few hoops to go through? Fundamentally the house is still the same house, with the same space, and you even said its worth what you are paying even without the study? Can you not get an indemneity policy for the study?

zappahey

fleeze69 wrote: »

I think I may have to put the £570 down to experience

Probably small comfort but you spent the money to protect your interests and it has served that purpose by potentially saving you thousands later.

picardygirl

jenny74 wrote: »

Don't assume this... Our buyer's buyer was a FTB and she pulled out for on good reason... Our buyer lost her sale, we lost our sale (and searches sols costs) and we lost our purchase too. What you do will have a knock on effect which can be devestating for some.

Yes it could be devastating for others in a chain, this in not the case in this instance, but a buyer should not be forced to proceed with a purchase when there is potentially something wrong with the property.

I've had a buyer pull out on me on day of exchange, because she met a new bloke and wanted to move him with me rather than buy my house, collapsed a chain and we lost hundreds of pounds (day before christmas eve too)! Every body has different circumstances why they need to pull out, some reasonable and some very unreasonable!!

I think its justified in this case - what are they trying to hide - maybe nothing, but maybe something !

bryanb

pawpurrs wrote: »

Can you not get an indemneity policy for the study?

I don't think you can once the problem has been recognised (By the planning dept)

pawpurrs

No, I think your right, bet the vendors love you then! As now the council are aware they will have to get the correct PP etc, if they wish to sell.

silvercar

pawpurrs wrote: »

No, I think your right, bet the vendors love you then! As now the council are aware they will have to get the correct PP etc, if they wish to sell.

Or they can just sell it as it is, a study/ large cupboard created from a garage.

If they had described it as such in the first place there would be no issue. It is only because the estate agent details described it as a fully fledged room that you are now unhappy. If the estate agent had put "former garage, now housing utility facilities and large area currently used as study" you would have nothing to complain about. So the real issue is whether the property is worth the agreed price if the description had been correct.

Richard_Webster

Hips pack states "Integral garage was converted in to a study /
Utility. Assured that no building regs were required."

I assume that this was in the Property Information Questionnaire completed by the seller. Did OP see this before he put the offer in? Did he mention it to solicitor when he asked for a conveyancing quote? If someone had asked me that one I would be saying that the statement sounded very dodgy.

Trouble is that the seller is not saying that compliance with the Building Regulations wasn't required, but merely somebody "assured" him he didn't need to comply, which isn't the same thing. Also, regrettably people get Building Regulations and Planning confused. It might well not have needed Planning permission, which isn't the same thing.

So I doubt if OP has a case to sue the seller.

It also illustrates how the government's wonderful ideas about HIPs don't work in practice. People fill in forms and nobody checks them - I have said that cheap HIP providers can't possibly check them for what they charge. If I had seen a form filled in by a client of mine implying that Building Regulation compliance was not required for conversion of a garage to a habitable room, I would tell him that was rubbish.

As solicitors we are sued to seeing people make inaccurate and wrong statements on questionnaires and it is susually because they haven't read the questions properly or don't udnerstand the question. We ask supplementary questions to clear up the confusion. Unfortunatley if a lay client gets hold of copies of some of these completed forms at too early a stage they can jump to all kinds of unwarranbted conclusions and accuse the selelrs of trying to con them etc when 90% of the time they simply didn't understand the question.

For instance, whilst the new PIQ asks about building etc work arranged by the seller, other similar forms have asked questions like "Has any building work taken place at the property, e.g conservatories, removal of internal walls, extensions, etc.?"
Seller reads the question as asking if he has carried out any qwork and as it was done by his predecessor he answers "No". Buyer's solicitor could then facetiously ask seller's solicitor about seller's eyesight and mental state if he was not aware of the large two storey side extension! I feel like this sometimes, but in fact ask the question in a deadpan way. I know that people simply don't read the question!

fleeze69

Richard_Webster wrote: »

I assume that this was in the Property Information Questionnaire completed by the seller. Did OP see this before he put the offer in?!

Yes it was in the Property Information Questionnaire, I didn't see this before I put the offer in. Im a first time buyer and I must say that the estate agents seem very reluctant to send you the HIPs documents, I didn't even know that I could have them before I put an offer in (I'd know now though). I think it shows that the system doesn't work if the seller can write ambiguous or wrong answers in them.

To be honest I think i'll put the £570 down to experience if the sale falls through.

I am still waiting on a response from the seller as to if they will get a retrospective completion certificate for the study. They said they wouldn't initially, but now I've said they either do it or I walk they seem more keen on the idea. Im not trying to be awkward, I just want the house that I was sold and that includes a study that is all above board.

ciano125

It wouldn't hurt to "point out" to them that this issue is going to raise its head whenever anyone puts an offer in, so they might as well just get it done and get the house sold. Stand your ground though, there's no reason why you should pay for it.

It might also be worth doing a couple of viewings on some other houses that the agent is selling, just so they know (think) you're prepared to walk away from it.

fleeze69

ciano125 wrote: »

It wouldn't hurt to "point out" to them that this issue is going to raise its head whenever anyone puts an offer in, so they might as well just get it done and get the house sold. Stand your ground though, there's no reason why you should pay for it.

It might also be worth doing a couple of viewings on some other houses that the agent is selling, just so they know (think) you're prepared to walk away from it.

Thanks for the advice ciano125, I have reminded the seller that they should either sort it now or really they couldn't sell the house as having a conservatory if we were to pull out.

That's a cunning plan about looking at other houses from the same agent, I'm not sure if they'll be time to do this as I'm hoping for an answer tomorrow as to if the seller will get the council approval of the study. I'll definitely bear it in mind if this starts to drag on though.

Thanks

Adam