Problems with new house purchase.

moonriver

Hi Everyone

I need your advice. Lots of boundary problems with the home we moved into 9 months ago.
The main issue:-
Title deeds say 572m squared, actual is 538. They have offered us a 'goodwill gesture" of £5000.
I am annoyed that they have fraudulently sold us land that didn't exist and that we have paid mortgage and interest on this land. It should be a refund + interest + compensation they give us but how much should I demand?
I am in Scotland.
Does anyone have any knowledge on this point?

Moonriver

silvercar

Is there a clause in the contract that says measurements are approximate?

Their goodwill gesture will be meant to cover everything but is offered without admitting liability.

Question is do you want to give the house back for a full refund or accept the house with a discount? I would suggest seeing a solicitor (try the one who acted for you on purchase). If they are ofereing you £5000 they must know there measurements are beyond the normal errors.

epz_2

how much did you pay for the house, assuming most of the purchase price is the house you need to factor in how much difference this this makes to the value of the home.

frankly unless the are in £500k territory i doubt with legal fees etc are going to be worth more than the £5k goodwill offer

moonriver

Thanks to you both

We want a discount. Their error (admitted) is approx 8% of total area. House cost £300K now worth £400k so it's worth going for. Also neighbour in same boat. (incidentally, builders didn't mention it to my neighbours even when we informed them of error). We have asked for setting out details so we can see exactly where they got the area from since even now they say we have lost less land than we have calculated (£5k based on their calculation). If anyone has any experience of this I'd be glad of their input.

Moonriver

epz_2

its basicly up to you but as i see it the builders are valuing your garden at £62500, now you aint going to get compensated for prices going up and what you could potentially have made, you might be able to haggle but honestly how much extra do you think you would have paid for the bigger garden.


ot but if you really think the house has gone up in value by 100k in 9 months then take the 5k, treat it as 9 months free rent and buy somewere else unless your aberdeen (oil money) then the rest of the market is stagnent in scotland

PROFESSIONAL_LANDLORD

Reckon you would have to instruct a surveyor to put a value on the property with and without the 34 sq m. Problem is, it's now garden ground, if it were a building plot your claim for compensation would be much stronger, might be an idea to speak to the planning dept: ask for copies of drawings and check measurements of your site and the neighbouring properties if possible, it's not uncommon for builders to exaggerate the size of a site for their own means, If you can squeeze a couple of more houses on a site, LUVVLY JUBBLY!!


Be careful you don't end up fighting a ( just ) cause and ending up spending fortunes on fees.

nobblyned

Would you honestly have offered x amount less for the house had it been on a plot of 538 vs 572 m sq?

Was this an established house when you could see the size of the plot when you bought, or a new bulid where you bought off plan? Your case is obviously more material in the latter situation.

The old rule of thumb used to be 1/3 land price, 1/3 building price and 1/3 profit. Hence valuing your land at purchase (as a building plot) at 100k, so 8% being 8k. Considering it is now garden and not usable building plot 5k doesn't sound far off the mark.

I'd try and squeeze them for a couple more k in negotiation and then put the matter to bed. You could give yourself a lot of stress and expense for not very much.

moonriver

Thank you all for your help.

The rule of thumb from nobblyned is exactly what I was looking for and helps to clarify things. I have just found out it could cost up to £1000 to change Title Deeds too. I am only looking for what is fair but they are preventing me from selling my house because the deeds are erroneous. They are delaying (known since March/April) getting proper details of the land also. So I reckon compensation is also in order.....they know I want to sell because of the lack of disabled features that are now needed. I bought off plan and intended putting extention on house but land is short as a result. So this was never a petty attempt to extort money but a justified claim.
Many, many other issues with this house so to coin a phrase "I'll be back"!

Thanks for all your replies and help.
Moonriver