Pulling out of house purchase

bunzee

Hi all,

Would really appreciate some opinions and advice regarding this one.

I sold my house and because the buyer was incredibly keen to get things moving it has completed and I am living in temporary accomodation at the moment.

In the meantime I found a house I really liked, and things were progressing well. The survey threw up a potential problem with the roof which I had an engineer check and he wrote a report to say there were no problems, so all was well.

However now another problem has come up - the house was advertised as having an allocated parking space. It has since come to light that this is not the case and just that "historically" the house has always used one specific space, but the actual legal arrangement is that there are 15 spaces owned by the highways agency which are divided between 9 houses.

It may not seem like a big deal to some people but parking is a big deal to me and I don't want the house if I have no legal entitlement to use the space, so I want to pull out. My question is do I have any recourse with the agents selling the property as it is not as described? It would be nice to try to get back the costs I have spent thus far if possible.

Any help much appreciated

G_M

You could try but it really is 'buyer beware'. That's why solicitors do searches, check deeds etc to ensure you are getting what you think you are getting.

Milliewilly

bunzee wrote: »

Hi all,

Would really appreciate some opinions and advice regarding this one.

I sold my house and because the buyer was incredibly keen to get things moving it has completed and I am living in temporary accomodation at the moment.

In the meantime I found a house I really liked, and things were progressing well. The survey threw up a potential problem with the roof which I had an engineer check and he wrote a report to say there were no problems, so all was well.

However now another problem has come up - the house was advertised as having an allocated parking space. It has since come to light that this is not the case and just that "historically" the house has always used one specific space, but the actual legal arrangement is that there are 15 spaces owned by the highways agency which are divided between 9 houses.

It may not seem like a big deal to some people but parking is a big deal to me and I don't want the house if I have no legal entitlement to use the space, so I want to pull out. My question is do I have any recourse with the agents selling the property as it is not as described? It would be nice to try to get back the costs I have spent thus far if possible.

Any help much appreciated

You say you have completed so you can't pull out the deals done. I would speak to your solicitor first asking why they have missed this point and explore whether you can rent one of the spaces officially.

PasturesNew

The agents' details will have said: "X, Y and Z are at this house, but don't rely on what we say"

It's an annoyance and a nuisance, but it is up to you to check all the details, which you have done now.

Have you investigated if/where/for how much you could secure parking locally (e.g. buying your own garage half a mile away as a back up plan), then going back with a reduced offer based on the fact the property does not offer you the parking you need and so it will cost you £X to secure your own parking.

Sammy85_2

Milliewilly wrote: »

You say you have completed so you can't pull out the deals done. I would speak to your solicitor first asking why they have missed this point and explore whether you can rent one of the spaces officially.

I read it that she has completed on her old house and has moved out, but is now in rented accomodation and in the process of buying her new house, the searches etc have thrown up these problems.


Bunzee -

Agents details usually come with some kind of disclaimer on them, which would most likely prevent any recourse. Im afraid things like this are the reason we employ solicitors to do checks.

I think the only options for you are to look at some way at formalising the parking issue, live with it, or pull out before you exchange contracts.

If you pull out, you will most likely have to still pay your solicitor for work carried out so far, possibly arrangement fees on a mortgage if you dont use it on a different property and of course your survey fees will have been paid out already.

Doozergirl

Disclaimers do not negate the need for an Estate Agent to describe a property accurately. It was a while ago but I am positive I actually read a paragraph of the Property Misdescriptions Act which goes as far as stating this.

Quite simply, if they are not sure of something, they should get it verified or not put it into the details at all. If they put it into the details then they would need to demonstrate to a court that they had gone to all effort to verify it.

I would put a call in to your local Trading Standards office and see if they can guide you.

GDB2222

Milliewilly wrote: »

You say you have completed so you can't pull out the deals done. I would speak to your solicitor first asking why they have missed this point and explore whether you can rent one of the spaces officially.

No, the OP completed on his sale, not his purchase.

To the OP: you can't get your costs back from the seller - simple as that.

However, if the property was misdescribed, you might be able to get something back from the estate agent. What, precisely, did the EA's particulars say about the parking? And what precise disclaimer did they put in the small print - not that that is necessarily effective.

This link gives a useful example: http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/buying_and_selling/article4672947.ece

You can find the law here: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts1991/ukpga_19910029_en_1

Bear in mind that the act says “false” means false to a material degree. There is quite a strong argument that this was not materially false, but it depends on precisely what you were told. You would probably be wise to look at section 2 of the act.

The act needs to be read in accordance with http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1992/Uksi_19922834_en_2.htm I assume that the parking would be covered by item 3.

MissMotivation

Fully agree with Doozer and GDB, this is an offence under the Property Misdescriptions Act and disclaimers at the bottom of agents details are pointless.

If the agent was not able to verify that the parking was allocated then they should have left it out.

G_M

What did the HIP say/show?

If the Title and /or Plan showed the parking space, then the EA did nothing wrong. If it clearly did NOT show the parking, the EA should have known. If it was in some way ambiguous but appeared to corrolate with what the seller told the agent, then I'd imagine the EA was justified.

Surely the EA is expected to know what the HIP shows, but cannot be expected to do further detailed searches which are the domain of lawyers?

getmore4less

GDB2222 wrote: »

No, the OP completed on his sale, not his purchase.

To the OP: you can't get your costs back from the seller - simple as that.

However, if the property was misdescribed, you might be able to get something back from the estate agent. What, precisely, did the EA's particulars say about the parking? And what precise disclaimer did they put in the small print - not that that is necessarily effective.

This link gives a useful example: http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/buying_and_selling/article4672947.ece

You can find the law here: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts1991/ukpga_19910029_en_1

Bear in mind that the act says “false” means false to a material degree. There is quite a strong argument that this was not materially false, but it depends on precisely what you were told. You would probably be wise to look at section 2 of the act.

The act needs to be read in accordance with http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1992/Uksi_19922834_en_2.htm I assume that the parking would be covered by item 3.

Have they not mis described the actual plot saying it includes land that it does not.

bunzee

Hi all, thanks for all the comments.

Yes my sale has completed but my purchase has not yet exchanged.

The details of the house stated that it had one allocated off road parking space - the HIP (which I have only just received details of) stated it was shared parking of 15 spaces between 9 houses. Having spoken to the agent they in turn spoke to the seller who admitted it is just shared and not allocated hence it not showing on the land registry map, etc.

The disclaimer on the details states: "The agent has not tested ant apparatus, equipment, fixtures and fittings or services and so cannot verify that they are in working order or fit for their purpose. A buyer is advised to obtain verification from their solicitor or surveyor. References to the tenure of the property are based on information supplied by the Seller. The agent has not had sight of the title documents. A buyer is advised to obtain verification from their solicitor. Agents Note: Some of the photographs used by ***** have been taken with a wide angled lens to show the property off to best advantage."

I would have thought that the EA should have seen the HIP before marketing the property and therefore should have picked up on the fact that they had been misled/confused by the seller information?