council suing due to no planning permission - is it possible to sell?

glider26

Hi,

My elderly in-laws have, against all the advice that was given to them by their kids, gone ahead with some modifications to the front aspect of their grade II listed home and are now being sued by their council. Rather than putting things right (windows and brickwork), we are wondering whether it is possible to sell their house with this lawsuit hanging over it, possibly at auction? Are there people out there who would consider dealing with the problem in exchange for a bargain? None of the kids have the time to deal with this, so instead they'd like to sell the house and put the parents in a flat asap. Any advice appreciated.

poppysarah

Are they of sound mind?

Yorkie1

I guess anything can be sold if the price is right and proper disclosure is made from the outset.

Do the parents know that this plan is being discussed and have they agreed to it?

PasturesNew

You need to find out what the issues are/how much it'll cost to put it right. Else you'll be giving it away for a song when there's no need.

Why'd you do that?

BitterAndTwisted

It all depends on the cost of putting things right. That is, exactly how it was before they did these "modifications".

If I were a buyer I wouldn't touch a property with this sort of issue pending.

DVardysShadow

poppysarah wrote: »

Are they of sound mind?

Does the pope modify grade 2 listed buildings without permission?
Are bears catholic?
Do the inlaws poop in the woods?

2/3 ain't bad.

Yorkie1

I'm worried that that made sense the first two times I read it!

JQ.

You don't have the time to sort it out?

Phone 3 builders, get them to quote, then instruct one to sort it all out. Most good builders are more than capable of project managing an entire job, so long as you pay them accordingly. I can assure you that will take up far less time than trying to sell a house with such significant issues.

If the bill for the work is for example £10k, I would not be surprised if it dropped the value of the house by £40k. So for the sake of a few hours work you could save your relatives thousands of pounds.

chris_m

JQ. wrote: »

Phone 3 builders, get them to quote, then instruct one to sort it all out. Most good builders are more than capable of project managing an entire job, so long as you pay them accordingly.

That depends on what has been done and what needs doing to rectify it - listed building work often requires specialist builders, materials and techniques.

If, for example, the windows have been replaced (looks from the OP that they were) and the originals were, say, old 16th century lead-framed ones it could require the correct type of glass (possibly a one-off manufacture) and framing, as well as the right skillset to make, assemble and fit them. The likes of Everest, Zenith (spit), etc won't be able to do that. Nor will a local builder.

Likewise the brickwork - that may require sourcing the correct bricks, the correct formula bonding and, again, people with knowledge of the correct techniques. It ain't going to be a half pallet of bricks and a couple of bags of sand and cement from B&Q.

JQ.

That's why you pay the builder a Project Management fee - you are paying them to source all the specialist materials, liaise with manufacturers and timetable the works accordingly. They will require a substantial fee for this work but that will be a drop in the ocean in comparison to the drop in house value compared to trying to sell it in it's current condition.

chris_m

That's true, but is it something which a local builder will be able, or even want, to get involved with?