Rights of Way- Private Road Headache

HJC2009

After a day of being on the phone, it turns out that the Esate agent feels that the Vendor was just trying to save himself £500 and when pressed still feels he should not have to do both the policy and statement as he did not need it when he moved in and the people across the rd apparently did not need it (who moved in about 3 weeks ago) I politly told the estate agent he should not listen to such rubbish but to call up and speak to several solictors and morgage lenders and then come back with some answers that were proven accurate!

But the is speaking to his solictor apparently so we will see!- Will be chasing esate agents daily now as they have annoyed the hell out of me.

Needless to say got very cross with estate agent for not returning calls and spoke to the boss of estate agents who was much more helpful and there was alot less rubbish comming out of his mouth, have infomed them now if it not resolved by the weekend we will pull out as will need to start looking at propertys asap in the hope that it gets them to make a decsion and act quickly as I think the Vendor is an idiot and a bit of a cowboy.

He has been asked the direct question re- rights of way so we are fully covered if he lies- not that I think he will, but I am sure there will be some suprises when we move in that will require us to charge him for.

DVardysShadow

Your vendor is a fool. The declaration relating to his occupation of the property and use of the road will be quite cheap to do. And whether or not he felt he needed it, that is his affair and you feeling you do need it is your affair. Like if he did not feel he needed a roof on the house, that is OK, but it is not unreasonable for you to want one.

Catherine_Johnson_2

HJC2009 wrote: »

.......but I am sure there will be some suprises when we move in that will require us to charge him for.

Really? Are you absolutely sure this is your 'dream house'? One that will throw up 'surprises' once you move in which will mean you going back to the vendor to claim money? I don't want to be rude, but that doesn't sound much like a dream house to me! More like a nightmare if you are expecting things to go so badly wrong that you will need to seek recompense.

The vendor's attitude, the estate agent....I'd take all these as a sign that there are problems with the house. Personally, I'd be looking for my dream house somewhere else! It might just save you a lot of trouble in the future.

HJC2009

Its a nice house in the perfect area for us- we have watched the area for many years and houses rarely come on the market that are in our price range so its not only the house but the small commiunty we are paying for, it is perfect for us and the school at the end of the rd is wonderfull for children with hearing issues ( my son has Audio Neropathy and would thrive there), the propertys don't come up very often, we had a full buildings survey completed and was all fine, what I mean by suprises is the House left in a dirty state, less fixtures and fittings, I guess I don't trust the guy who lives there, in normal circumstances things I'd probably have a good moan about and not do much else, I guess I don't trust vendors at all but weighing everything up I need to do whats best for my family, however if it was not for the community I would have pulled out by now for sure.

missile

Look for another house

Blavatsky

Deifiniteyl agree that you should not proceed.Never buy any property where the the title is iffy.Why jump into a lifeboat and even if you can rectify it you will hav to explain the background when you want to sell or remortgage.The acid test is can you sell it tomorrow after the day of purchase.If possible only buy a single freehold not on an esate.Most leaseholders will admoit that they have poroblems with their landlords over repais or service charge.Don't buy a flat in mansion block becuse there will always be a service charge dispute/shortfall eg when the roof needs to be replaced.Some sellers seel when they know that major repairs are about to be carried out and you'll pick up the service charge bill.

HJC2009

Thatks the title is just defective in the sence that it has no right of way due to no-one knowing who owns the road, alot of propertys in rural areas have this and its not considered a big risk, especially since there are 60 propertys on one rd, its not on an estate and is freehold, its in a semi rural village where most of the propertys are around the million pound mark, hence only a few propertys we can afford , it is a very desirable area hence propertys do not come up very often, and I don't feel we will have any trouble selling it when/ if the time comes.
I have had a full structrual survey done so I would be shocked and could sue the surveyer if they missed anything they surveyed. The reason the vendors are selling is they are divorcing and she has moved out already, We are Morgaging it with HSBC who are one of the most picky lenders on the market so we won't have much trouble if we need to remorgage. There is NO legal arrangement to pay for the rd just a goodwill agreement , so if we did not want to pay for the upkeep of the rd, the residents association could not force it, It just done because its nice to have a decent rd and saves on wear and tear of cars and tyres.
Just a big pain that the vendors an idiot- so far thats the only real issue we have encountered.
But we feel the risk with the title is minimal as does our solictor just as the issue was clearly not addressed when the vendor purchased the property we will have to wait 12yrs before we can get claimed ROW added to the deeds.

Chrisblue1962

My two penny worth.

1. Get in touch with your Local Authority / Council and confirm whether the road in question is "adopted highway". If it is then everyone, including members of the public has a right of way to pass and re-pass along the road.

If "No", ask your Local authority's Highways dept if a Public Right of Way (PROW) exists along the road - they will have a Register of such PROWs as it is their responsibity to administer PROWs in their area.

If there is a PROW, then you may be ok BUT you will need to check if it is a footpath, bridleway or bridleway open to all traffic (BOAT) as the type of Right of Way affects who and what type of traffic can use it.

If is not "Adopted Highway" or a PROW on private land then it is a "private road on private land", which means you will need permission from the land owner to use the access road or some kind of written agreement, this is usually called "permissive right of way". If Land Registry shows that the road is owned by all the householders along the road then you may all have equal rights of access but also equal responsibility for maintenance of the highway.

Please Note: Just because a person uses a road for a period of time, even if for 20 years or so, DOES NOT mean you automatically have a "right of way", public or otherwise. Using an access road over private land without the owner's consent could be deemed as trespass.

Hope this helps.