Utility Easement Underneath the house i want to buy!

markhig2

Hi All,

First time poster!

I moved to Northern Ireland from Scotland in November last year and have been living with the in-laws until we sold in Scotland and purchased here in NI.

We had an offer accepted on a property at the end of January and everything was going well until our solicitor discovered an easement on the title deeds. After weeks of back and forth we know the following:

1. The easement is underneath the house and is for an old water mains pipe, no longer carrying water as it was re-routed for the development.
2. The easement is owned by 2 companies, the house builder and another construction company who sold the land on to the eventual builder.

My solicitor has advised against buying this house until the easement is removed, which i know is correct, but is the easement still valid if it's A) been built over and No longer carrying any water? Surely for any company to exercise their right to this easement would mean digging the house up to get to a pipe which is empty?

At the present time i'm unsure if both companies are willing to agree to removal of the easement, but the Vendor is obviously willing to pay for the removal. What cost's are we talking?

I understand i could get title indemnity insurance to cover us but would a buyer be happy with this in the future? The issue is really on re-sale, i don't want to be left with a house i can't sell 2,5,20 years down the line.

Any help or thoughts on this would be GREATLY appreciated, I'm going mad!

Thanks in advance,

Mark

G_M

An easement exists whether it is used or not (just as a Public Footpath exists even if noone but sheep use it).

You need to find out if the beneficiaries of the easement are willing to have it removed.

The main cost is likely to be the solicitors involved in the discussions/negotiations - actually removing an easement once agreed is simpe. But if the seller is willing to pay, why does it affect you?

markhig2

The seller has said they are willing to pay but their solicitor doesn't think there is an issue, so he is doing nothing about it. My solicitor on the other hand is trying all avenues which will be increasing my legal fees so i'll just have to reduce my offer to the value of my increased fees.

I just can't get my head around the fact that you are not allowed to build a permanent structure over an easement, so how can the easement still stand?

Company A's solicitor intimated that it would not be an issue from their end and company B's solicitor refused point blank at first, although we now seem to be making a little progress.