Unadopted or Private Road

clg86

Is there a difference between a Private and Unadopted road???

We are right at the end of the process of buying a house, but it is all being delayed due to the house being on a road that isn't owned by the council.

We will be paying ground rent of about £3 a year to one of the other houses, who inturn have to pay it to the person who owns the land, but our solicitor is saying that because they have no idea who owns the land, we have to pay for an Indemnity Insurance Policy...

I thought if it was unadopted, nobody owned it, and therefore anybody can use it without a problem, and if it is private, you could sort out with the owner of the land for access to use it? Or are they just the same thing? And surley if we are paying for ground rent the solicitor should be able to find out who that money is going to?

I'm so confused and worried i'm paying for a policy that i may not need. And all I want to do is move in as we are practically homeless now!

Any advice or info would be appreciated thanks... :wall:

poppysarah

Unadopted means the council don't repair it.

Do you have a right of access over it in the deeds? Does it not state in there who owns it?

SmlSave

clg86 - tell your solicitor that you expect the seller's to pay for the indemnity policy.

silvercar

The problem is that if an owner turned up they could charge you a fortune to access your home.

vet8

An unadopted road is just a road that the council have not adopted, hence they do not tarmac it and it is up to the residents to repair it when needed. That still counts as a public highway.

A private road is usually owned by a company etc. Our road is unadopted and a bridleway, but no-one has any idea who the owner is, so we pay nothing. If you are paying ground rent it must be to someone. Surely the solicitor can find out who that is, what are you paying him for?

Solicitors tend to hate private roads. When people have moved into our road their solicitors have always made a real fuss about it and even advised them not to buy. We have never had any problem. The idea is that at some time the real owner could turn up and deny you access to your house unless you pay him thousands of pounds. Whether that actually happens in real life I cannot say, but no-one in my road is at all worried about it as some have lived here for 30 years or more with no problems.

Your solicitor will want you to pay indemnity insurance, it seems that is a new thing and all solicitors seem to find a reason for buyers to pay for some sort of indemnity insurance. How much is it going to be? It may be worth it for peace of mind. Why not talk to the other residents and find out what they think?

SmlSave

Your solicitor will want you to pay indemnity insurance, it seems that is a new thing and all solicitors seem to find a reason for buyers to pay for some sort of indemnity insurance.

I work for a solicitor and just wanted to say that the ones I work for don't make a penny on the indemnity policies although I am sure there are those who do. Ask for a print out of the quote from the indemnity provider so you can see the price hasn't been inflated

clg86

vet8 wrote: »

An unadopted road is just a road that the council have not adopted, hence they do not tarmac it and it is up to the residents to repair it when needed. That still counts as a public highway.

A private road is usually owned by a company etc. Our road is unadopted and a bridleway, but no-one has any idea who the owner is, so we pay nothing. If you are paying ground rent it must be to someone. Surely the solicitor can find out who that is, what are you paying him for?

Solicitors tend to hate private roads. When people have moved into our road their solicitors have always made a real fuss about it and even advised them not to buy. We have never had any problem. The idea is that at some time the real owner could turn up and deny you access to your house unless you pay him thousands of pounds. Whether that actually happens in real life I cannot say, but no-one in my road is at all worried about it as some have lived here for 30 years or more with no problems.

Your solicitor will want you to pay indemnity insurance, it seems that is a new thing and all solicitors seem to find a reason for buyers to pay for some sort of indemnity insurance. How much is it going to be? It may be worth it for peace of mind. Why not talk to the other residents and find out what they think?

The sellers have refused to pay for this policy as they say because they've knocked down the price of the house they shouldn't have to pay fpr a policy that in their view, isn't neccessary. It's costing £105 which we have said we are happy to pay for. In the grand scheme of things, £105 is not an issue i suppose, and in the interest of not delaying this already dragged out process, we will pay it. However... As you stated, and it was also my point to the solicitor, if we are paying ground rent, surely SOMEBODY knows who owns the land as the person we pay this £3.00 to needs to pay it to the owner???

I know it's peace of mind knowing we will have a policy that allows us to use the road, but these houses were built in the 1800's so if somebody was going to make it an issue to use the road, it probably would've happened by now.

We did actually speak to the owners AND the neighbours who all said there has never been an issue, but our solicitor wants this policy in place so we have it in writing.

There is a mutaul thing between all 6 houses that money is but together once a year to repair any pot holes and clean out the septic tank which our water comes from, and nobody else seemed to have this problem when they bought their house. The last people to move in there have only been there 2 years so all this dotting the i's and crossing the t's must be new.

I just feel our solicitor is dragging things out uneccessarily...

DVardysShadow

clg86 wrote: »

... There is a mutaul thing between all 6 houses that money is but together once a year to repair any pot holes and clean out the septic tank which our water comes from, and nobody else seemed to have this problem when they bought their house. The last people to move in there have only been there 2 years so all this dotting the i's and crossing the t's must be new.

I just feel our solicitor is dragging things out uneccessarily...

Your water will come from septic tank? I think the status of the road is the least of your worries ...

vet8

IMHO the solicitors know there is no danger of the owners turning up and so do the insurance company. £105 is a very low premium so they are aware that there is no risk involved.

I agree with you about the unnecessary crossing the ts, but it seems to be the way house selling is going these days. I also sympathise with the sellers, if they have accepted a low offer I think they are unlikely to pay any extra costs .

sonastin

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Your water will come from septic tank? I think the status of the road is the least of your worries ...

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

clg86

vet8 wrote: »

IMHO the solicitors know there is no danger of the owners turning up and so do the insurance company. £105 is a very low premium so they are aware that there is no risk involved.

I agree with you about the unnecessary crossing the ts, but it seems to be the way house selling is going these days. I also sympathise with the sellers, if they have accepted a low offer I think they are unlikely to pay any extra costs .

Well they did drop the price by quite a bit, but we had 2 surveys done and both came back saying it was only worth what we had offered them anyway, not the amount they had put it up for. But I said a week ago to my solicitor that we would pay for this policy, yet they ask me a week later if we mind! It's so frustrating! Especially when we paying for the cat to be in boarding for about 3 weeks, and the sofa bed we have to stay on it insainly uncomfortable!:undecided

Your water will come from septic tank? I think the status of the road is the least of your worries ..

It sounds worse than it is, honestly. And i'm not complaining about it because our a months water bill for us is like you paying for 3 months worth