Barratt Homes Contract Clause - Can this be legally challenged?

Katie30

Hi,

Sorry but I couldn't find a more appropriate forum to put this under. I have submitted plans to my local council to build an extension on my Barratt Home which was built in 1984. I have a mortgate on it with Britannia (I purchased the property in 2000). I have a copy of the deeds in which Barratt state "not to erect any building or other structure or carry out any building operations whether of a permanent or temporary nature on the property without prior written approval of the Transferor (Barratt Bradford Ltd) to a sufficiently detailed drawing thereof".

My architect has contacted them and they want £235 and a copy of the plans. Now my local authority planning fee only amounted to £400, so how on earth they can justify this amount and call it an "adminstration fee" I do not know!!!! The house is not under warranty with Barratt, i.e. the NHBC 10 year certificate, the property is FREEHOLD so surely this clause is invalid? It is just a licence to print money.

I have tried the Office of Fair Trading but was directed to Trading Standards which their scope does not cover this kind of situation. I have tried legal advice and they say I am bound by the contract and have to pay. My only hope is this site, I'm even considering contacting my local MP.

Has anyone else had this problem? Any help or guidance in the right direction would be appreciated.

pickles110564

When you bought this house did it not state this clause in the deeds?
You would have known about this before you purchase so why whine about it now.
If you did not know about it perhaps next time you will make an effort to read all the terms of the contract.

brazilianwax

They don't have to 'justify it'.

It's a common clause, and usually they will agree to it. Yes, it is designed to make them money, but that is their perogative.

If you want the extension, you'll have to pay the fee. I'm guessing the extension will cost a few grand, so a couple of hundred is probably worth it.

If you don't get their permission, you'll probably find yourself having trouble if you ever try and sell the property, as the buyer will want to see that all permissions were granted.

I don't see what your MP will actually be able to do.

wecanhelpu

This is what is known as a "nice litle earner".

Many builders do this sort of thing and there's not a lot you can do apart from negotiate a lower fee.

good luck

BOOTNECKDRIVER

Hi there, probably not the correct place to leave this but I,m new here so bear with me please.
At the moment myself and partner are doing a "part exchange" with BARRATT HOMES, all is well apart from they have a cunning way to hold you to Ransom and for want of a better word Dictate to you who your mortgage lendor shall be.
When you make the decision that you want the house you have to call "New homes Mortgage help line" for an affordabillty check, when this is done you have the usual EA,s round to value your property and the offer is made with incentives which I can only say are fantastic on this house.
Then when you go to sign the reservation papers they say that the deal will be garunteed to go through and you will keep all incentives only if you use who their Finance team get a Mortgage for you through.
If you use your existing lender and they take more than 28 days to get everything in place then you loose your deposit your incentives and the house is put back on the market by the developer.
So in short we are going to have to move lenders pay our Fine for ending our mortgage early go to another lender that is not of our choice.