Will problems with garden jeopardise sale? Help!

LittleWonder_2

I have had a part exchange deal agreed on my property, however due to the recent ridiculous rain one of the drain covers in my garden has collapsed under the pressure of the excess water. Water is rushing though the garden as I type. This has happened before, but Barratts came out and 'fixed' it and we haven't had a problem for 18 months. The part exchange surveyor is coming round next week and I am petrified that they are going to reject the part exchange due to this problem.

The second issue is our deck. The garden has a really steep dip, so we built a deck to even it out a little. the builder said that we did not need planning permission, however it is higher than 300mm at its steepest point. It does not make it any higher than the patio. Is this going to cause a problem? Will I need to apply for retrospective planning permission?

Any help will be gratefully received - I am feeling sick from worry as I don't want to lose the reservation fee on my new house. I don't want to talk to anyone in an official capacity as I don't want to cause problems that might not really be problems!

LittleWonder_2

Shameless bump!

poppysarah

So has your house ever flooded due to this water?

Can you sort it so it doesn't look like it's happened?

What do you mean by deck? A platform? Do you have the receipt for the building work/and or guarantee?

terrierlady

call customer service at barratts how long nhbc have you left, the p/x usally is just same as normal survey if worse comes explain your waiting for the builder to fix it if app.

LittleWonder_2

Thanks for your replied. The house has never flooded - the water runs away from the house. The flow has slowed down and I can now see that the water has ripped through the ground! Could i be sued for witholding information like this?

As for the deck, it is about 3m x 2m and level with the patio. Without the deck, all that is left is a very steep bit of garden.

I don't have the receipt from the builder - it was quite a while ago. Not sure if this would make a difference.

i phoned Barratts and they were bloody useless! Although it is still un NHBC they said that they don't have to do anything as it is out of warranty - will never buy from them again.

Any further advice very gratefully received!

wnoktnwbr

Littlewonder wrote: »

The house has never flooded - the water runs away from the house. The flow has slowed down and I can now see that the water has ripped through the ground!

can you post a photograph? It doesn't sound like this is anything catastrophic, unless I'm misunderstanding your wording I think you mean that the ground above the drainage system has collapsed and the drainage system is exposed?

LittleWonder_2

This is what it looks like now the water has gone. I'm not a happy bunny.

You will need to delete the spaces to view it - as I'm a new user it won't let me post links...

http: //imageshack.us/photo/my-images/836/photoaer. jpg

wnoktnwbr

I can post images so here you go, so people don't have to click through.

Not sure about the implications of that, appears to me that it's as I speculated before: the structure of the water system below is poor, hopefully someone else can help.

ticktack_2

Littlewonder wrote: »

Thanks for your replied. The house has never flooded - the water runs away from the house. The flow has slowed down and I can now see that the water has ripped through the ground! Could i be sued for witholding information like this?

If you fail to disclose information requested on the property information form you can be sued.

Some questions you can just say "please rely on inspection", but the last time I bought there was a question about whether there had been any disputes or disagreements affecting the property. Barratt's refusal to accept responsibility might fall under this heading. I think there's one about planning permissions also.

Can you ask your conveyancer?

LittleWonder_2

I will ask the conveyancer - better to be safe than sorry. They have been really unhelpful so far, so I'm not holding out much hope.

ticktack_2

Littlewonder wrote: »

I will ask the conveyancer - better to be safe than sorry. They have been really unhelpful so far, so I'm not holding out much hope.

Good luck, I hope it works out ok for you.