Bought a flat which was incorrectly advertised

tp86

Hi everyone, hoping to get a little prod in the right general direction as to how to resolve a problem that's emerged with a house we bought in 2014.

We bought a central london apartment that was clearly advertised by the estate agent as having parking. The flyer/advertisment listed 'Private Parking' as a property feature, and the description states 'Further benefits include private off street parking'.

The car park, which is behind the gated entrance to the apartment building, has several spaces. It emerged during the year that some non-residents were parking there and the whole thing was generally badly organised - the management company went to the land registry to figure out who owned which spots with a view to marking each space clearly (and charging maintenance fees to those apartments with parking). That search by the management company has revealed that our flat in fact does not have a parking space.

Being in central london, I feel private gated parking has some significant value. What, if anything, would be our recourse here? I assume that if the last owner deliberately lied or the estate agent exagerated the features of the property that we should have a claim. Would it not also have been the duty of our solicitor to verify the land registry records against what is featured in the marketing material, or would this not be within scope?

Would appreciate any advice anyone can give. thank you in advance!

AdrianC

Did you ask your solicitor to verify that there was a parking space included?

tp86

we didn't - but do you have to ask your solicitor specifically what you want out of them? I didn't for instance ask them specifically 'please ensure the leasehold is as advertised', but they did. I would have assumed that verifying the property was as advertised would be a basic part of the conveyancy, but I may just be being ignorant...

AdrianC

tp86 wrote: »

we didn't - but do you have to ask your solicitor specifically what you want out of them?

So, umm, how was he meant to know that you expected a parking space?

EVERY flat has a lease. Very few central London flats have a parking space.

Person_one

Was it you who posted this remarkably similar thread a few days ago?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5441543

If so, why the new user name? You know you could have just carried on in that thread if there was new info...

pathtofreedom

You need to talk to your solicitor really. If you're spending that much money and the parking space is important to you, did you ask them to confirm you own it? Depending where in london they go for tens of thousands so something that expensive really it is up to you to instruct your solicitor to check these things before you buy.

A place I'm buying has a private road for the access. For me that was an important issue to make sure I had right of way access and wasn't liable for repairs etc.

So if you didn't expecitly ask your solicitor about this, and make sure yourself you understood all the lease / paperwork they sent you at the time to check for it then it is just a lesson learned.

Can you ask them how much a space would cost, and see if you can buy it now? Or ask them to make you aware the next time one comes up for sale?

tp86

Person_one wrote: »

Was it you who posted this remarkably similar thread a few days ago?

If so, why the new user name? You know you could have just carried on in that thread if there was new info...

I wasn't actually, but you are right that it's staggeringly similar. I've messaged that user to see if we're talking about the same property as I think a few people have been receiving similar news from our management agents over the past few days.

So, umm, how was he meant to know that you expected a parking space?

As I said, I assumed this would be a fairly basic aspect of conveyancy. The solicitors were in frequent contact with the estate agent and I had assumed that verifying the contents of what was advertised would have been an obvious part of verifying the legality of the sale. This may be ignorant of me as a first time buyer, but it seems unnecessary to be so condescending toward me.

If we assume, then, that by me not mentioning the parking to the solicitor it was outside of the scope of their services, does this leave me with recourse to the vendors of the house, who clearly (if ignorantly) sold the property under the premise of having a parking space?

AdrianC

No. Ensuring that you're buying what you think you're buying is your responsibility.

pathtofreedom

Do you have it in writing from the vendor saying it comes with a space? If you look at the estate agent listing there is normally a disclaimer, I'm paraphrasing but saying the listing is dependant on you getting your solicitor to check it all and it might be wrong.

People replying aren't being condensing, buying a house is a nightmare, be it for a FTB or even if you've done it a few times, as every place will have gotcha's of one sort or another. Be they legal, structural, land access, land included or whatever.

If you talk to your solicitor, and reread through everything you were sent through at the time, that should clarify if the space was meant to be included in the sale or not mentioned anywhere. If it isn't mentioned then you didn't buy it, so you'll just have to see how much one costs and remember this lesson next time you move to take the time to get the solicitor to go through all the paperwork, especially where it isn't freehold, to understand what you're buying. It might be worth paying a bit extra and doing this now anyway, just so you really understand what you have bought and what your liabilities etc are.

tp86

But that wouldn't be the case for normal goods, so why would it be the case for a house purchase? A car manufacturer could not lie about the specification of a vehicle and then say "hey, you should have done your own research online before buying the car"

tp86

Thanks, this is very helpful. I'll review the literature again to see if there are any disclaimers.