Solicitor failed to spot planning permission

gladysrocker

He rang the solicitors yesterday who were going to get all his information together and get back to him today. I'll tell him to ring the planning dept again and ask what date the permission was granted, thank you da rule.

princeofpounds

So, if the council say permission has been granted, but their online records say it has been refused, can they point to the record where it was subsequently passed or otherwise explain the situation?

Can they also confirm if they wrote to your address or not? This will be critical for pursuing the vendors if they lied about their awareness of the development.

He can probably see the records also of objections. If one came from the vendors, even better.

It sounds like the error was not with your solicitor at least, which means you can consult them for further advice without being too cagey.

Also, take a screenshot of the record. It may change suddenly.

Thrugelmir

gladysrocker wrote: »

Yes of course he considered it Thrugelmir, hence his investigations into planning permission. But not being an expert in these things he naively assumed that as it had been turned down on two separate occasions because of the impact any building would have on the property he was purchasing and no warning flags from his solicitor that any future plans would be rejected.

Then it was only ever a question of time before an acceptable planning proposal would be submitted.

gladysrocker

It's not the property's value he's worried about it affecting Bantex and not the reason it was turned down. It was the impact the buildings will have, they are huge and on raised land so will seriously affect any sunlight he gets and will be equivalent to having a small block of flats built 6 feet from his garden wall.

da_rule

Also, what date the accepted application was also made, as the search result should show pending applications.

Brenny

gladysrocker wrote: »

Brenny he DID search the council website, part of the reason why he's so angry now! It's still showing that permission was refused it was only when he rang the council yesterday that he found out it's been granted.

Sounds like it could have gone to appeal and council hasn't updated website to show this. I would ask the question why. Also I believe the old owner can be held liable if they didn't answer questions correctly. But then, if permission was given on appeal, maybe they gave correct answer at time.

For anyone buying property I would always advise that a search is carried out on neighboring land as well.

On positive side, having nice new houses next door may even increase value once you have got over the disruption of them being built. Edit. Just seen the impact issue so my comment not particularly sensitive. Sorry!

gladysrocker

The application was made July 2013 and refused Nov 2013. My son made an offer on the property a week before Christmas.

gladysrocker

It shows on the website whether the decision has been appealed or not and it says decision not appealed. He's not bothered about the property's value at this stage, he's bothered about his quality of life and the ability to enjoy his home for the reasons he bought it, the fact that it wasn't overlooked and was in a semi rural position, both of which are no longer going to be the case.

Bantex_2

gladysrocker wrote: »

It shows on the website whether the decision has been appealed or not and it says decision not appealed. He's not bothered about the property's value at this stage, he's bothered about his quality of life and the ability to enjoy his home for the reasons he bought it, the fact that it wasn't overlooked and was in a semi rural position, both of which are no longer going to be the case.

In that case, his only option is to sell the place. There is no way the new build is going to be stopped at this stage.

This is always a risk when buying near empty land.

gladysrocker

Oh if only life were that simple Bantex! It's taken him and his partner years to save up the deposit for their own home, cost them thousands in fees and taken them months to find 'the perfect' place that was within their budget. The money pot is now empty. Even if it was a financial option, who's going to buy next to a building site?