Seller Doesn't Have Proper Planning Consents?

fallen121

Our new neighbour is an amateur property developer and ripped out traditional timber framed windows in a listed building and replaced them with ugly white uPVC. We informed the Council who came and took photos and wrote to him advising that he needed to apply for restrospective planning permission/listed buildings consent.

He's now put the house back on the market without having applied for any consents as it is still within the so-called "grace" period.

Can someone please explain to me how this was allowed to happen? I thought a seller was supposed to put together a "Seller's Pack" with all this sort of information?

With so many people now buying houses using call centre conveyancing instead of experienced solicitors who check stuff properly, what is to stop some young couple buying the property and landing themselves with a massive and expensive headache?

Wish I could do something to prevent this train wreck from happening but it looks as though Planning Laws are a joke and relatively unenforceable if someone has the guts to brazen it out?

Riggster

1. A buyer with any brains would realise this is a listed building with PVC windows and mention this to their conveyancing solicitor.

2. A buyer with any brains would employ a decent conveyancing solicitor who would spot this.

3. An on-line solicitor still has the same duty of care as a traditional solicitor.

4. A mortgage lender's valuation surveyor would notice this.

5. What seller's pack?

6. What's it got to do with you?

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

Riggster wrote: »

What's it got to do with you?

Good answer

Guest101

Agreed, sounds like sour grapes - he got to modernise the build and resell, at presumably a profit

eddddy

fallen121 wrote: »

.....

He's now put the house back on the market without having applied for any consents as it is still within the so-called "grace" period.

Can someone please explain to me how this was allowed to happen? I thought a seller was supposed to put together a "Seller's Pack" with all this sort of information?

.....

Assuming this is in England or Wales, there are questions on the seller's Property Information Form which will flag this up. For example:

3.1 Have any notices or correspondence been received or sent
(e.g. from or to a neighbour, council or government
department), or any negotiations or discussions taken place,
which affect the property or a property nearby? If Yes, please
give details


4.4 Are there any planning or building control issues to resolve?
If Yes, please give details

Based on what you say, if the seller answered "No" to both of those questions, a new owner would have a practically watertight case for suing the seller for the cost of reinstating traditional timber windows.

fallen121

Guest, Blackbeard and Riggster - how bloody patronising can you get! Have any of you people ever OWNED a listed building? Telling me to butt out because the "poor bloke" has to "modernise and make a profit". What complete and utter NONSENSE. This isn't some !!!!!! council estate it's a conservation village. So excuse me if I want to be involved and prevent a lovely 18th century cottage with some quite unique features from turning into some uPVC horror story merely because someone couldn't give two hoots about our built heritage.

It's because people have spent the the last 50 years saying "what's it's got to do with you?" that many of our finest buildings have disappeared.

I'm not in the business of buying and selling houses so I hoped someone would explain the checks and balances that help nip this sort of thing in the bud. But you didn't have to be so downright NASTY.

Sour grapes HOW? I have no desire for uPVC. It might work in a modern home, but older properties need to breathe and uPVC invariably causes condensation and damp.

Thanks Eddddy - it's actually Scotland, but most of what you said makes sense as the Property Information Form sounds very much like the Sellers Pack we have here. Great to know there are still some helpful MSErs on here!!

By the sounds of it, it doesn't sound like this sale will come to anything and the Enforcement guys will catch up with him before he has a chance to disappear.