any way to claim conveyance cost from seller/estate agent?

user1168934

Hi guys

I have been in the process of buying a flat for the past 5 months. The flat was advertised with ".... access to a boarded loft area ....". The property dealer was also very happy to mention the loft as storage etc etc when we viewed. The lease however does not say anything about the use of loft area so my solicitor asked the seller to confirm that we have freeholder's consent to use the loft. Now after all this time the seller is saying that if we want to use the loft we will have to seek permission from the freeholder ourselves after completion.
Surely the seller or property agent should have checked before advertising. This seems like false advertising to me.
I am not ready to buy this flat withou the assurance to be able to use the loft. If the freeholder's don't allow us the use then the property will be worth a lot less and I may also have problems selling it in future.

If I back out now I will lose around £1200 in various searches and conveyance fees. Is there any way I can claim this fees back by taking the property agent and/or the seller to the court? Any idea on how to proceed with this?

Very stressed right now - please help.

needabed

Reduce your offer.

G_M

user1168934 wrote: »

If I back out now I will lose around £1200 in various searches and conveyance fees. Is there any way I can claim this fees back by taking the property agent and/or the seller to the court? Any idea on how to proceed with this?

Threaten to jointly sue the seller/agent with a 'Letter Before Action'. Expect to be ignored.

Then sue, and expect a 30% chance of success and a 70% chance of losing your court fees and having to pay the seller's legal costs.

LEJC

What is stopping you from contacting the freeholder to get the answer to the question before completion...


I am in the process of buying a leashold flat where the vendor claims to not know the answer to any question I ask regarding the leaseholder...but a simple google of the management company has put me in touch with someone who has quickly answered my questions over things like changing/updating front doors and windows,which could have been an issue if we had left until after completion


Sometimes it is just a case of seeking the required permission and it will be granted....so check that out yourself rather than waiting for someone else to do it.

user1168934

Thanks for the replies.
Adding to the problem is that my mortgage offer is going to expire at the end of this month. Over the past 5 months I have seen that the management company is painfully slow to respond to anything - takes 10-15 days for trivial yes no queries. So there is not much room to move. I am trying to evaluate my options so I can make a final stand.

LEJC

user1168934 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.
Adding to the problem is that my mortgage offer is going to expire at the end of this month. Over the past 5 months I have seen that the management company is painfully slow to respond to anything - takes 10-15 days for trivial yes no queries. So there is not much room to move. I am trying to evaluate my options so I can make a final stand.

My mortgage offer is also due to expire soon because of slow movement...we have been told that the solicitor needs to write to your mortgage provider to confirm still needed and should be ok.

user1168934

LEJC wrote: »

My mortgage offer is also due to expire soon because of slow movement...we have been told that the solicitor needs to write to your mortgage provider to confirm still needed and should be ok.

I have asked my solicitor and he told me that I will have to speak with my mortgage broker to see if the offer can be extended. The mortgage deal I got is not available anymore and the rates have gone up so there is a chance that the same mortgage offer may not be extended.

Even with the extended offer the question still remains that if the freeholder does not allow the use then the sale will fall through and I will lose the money.
If this happens how can I claim it back??????

From the responses so far things are not looking very bright.

G_M

Going back to your original post

The flat was advertised with ".... access to a boarded loft area ....".

Can we assume from that that the flat is on the top floor of the building & there is a loft hatch within the flat? And that the loft above is (at least part) boarded?

In that case the advert is accurate.

Your concern I assume is whether the loft area is actually included within the lease that you are purchasing? This is possible, but unlikely.

However the reality is that since the access is within the flat in question, no one else is going to use it exept once every 5-10 years for roof/water tank maintenance etc. And if you store some stuff there, no one is going to know, or care.

If your plan is to convert it into a liveable room, of course, that is a different matter entirely.

Annie1960

Fortunately for you, you may not need to go to the bother of taking the agent to court. The problem you have is exactly the type of situation the Ombudsman is there to deal with.

1. Check the EA's website, office or stationery to see which Ombudsman scheme they belong to. There are two Ombudsmans (or should that be Ombudsmen?) and by law all EAs must belong to one.

2. You will probably need to go through the EA's own internal complaints procedure first. Do this in writing, using old-fashioned paper, envelope and stamp (and get proof of posting for free from the Post Office).

3. Assuming you are now going to pull out of the transaction because the EA gave you misleading information, then state that you want restitution in the form of £XXX (whatever sums you have paid on the property so far, when you believed the loft was included).

4. If the EA says no, the take your complaint to the Ombudsman.



http://www.tpos.co.uk/downloads/reports/TPO-AnnualReport-2012.pdf

See page 44 of the above link for a similar case.

user1168934

Annie1960 wrote: »

Fortunately for you, you may not need to go to the bother of taking the agent to court. The problem you have is exactly the type of situation the Ombudsman is there to deal with.

1. Check the EA's website, office or stationery to see which Ombudsman scheme they belong to. There are two Ombudsmans (or should that be Ombudsmen?) and by law all EAs must belong to one.

2. You will probably need to go through the EA's own internal complaints procedure first. Do this in writing, using old-fashioned paper, envelope and stamp (and get proof of posting for free from the Post Office).

3. Assuming you are now going to pull out of the transaction because the EA gave you misleading information, then state that you want restitution in the form of £XXX (whatever sums you have paid on the property so far, when you believed the loft was included).

4. If the EA says no, the take your complaint to the Ombudsman.

[link removed due to MSE restriction]

See page 44 of the above link for a similar case.

Thanks. The case you have mentioned is quite similar except that in my case they did not say there was a potential to do loft conversion or anything. As such I don't intend to do conversion anyway. I just want to use it for general storage and want to be sure that I have the right/permission to use it.

davidmcn

user1168934 wrote: »

If the freeholder's don't allow us the use then the property will be worth a lot less

Maybe to you, but I doubt the open market value is likely to be significantly affected. Assuming there's no prospect of converting it anyway, it's just a bit of extra storage space.

and I may also have problems selling it in future.

and I doubt that's true either. What's the worst case scenario - someone tells the owner to shift their junk from the loft? Would anyone have the motivation to kick up a fuss about it? Is the current owner using it as storage? Without any objections?