Will they find out about planning application?

staffie1

Ellsey wrote: »

'Need to be told' by who, sorry do not understand.

Potential buyers will be told by their solicitor when the local authority searches are carried out, and they will be told by you when you fill in the seller's property information form, which you will fill in truthfully.

Cash-Cows

8 bed house in multiple occupancy is probably most likely future use (subject to change of use planning application).

goodwithsaving

If that had come up when we were buying and the seller hadn't told us but it came up on searches, I would likely have pulled out because I would start wondering what else I'd find. It will also have to be declared on the forms you, as a seller, complete in the initial pack. It depends how quick their bank is at booking the surveyors vs. how quick your solicitor is at getting the draft out to their solicitor to allow their solicitor to requst LA searches. To me, and I may be wrong here, what you seem to be hoping is that they spend money on a survey and then feel tied in - that's appalling imo.

moneyistooshorttomention

ambioni wrote: »

All potential buyers should look at their local council website and search for planning applications before they think about putting in a offer on a house, the onus is very much on the buyer to do the proper research I would say. That includes checking out the neighbourhood and looking to see if the area is in a flood risk zone. All basic stuff but many buyers don't do it.

Which is a valid point - but many of us (even at a fairly advanced age....) still have a little bit of "faith in human nature" and can find out subsequently by our mistakes that we aren't yet cynical enough to "see them coming" about those less "honourable" than ourselves:o. Puts hand up here at having realised vendor of recently-bought house was "not all he shoulda been" at first sight - but been a bit blind as to JUST how far from "upfront and moral" he was:o:(. Mea culpa....but he is still probably wishing he HAD been upfront with me LOL....

ambioni

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Which is a valid point - but many of us (even at a fairly advanced age....) still have a little bit of "faith in human nature" and can find out subsequently by our mistakes that we aren't yet cynical enough to "see them coming" about those less "honourable" than ourselves:o. Puts hand up here at having realised vendor of recently-bought house was "not all he shoulda been" at first sight - but been a bit blind as to JUST how far from "upfront and moral" he was:o:(. Mea culpa....but he is still probably wishing he HAD been upfront with me LOL....

I would love to live in a world where all trade was completely ethical and where the phrase "caveat emptor" ("buyer beware") was irrelevant, but whether you are buying a house, a car or a trinket from ebay, the same rules apply and the buyer must assume that the vendor will not disclose anything that they don't have to. In a hot property market where houses are changing hands in a few days then you need to be quick but searching on SEPA/Environment agency website takes minutes, as does checking planning applications online.

If only everyone was like moneyistooshorttomention!

moneyistooshorttomention

Still feeling a bit "phew" about a house in my home area that sold earlier this year for an astonishingly low price and then re-sold on (with no work whatsoever having been done to it in the meantime) only a couple of months later for what is still an astonishingly low price BUT its tens of thousands of £s more than the first price.

I bet that is one sick as a parrot vendor from the first transaction - ie when they study just how much they were underpaid for their place by the person who bought it from them and is now promptly selling it on.

arbrighton

we looked at planning apps before putting in offers, and that helped us decide that one house wasn't an option as the green fields at the back of the house would become a massive building site for several years.

AlexMac

A savvy buyer might react badly to attempted concealment of facts, especially as the info is easily revealed by a search of the Council Planning website...but don't panic or over-react

The house selling process is very bureaucratic/tramlined, and while you might ask your solicitor, but I bet they'd advise you not to start offering random bits of information in writing until the 'Property Information Forms' arrive for you to fill in. And in my view, as it's our democratic right to object to Plan Aps, that doesn't count as a 'neighbour dispute' which would have to be declared.

The PIFs could well be filled in after your buyer has had their mortgage valuation survey, but could be before the buyer's solicitor receives the local authority search. Its up to them when and if they spend on something more expensive like a Homebuyers or Full Structural Survey.

So it depends on whether your buyers think a PlanAp for another 3 bedrooms next door is a deal-breaker; which in turn depends on a lot of local factors. And you don't say whether the Application was approved, rejected or is pending? If it's a poor area and next door plan an HMO that's probably an off-putter. On the other hand, if it's a big extended family wanting extra accomodation for staff, au-pairs, grand-parents etc, the precedent might actually be encouraging; the potential that your buyers could apply for the same might add a premmium. We sold our 4-bed house to a big family once despite its failing roof; because it was end-of-terrace and they planned a huge, bling loft conversion anyway.

And the final consideration; living next to a building site - is merely a temporary set back; so chill!

LannieDuck

Don't volunteer it, but don't conceal it either. Just fill in the property forms honestly when the time comes.

We've just bought a house where next door is having major building works. Our vendors didn't mention it, but I found it on the council's website. It did feel a little bit as if the vendors had been hoping we wouldn't notice. But we're happy to put up with six months' of building work in the short-term. I think the possible change of use to an HMO would worry me more tbh. Maybe it would be worth finding out what your neighbour's plans are?

Freecall

The government target for determining domestic planning applications is 8 weeks. Your initial notification was probably about a week into that timeframe.

It is only an application at this stage and does sound fairly extreme from the way you describe things, have you considered that it might be refused?

If your house is only 'for sale' at this stage you might find that the planning process is complete before you find a serious buyer anyway.