FTB - please help! Should this have shown up on local search?

laurat

I'd be grateful for any help anyone can give as we're really worried.

It's a long story, but basically we had an offer accepted on a new build flat a few weeks ago and our deadline to exchange is Tuesday 27th. We have also paid part of our deposit already as a 'reservation fee'.

All was proceeding fine until yesterday. The local search carried out by our solicitor picked up nothing dubious. However, we have now learnt from a separate source (and it has been verified by the council) that the water treatment works which directly neighbour our development of flats is being redeveloped.

Whilst this is not ideal, our main concern is that part of these plans is to use a part of our private road (for which our service charge pays for the upkeep) as an access road for HGVs delivering chemicals to the works (on a permanent basis). They're also planning to build a bridge which cuts straight over / through the planned landscaping of our grounds. Obviously this is a huge concern to us on many levels, particularly as the development has been sold to us on the basis of it being a (relatively for London) tranquil, urban retreat, with lots of green areas.

Surely these plans should have been picked up by the local search, as it majorly affects the land on which the flats are built. Please could anyone advise?

We're at a loss as to what to do here - our solicitors claim to know nothing about these plans, even though we believe they are very familiar with our development.

Our solicitors have also said that they have contacted the developers' solicitors questioning them, and even they claim that they do not know of these plans!?? However, we have now seen a letter that the developers wrote several months ago in which they confirm that they know what is going on.

Apologies for the length of this post!

Any ideas gratefully received....

mountainofdebt

Have you got confirmation of the plans in writing? If so I would fax them over to your solicitor asking why you could find this info out but they couldn't!

(I know you can find out details of planning requests on line at our council's web site)

laurat

Thanks for your quick reply!

My thoughts precisely. We've accessed all the plans (including about 40 letters of complaint from local residents, many who have already moved into some of these flats) online on the council's website and given our solicitors the planning reference numbers.

Should this has shown up on the local search?

We're convinced it should have and just can't understand why it didn't.

The other major issue is that we're considering pulling out and really feel we've been misled by the developers. Prior to reserving (and paying the fee) we asked if they were aware of any plans in the surrounding area and they assured us they were not (although they obviously were). Thus we feel that we've paid this money after they've misrepresented the development to us - and are worried they won't give it back if we pull out, as they say it's non-refundable.

clairehi

Sounds a bit iffy. Has planning permission been granted for the waterworks?

How much was the reservation fee and is it refundable?

mountainofdebt

Did you get the developers response in writing?

If so and you do decide to pull out then perhaps you could sue in the small claims court for the deposit?

laurat

Planning permission was originally refused but has recently gone to appeal, with a decision likely to take up to 12 months.

The reservation fee was £2500 (plus we've paid £1800 odd for flooring). The reservation fee is non-refundable and will form part of our overall deposit should we proceed - however from our perspective, its non-refundable nature is surely questionable considering that we have been mis-led.

Do you think we have any chance of recovering our money?!

laurat

mountainofdebt wrote:

Did you get the developers response in writing?

Sorry, which response are you referring to here?

mountainofdebt wrote:

If so and you do decide to pull out then perhaps you could sue in the small claims court for the deposit?

Yes it sounds like this maybe an option. How does this work - would we need a solicitor to represent us? I severely doubt the developers would want their name to be dragged through the courts!

Thanks for your help.

mountainofdebt

Sorry didn't make myself clear.....when you asked the developers prior to reserving.

You can go through the small claims court if your claim is less than £5000 and if it does go to court you can represent yourself, although I guess the opposition would use solicitors. However if you didn't use a solicitor and lost then the only money you would lose is the court fees, which in this case would be £120 (which you would have to pay when you make the claim) as well as £100 which you would have to pay once the case is transferred to your local county court. (only know this 'cos I've been reclaiming my bank charges :rotfl:, :rotfl:)

As to whether you would win .....who knows eh?

The only thing I can think of why the application didn't show up on the search is that it was turned down - but I guess that wouldn't explain why the appeal didn't show up.

Armed with all this info I would approach your solicitors again and ask them why it didn't show up.

clutton_2

who is the developer ?

Debt_Free_Chick

laurat wrote:

The other major issue is that we're considering pulling out and really feel we've been misled by the developers. Prior to reserving (and paying the fee) we asked if they were aware of any plans in the surrounding area and they assured us they were not (although they obviously were). Thus we feel that we've paid this money after they've misrepresented the development to us - and are worried they won't give it back if we pull out, as they say it's non-refundable.

Careful here. The developer may have been truthful in saying there were no plans if, at the time the statement was made, the planning permission had been refused and the appeal had not yet been lodged i.e. he made the statement in between those two stages.

It would not be reasonable for anyone to tell you about all the plans that had been refused - they should only tell you about developments that have been submitted for PP and developments that have actually received PP. And they only need to tell you if you actually asked the question.

The only reason I can think of for the development not showing on the local search, is that it's gone to appeal. As appeals are made directly to the Planning Inspectorate, the local planning authority's files will simply show that PP has been refused. Worth speaking to someone at the LA to confirm if this is the case - it would be useful to know.

I know that on our LA website, any appeals are NOT shown. You only get to know about an appeal if you commented on the original planning application.

HTH

david29dpo

on the private road. as long as there are no covenants saying so, no one can have access except the flat owners.