local occupancy

mel_d_3

bought a house and have found now that it is under a local occupancy clause.
shouldn't it have been stated at the start of the deal, say on the particulars or stated by the estate agents ?

Running_Horse

What do your solicitors say? They should have found it.

Are you a local and do you occupy it?

poppysarah

What does that mean? Surely once you buy it and live there you're local...

Your solicitor should have spotted it. Speak to them.

Sammy85_2

You should have been told about the clause during the purchase process. Speak to your solicitor.

It may make it harder to sell in the future as it narrows the market.

Richard_Webster

bought a house and have found now that it is under a local occupancy clause.

Have you actually completed your purchase? Or is the house simply (in estate agent speak "Sold subject to contract" to you?

If the former you can reasonably ask your solicitor why he let you buy it.

If the latter then presumably your solicitor is now warning you about possible problems in selling. Also if you are getting a mortgage to buy it your lender will need to be told as it may affect their valuation and they may not lend.

mel_d_3

signed first contract's today and solicitor told us to contact surveyors and see if he think's property should be reduced.
just phoned surveyor and told to stop everything and contact lender.so our solicitor hasnt done things right and estate agent hasn't done things right so we'll see what happens in couple of days.
if mortgage gets withdrawn now i'll get charged will i be able to get that back from seller as i wasn't stated at start of sale?
thanks for input all :beer:

Imp

So did your solicitor tell you about the clause?

Regardless, as you haven't exchanged contracts yet, and this clause has been brought to your attention, your solicitor hasn't done anything wrong. It may be he hadn't received the result of his searches yet.

The seller doesn't have to tell you anything unless you ask. You did ask for a read a copy of the HIP before making your offer, didn't you? The seller is in no way at fault here. As the estate agent works for the seller and has no liability to you, then they can not be at fault for not telling you something.

So I doubt you will be able to get anything back from anyone.

Richard_Webster

If the house is significantly cheaper than other houses of similar type in the area then the local occupancy clause is the reason. If the estate agents price dit on that basis they should have included something about the local occupant condition in their particulars and I would complain to their head office (if big corporate) or to any redress scheme they belong to.

mel_d_3

i asked for hips off sellers estate agent and was told due to property being on market for 3 yrs it doesnt have 1 and doesn't need 1. i should be able to trust them, yes ?
on the particulars it said " no occupancy conditions apply"

poppysarah

I'd put it in writing that you don't want to exchange until this has been sorted out.
NOW

Running_Horse

Looking at properties on Rightmove in the Lake District, it seems to be standard to mention any local occupancy clause in the details, and you can usually guess before clicking on the house, by the low price. I doubt it can be lifted, so either you live with it, or pay more for a house not affected. If they said no occupancy conditions, then you should be reporting them under the misdescriptions act. The local council planning office may also be interested to hear if such a house was being sold this way.