Mis-sold a property, do I sue the solicitor?

dkingdom

Hi all,

I think I have a biggie to sort in 2011 so just trying to get a handle on it now...

We downsized to a 3 bed ex-local auth house 5 mths ago, coming from a shared driveway situation we strongly wanted to avoid that again.
We were sold this property on the basis that the driveway by the side of the house belonged to us and the bungalow next door only had "access". This was confirmed verbally and in legal docs by the vendor. Our solicitor presented these docs to us for "checking" and we duly returned them.

Obviously we now find from the bungalow neighbours (who have only just occupied theirs) that it is a "shared" driveway! They are adamant, but sympathetic to how we may have been mis-sold.

Also, our vendors signed a declaration that there were "no ongoing" issues with the neighbours, despite this we have discovered they had reported the young single mum (of 4 +bump) adjoining us on the other side to social services on a number of occassions. Loud music, police cars, abuse, swearing/arguments on her driveway are making us feel sick that we moved.

To top this, the house is freezing and the energy survey never flagged up the 14,000 BTU deficit on the ground floor, aswell as the lack of cavity wall insulation anywhere on the property. It was extended in 2006 so this should have been "building regs", and yet the completion cert was granted by a local firm!

So in summary we have:

• a shared/owned drive issue
• a neighbour from hell issue
• a dodgy completion certificate

Don't know where to start really? ShouldI begin with a new solicitor or the previous one? Have tried not to let this spoil our Christmas as we have 3 small kids but really feel like this is a very bad move

poppysarah

What do you think access meant? That it wasn't shared?

JQ.

What is the difference between a shared drive and a drive you own but the neighbour has rights of access over, surely they are the same? Personally the only difference I can see is that at least with a shared drive the costs of maintenance would be shared.

In the first instance I'd go back to your original solicitor and see what they have to say about it all. Keep a diary of any anti-social issues from you neighbour.

TrickyDicky101

Regarding the neighbour problems I believe you would have a case if it was not disclosed to your solicitors by the vendors.

kmmr

What is wrong with the completion certificate? There are perfectly legitimate private building inspector firms out there. As far as II know the certificate doesnt have to come from the council. They accredit/approve other companies.

dunstonh

We were sold this property on the basis that the driveway by the side of the house belonged to us and the bungalow next door only had "access". This was confirmed verbally and in legal docs by the vendor. Our solicitor presented these docs to us for "checking" and we duly returned them.

Did you pay the solicitor to do a full search?

Some of the things a solicitor can do are optional and cost more. Some people try to reduce their costs by not having all the checks done. So, instead of the solicitor checking the documentation in these cases and making you aware of issues, they will forward them to you to check for yourself.

Also, our vendors signed a declaration that there were "no ongoing" issues with the neighbours

Were the issues "on-going" or historical? i.e. how far back were these issues?

To top this, the house is freezing and the energy survey never flagged up the 14,000 BTU deficit on the ground floor, aswell as the lack of cavity wall insulation anywhere on the property. It was extended in 2006 so this should have been "building regs", and yet the completion cert was granted by a local firm!

Did you pay for a survey of the property or just went with the basic valuation? A survey would have picked these things up but if you didnt have one then you buy at your own risk.

I suggest you ask the solicitor to answer the questions you have put here. You may have some grounds on a couple of the points depending on what options you paid for when you bought the house. However, you may have no grounds at all. So, you need to be prepared for that as well.

satchmeister

'Also, our vendors signed a declaration that there were "no ongoing" issues with the neighbours, despite this we have discovered they had reported the young single mum (of 4 +bump) adjoining us on the other side to social services on a number of occassions. Loud music, police cars, abuse, swearing/arguments on her driveway are making us feel sick that we moved.'

Perhaps the vendors will say that by 'no ongoing' they mean just that, all outstanding issues had been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of both parties ... the neighbours would continue as before and the vendors would let them.

dkingdom

The point of owning the driveway would be that I can do what I like with it as long as access is provided...also that the property was sold with "own driveway" is the big point.

What is the point of an energy certificate that accompanies a house if it gives you no inkling that the property is freezing in winter? surely these surveyors are regulated and need to provide "useful" information to the seller?

In case anyone missed it, we are downsizing...so no we didn't pay for a full survey and we also went for a "competitive" conveyancer...

didn't think we'd get this screwed tho

Richard_Webster

Access

What do you think access meant? That it wasn't shared?

Quite.

I take it that the driveway is only wide enough for one car to drive down it or be parked on it - there isn't room for two cars side by side - is that right?

If that is the case then there would seem to be 3 possible scenarios:

1. You own a half width and the neighbours own the other half width but you each have access over the other's half width - this would be a literal shared drive. Neither can park on it so as to obstruct use by the other.

2. You own the whole width but the neighbour can drive up and down it to get to his back garden/garage/parking space within his own land. In that case you cannot park on the drive so as to obstruct his use of it so for all practical purposes it is shared. It could well be that this is the position - you own it but the neighbour has access. As the previous poster said - what did you think the term "access" meant?

3. You own the whole width and the neighbour has no rights over it - presumably what you were hoping for - but not what your solicitor told you.

Neighbour

Also, our vendors signed a declaration that there were "no ongoing" issues with the neighbours, despite this we have discovered they had reported the young single mum (of 4 +bump) adjoining us on the other side to social services on a number of occassions. Loud music, police cars, abuse, swearing/arguments on her driveway are making us feel sick that we moved.

You may have a case against the seller but it will be difficult and expensive to prove and hardly your solicitor's fault. Did you not check the neighbourhood beforehand -or talk to the neighbours on either side? Talking to this neighbour might have got you suspicious - but quite likely talking to the neighbour on the other side could have revealed some info about this "dodgy" neighbour. Prevention is better than cure.

EPC

To top this, the house is freezing and the energy survey never flagged up the 14,000 BTU deficit on the ground floor, aswell as the lack of cavity wall insulation anywhere on the property. It was extended in 2006 so this should have been "building regs", and yet the completion cert was granted by a local firm!

When you mention "the energy survey" do you mean the Energy Performance Certificate? Why did you think that this would flag up specific heat loss figures in terms of BTUs lost or lack of cavity wall insulation? Did the EPC say there was such insulation?

Just for others reading this thread can I say: NEVER TAKE ANYTHING IN AN EPC LITERALLY. The energy inspectors do not carry out a detailed survey of the house - they are allowed to make a lot of assumptions about the nature of construction - they cannot check things like the existence or otherwise of cavity wall insulation. When was the house built? If in the 1960s or or earlier it would not have had cavity wall insulation and most people would not expect it - why did you?

The first EPC I ever had anything to do with was carried out for a family property where we knew the central heating boiler scarcely heated anything - but the inspector could not check how well it worked - only its type and allocate a rating for that type of boiler - which in that case was "average". So the rest of the EPC is prepared in a similar way.

In nay event it is always wise to have a survey by an independent chartered surveyor. If you have particular concerns then he will address them in his report and if when you get the report you don't understand it you can speak to him to have further explanation of what he said. I take it that as you didn't mention it you didn't have such a report because it it is relevant to this point and to the next one.

Building Regulations

If the house was extended in 2006 then your solicitor should have asked for a Building Regulation Completion Certificate. Was one produced for the extension?

yet the completion cert was granted by a local firm!

Don't know many local firms that can grant completion certificates. They usually come from the Council but a few other bodies such as NHBC can give them. This was probably some other document like a guarantee and, sorry, but guarantees by local builders are generally pretty worthless.

Your solicitor should have explained either that the extension had the benefit of a Building Regulation Completion Certificate, or that it didn't, and what the implications of that could be. Of course we do not know whether the cold is caused by the bad construction of the extension or by the way the house was originally built.

In summary my feeling is:

1. That you may have a case about the neighbour's behaviour - but an expensive one - against the seller who may have disappeared and spent the sale proceeds by the time you get a judgement. The seller may say he never had a problem when he lived there - can you get other neighbours to give evidence for you that shows that to be false?

2. If the extension can be shown not to meet the standards that were applicable in 2006 you may have a case against your solicitor if there was no building regulation completion certificate and he didn't warn you of the possible implications of this - which could vary from virtually nothing in the case where the work was done to standard but the owner never bothered to get the building inspector back to check, through minor finishing off issues not being resolved to the inspector's satisfaction, to the extreme where the whole thing is ramshackle and completely fails to meet the standards. First thing of course is to get a surveyor to tell you whether or not the standards have been met.

I don't know all the circumstances and background but it looks to me that you made a few too many assumptions without checking with those who could explain, particularly about the EPC.

dkingdom

Thanks for all the very useful advice, I have a completely new set of expectations regarding these problems now :cool:

I guess the only issue that I could progress surefootedly with would be the Extension.

A completion certificate was issued by CNC Building Control in Norwich. This was after the work was completed and they obviously took it on the owners "word" that cavity wall insulation had been fitted, when it hadn't.

Richard_Webster

What is the point of an energy certificate that accompanies a house if it gives you no inkling that the property is freezing in winter? surely these surveyors are regulated and need to provide "useful" information to the seller?

No point - all part of a half baked government scheme. What do you expect for the £50 or so that the Energy Inspector gets for doing the EPC?

The point of owning the driveway would be that I can do what I like with it as long as access is provided...also that the property was sold with "own driveway" is the big point.

You can very easily establish exactly who owns the driveway. Ask your conveyancer to explain what you own and what if anything the neighbour owns and what rights each of you have over it,

If you think about it, once the neighbour has access over it there are severe limits to what you can do with it, unless it all belongs to you and it is wide enough for 2 cars side by side when you can park one car and leave room for access by the neighbour. If it isn't wide enough then you can't park so as to obstruct his access. You haven't explained precisely what the legal position is as explained by your conveyancer. Does the red line showing the boundary on the Land Registry plan include the whole width of the driveway or doesn't it?

People often refer to accesses as being shared when technically the access belongs to one person but a neighbour or neighbours have rights to use it.

If the conveyancer explained that the neighbour had access then at that point you should have taken the issue up and pointed out that the property was advertised as being sold with "own driveway" and you didn't want to buy the house if that was the case, and then pulled out of the purchase.

Once you accepted that they had access then you could hardly expect it only to be occasional like on alternate wet Tuesdays, could you?