Property development not declared on Sellers Property Information Form

straygoat

And given the choice, I would buy a house on the moon!

cte1111

As others have said, I doubt if you could prove that the vendors knew about the planning proposal. So all you can do is object to the planning proposal, if it has not already been granted permission. I understand why you are upset, I'm not good with noise either but there is only so much you can do about it.

You never know they might well never get round to building the new development, fingers crossed for you.

mustrum_ridcully

The only way you could prove the vendors knew about it would be if the plans had been discussed by them and the neighbours and the neighbours were willing to testify to this in court.

timmyt

straygoat wrote: »

Hello all.

I hope someone out there can help. We've just bought a new property and have since found out that planning permission has been applied for on a large plot just 3 mins walk from our house - the planning application is for the plot to be made into a retail park. We didn't know anything about this when we bought the property and on the seller's PIF, they put NO for the question about being aware of developments nearby. Having spoken to a few other people and the council, this is not the first time planning permission has been applied for - it was granted 2 years ago and it seems that it is common knowledge that some retail outlets and small distribution centres were going to be there. standard conveyancing searches do not reveal that, and proving the seller did would be a massive uphill struggle

Now on to problem 2. During the buying process, we pointed out to our solicitor that the seller's hadn't signed doesn't matter, it was tendered with the contract papers and so it is a reprsentation by the lawyers the PIF. I stressed that this was a major issue for me as I suffer from incredibly bad stress when it comes to noise issues and did not want noisy neighbours etc. Prior to the sale completing, the solicitor sent me an email saying that she had been faxed a signed declaration that there had been no noise issues with neighbours etc. BUT what i'm worried about now is that the actual PIF form was never signed and so we've no comeback re: the development.

I have asked the solicitor for a copy of the signed PIF and am waiting for the council to get in touch tomorrow regarding the development - they will be able to tell me if homes were notified through the post etc.

What should I do in this situation? Does it look like I will need to sue both the solicitor no, why is it their fault....and the sellers (if the PIF was indeed never signed before completion)? What if the council say they did not notify households directly?

Also, I'm a little concerned about reprisals if i sue the sellers - they still live in the area and have family here too. This could get very ugly I suspect.

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks

you seem to have no come back, sorry

ILW

The development could be half a mile away.

Richard_Webster

1. You will have great difficulty in proving that the sellers knew about the development.

2. The fact they had not signed the PIF is not relevant.

3. Your solicitor presumably told you that the local search does not show details of developments nearby, only any on the property you are actually buying.

maninthestreet

ILW wrote: »

The development could be half a mile away.

Who can walk half a mile in just 3 minutes? That's 10 miles per hour!
Assuming 4 miles per hour walking pace, 3 minutes walk is 0.2 of a mile, or 352 yards.

poppysarah

When you buy a house you are free to look at the planning office plans for the area. In fact you don't even have to visit the office as many have plans available online. Some even in map format making it easy to see what's going on.

If there was a bit of land 3 minutes walk away then I'd have checked it out. Asked the neighbours and had a scan through the local papers to see what was planned for it.

Buying a house is a huge financial and emotional decision. For you to have relied on an unsigned PIF alone is a bit naive.

We've got some houses being built about 3 minutes walk from us and I don't hear a thing from it.

Some people are oblivious to planning notices even when they're stuck on lampposts in front of their houses or put through their door.

How sensitive can you be to noise?