Unadopted road

aviii

Help, I am a first time home buyer and I just found out that the house I am going to buy is on an unadopted road. I was not told this by the estate agent. The road only has 12 houses on it and it is a no through road. The road is paved with bricks and looks well maintained. I did see two streetlights and the bins outside the houses are owned by the council. I just need to know what costs there could be for me and what I need to watch out for i.e utility repairs.

marksoton

Only your solicitor can possibly answer that question.

bouicca21

You need to ask the vendor what the arrangements for maintenance are. Maybe even ask the neighbours...

moneyistooshorttomention

The neighbours may (or may not) tell it like it is re maintenance costs of an unadopted road. Meaning - they may tell it like they would like it to be personally and/or as it used to be and that may bear small resemblance to standard 21st century thinking on fairness/equal stakeholders/appropriate consultation and negotiation.

There should be a residents association that holds regular meetings/has a Secretary and Chairperson and minutes of the meeting and a special bank account for monies towards this (ie that no-one but no-one can get at for personal purposes - including anyone living in the road that actually owns the land underneath that road).

There may - or may not - be such a residents association. With 12 houses in the road - then there is a reasonable chance that there is such a thing and I would suggest asking about it.

On the other hand - it may be more informal than that and it's just down to a "general chat" at intervals between all parties concerned and they reach a mutual agreement.

The worst case analysis is there may be Someone who takes it upon themselves to form their own personal opinion about what's what and then tries to impose it by force (or apathy) on the other residents. That person might (or might not) be down in their Deeds as being "road owner". They might, on the other hand, be a general busybody of the type that likes to be "in control" and will try to bully their way through to getting what they personally want.

It would be useful if you can work out which of these particular set-ups it is in advance. Though if it's a someone trying to act like "lord of the manor" and/or "being a busybody bully" you may decide to just keep quiet about knowing how things used to be and act in accordance with how they should be/the way one could reasonably expect them to be in the 21st century:cool: - ie an obvious expectation of things being done properly (eg with everyone having their fair share of the say about what's what and being a totally equal stakeholder in things).

marksoton

You need to get this sorted.

I pay £65 a square metre for macadam And i work for a large company and enjoy discounts.

Imagine if they slapped you with a full road reinstatement.

Block paviors are potentially even more expensive to replace.

You need clarification from your legal representation. Not hearsay from others.

bouicca21

There are two Unadopted roads that I know well. One is maintained to a very high standard, and obviously has some sort of maintenance agreement.

The other is appalling, full of pot holes (big ones). At one end some of the residents contribute to the cost of buying gravel to fill the holes once a quarter. At the other end the residents refuse, so the potholes are even bigger. If the council ever decided to adopt the road it would cost a fortune, so the residents resist. The advantage is that no motorist would ever drive there unless absolutely necessary, so it is lovely and quiet.

The residents of the well maintained road on the other hand have had to put in a barrier to stop the hoi polloi from using it.

moneyistooshorttomention

I can think of another unadopted road (without an "owner") and it was badly-maintained for some time. It's now a patchwork - of bits outside some homes that are well-maintained and bits outside other homes that aren't. I've come to the conclusion the reason for that is that someone found out that the owners of the houses in the road might be deemed liable by anyone who decided to pull that stunt of claiming for a car getting damaged outside their home.

Hence everyone that is concerned about that and has the money has done the bit immediately outside their own home - not to fall foul of someone deciding to pull a claim for car damage stunt. Those who are more optimistic about human nature and/or can't afford it haven't done the bit outside their home.

What would I do in that particular road? I'd be one of the ones that did the bit just outside my home (ie along my frontage and up to the halfway point in the road).

Re residents resisting a Council adopting a road - I can't see any Council anywhere in the country ever imposing "adopting" of a road ever again against the residents will during my lifetime. Considering that some Councils are now doing their darndest not to adopt roads that are, quite obviously, theirs to adopt - ie the houses on that road and the road itself have only just been built and quite clearly the Council is due to adopt it. We are seeing quite a few threads on here now about Councils refusing to adopt newly-built roads and making those houses have a private maintenance agreement instead.

marksoton

The adoption of roads varies from council to council ( As does much! )

A section 38 is normally the main driver (See what i did there)

However it's almost always connected to a section 278 by definition.

You can't connect a new road to the old network without both.

A councils decision on whether to adopt very much depends on whether the development was considered required and meets their housing quota.

ukcarper

I have lived in an unadopted road for 30 years and has caused me no problems.

marksoton

ukcarper wrote: »

I have lived in an unadopted road for 30 years and has caused me no problems.

I don't doubt it. But what is the road makeup/ trafficking and requirement?

G_M

I grew up on an unadopted private road that was also a commuter rat run.

as the commuters were charged for using it, maintenance costs were never a problem.

I quite enjoyed helping out collecting the threepences (or whatever it was).

In your case, only the Title documents can tell you what rights you have over the road, and what obligations too.