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Agricultural tie on property
Comments
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Unfortunately, what you need to do is go and see a solicitor with a view to suing the solicitor who acted for you during your purchase. If you bought a property with an agricultural tie, it should have been at a deep discount to the price for a property without an agricultural tie. The discount would be a matter for expert evidence, but quite possibly 30% to 50% of the price you paid. Even if you can get the agricultural tie lifted, you still paid far too much, and your solicitor ought to have picked that up.
If you do apply to have the agricultural tie lifted, that is a very risky process, as you may not succeed. You will then appear on the council's radar, and it may well take enforcement action against you.
Consequently, you really need to find yourself a good litigation solicitor. I am the last one normally to recommend litigation, as it is very stressful, but unfortunately you have bought a pup and your solicitor really should have picked this point up. (Again, it would be a matter of expert evidence whether the agricultural tie is a point that an ordinarily competent solicitor would pick up, but I am assuming that it is.)No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0 -
Thank you GDB2222. The whole situation looks as though it is going to be a nightmare. I was really hoping not to have to go down the stressful litigation route. I do feel that the Council also has a case to answer by not disclosing the tie in the searches. The property was/is in disrepair and very overgrown which we felt was reflected in the purchase price at the time. If the Council takes enforcement action against us I'm assuming we won't be forced to sell at a loss?0
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Thank you GDB2222. The whole situation looks as though it is going to be a nightmare. I was really hoping not to have to go down the stressful litigation route. I do feel that the Council also has a case to answer by not disclosing the tie in the searches. The property was/is in disrepair and very overgrown which we felt was reflected in the purchase price at the time. If the Council takes enforcement action against us I'm assuming we won't be forced to sell at a loss?
Yes, you will be forced to sell at a loss – or very rapidly take up employment in agriculture!
I am assuming that somewhere in the searches it showed the agricultural tie, or your solicitor was at fault for not doing the right type of searches? If the council gave the wrong information and did not disclose the agricultural tie to your solicitor when they ought to have done, I assume that you will have a case of maladministration against the council. In some ways, that is less stressful, as you can complain through the various stages of the council's complaints procedure and if necessary go to the local government ombudsman for redress.
Either way, you need a solicitor to help you go through the documents, to find out whether anybody was at fault, and if so who? The fact that things are going badly for you does not necessarily mean that somebody else is at fault, but I think it is highly likely.No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0 -
Yes, you will be forced to sell at a loss – or very rapidly take up employment in agriculture!
I am assuming that somewhere in the searches it showed the agricultural tie, or your solicitor was at fault for not doing the right type of searches? If the council gave the wrong information and did not disclose the agricultural tie to your solicitor when they ought to have done, I assume that you will have a case of maladministration against the council. In some ways, that is less stressful, as you can complain through the various stages of the council's complaints procedure and if necessary go to the local government ombudsman for redress.
Either way, you need a solicitor to help you go through the documents, to find out whether anybody was at fault, and if so who? The fact that things are going badly for you does not necessarily mean that somebody else is at fault, but I think it is highly likely.
Thanks again for your reply. I agree someone is at fault but I must admit I had not considered the solicitor could have been guilty; I assumed it had to be the Council.
I can see that this will be a stressful and expensive time for me.0 -
My heart goes out to you. It's a terrible position to find yourself in.No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0
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My heart goes out to you. It's a terrible position to find yourself in.
I think your advice is very sound but, there isn't any evidence on the face of it that loulou paid too much or that she's in a 'terrible' position, just an uncomfortable one. This was, after all, her 'dream property' and presumably she's still enjoying living there.
I agree about taking legal advice. A good solicitor will not wish to alert the council at this stage; just try to find out who made the error. If it was the council, they would almost certainly have to accept the status quo. If it was a professional, they have insurance should there be any monetary ramifications.
If it helps, lolou should know that we bought our ag-tied property in 2009 and, thus far, the council has made absolutely no check whatever on our eligibility to live here, although we've spoken to them about it twice. Breaches are common, and we don't expect any such check will now be made, especially in the light of cut backs and pressures on local goverment. Local authorities seem to police ag-tied property with different degrees of thoroughness and therefore 'discovery' is a bit of a lottery.
And 50% off GDB? Not around here! 30% is more realistic, I think.
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Thanks for your input and yes, we do still enjoy living here but we are worried about being told to leave, obviously. The Council is aware that we are here outside of the occupancy conditions because when we applied for planning permission they advised us that the tie was in place and it was obvious that we had no prior knowledge of this. So far, we have just buried our heads in the sand hoping that the Council does not make any contact with us!I think your advice is very sound but, there isn't any evidence on the face of it that loulou paid too much or that she's in a 'terrible' position, just an uncomfortable one. This was, after all, her 'dream property' and presumably she's still enjoying living there.
I agree about taking legal advice. A good solicitor will not wish to alert the council at this stage; just try to find out who made the error. If it was the council, they would almost certainly have to accept the status quo. If it was a professional, they have insurance should there be any monetary ramifications.
If it helps, lolou should know that we bought our ag-tied property in 2009 and, thus far, the council has made absolutely no check whatever on our eligibility to live here, although we've spoken to them about it twice. Breaches are common, and we don't expect any such check will now be made, especially in the light of cut backs and pressures on local goverment. Local authorities seem to police ag-tied property with different degrees of thoroughness and therefore 'discovery' is a bit of a lottery.
And 50% off GDB? Not around here! 30% is more realistic, I think.0 -
I think your advice is very sound but, there isn't any evidence on the face of it that loulou paid too much or that she's in a 'terrible' position, just an uncomfortable one. This was, after all, her 'dream property' and presumably she's still enjoying living there.
I agree about taking legal advice. A good solicitor will not wish to alert the council at this stage; just try to find out who made the error. If it was the council, they would almost certainly have to accept the status quo. If it was a professional, they have insurance should there be any monetary ramifications.
If it helps, lolou should know that we bought our ag-tied property in 2009 and, thus far, the council has made absolutely no check whatever on our eligibility to live here, although we've spoken to them about it twice. Breaches are common, and we don't expect any such check will now be made, especially in the light of cut backs and pressures on local goverment. Local authorities seem to police ag-tied property with different degrees of thoroughness and therefore 'discovery' is a bit of a lottery.
And 50% off GDB? Not around here! 30% is more realistic, I think.
Okay, 30% off, then. The point is that it's worth 30% less than she paid for it. That's bound to be a good deal of money.
Dave, from what I understand, surely you are running your place as a farm. Just remind us how much poly tunnel space you have now? So, why would the council want to turn you out?No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0 -
Dave, from what I understand, surely you are running your place as a farm. Just remind us how much poly tunnel space you have now? So, why would the council want to turn you out?
Sorry, I did not mean to imply that we are under threat of eviction, only that our council seems pretty 'relaxed' about compliance with ag-ties, as shown by their disinterest in our prior qualification to be here. We are officially retired now.;)
It's not beyond the bounds of possibility that other councils are similarly slack.0 -
Sorry, I did not mean to imply that we are under threat of eviction, only that our council seems pretty 'relaxed' about compliance with ag-ties, as shown by their disinterest in our prior qualification to be here. We are officially retired now.;)
It's not beyond the bounds of possibility that other councils are similarly slack.
You, retired?!! Nice one!
The trouble is that now Loulou has asked for planning permission, the council is aware of the position. They might not have come looking otherwise, but now they know.No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0
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