Planning Permission not disclosed

Smudge1980

Good morning all.

Newbie here so go easy please! I hope to be an active part of the forum moving forwards so hello to all.

My partner and I have put in an offer (that has been accepted) on a cottage which has a green to the front of the property about 20 foot from the front door.

I did some further investigation on this land after noticing that a fence had been erected around this field at some point over the past few months (older photos and google street view shows the land with no fence).
When searching under the council planning pages, i came across applications made by the landowner to build a house there which has been rejected. He has since then applied for a smaller house and then even just a double garage (presumably to get anything built so that there is precedent for more). These applications have been going on for at least 5 years. Potentially the site could fit two houses on it quite comfortably with space for a drive etc...

I noticed that for past planning applications there has been strong opposition from the Hamlet including the seller of our property but on the vendor forms she neglected to mention that there are applications for planning very close to the property we are buying. Should she have disclosed this?

We both still love the house and i'm not convinced it would put us off buying but my concern is that the house was valued based on there being no property there and with planning applications being made, i'm worried about overpaying from a re-sale point of view should we need to and also from a mortgage valuation perspective.

I'm sure the solicitor local searches will show up these applications.

My questions is, how would you go about dealing with the agent and the vendor? I don't really want to put the house purchase at risk but it has been on the market for over 6 months and a couple of prior sales fell through so i'm starting to guess this may be the reason why.

Many thanks

Smudge

Doozergirl

Is there a planning application in at the minute? If there isn't then your vendor hasn't neglected to say anything.

House prices really are not affected by nearby development unless your house suddenly becomes part of a semi or terrace because of it.

Mortgage valuations certainly do not take into account the fact that there is an empty plot opposite or not. Mortgage companies know better than most that houses do get built

It doesn't sound like the applicant has much hope of getting anything if he can't even get a garage on it. A garage does not set a precedent for a house anyway. Far from it.

I'd be surprised if some failed planning applications by someone who sounds like a bit of a kite flyer is a strong reason for sales falling through, but there's nowt as queer as folk. The idea of a house is worse then the reality.

If you have a look at the decision notices for those applications and google the reasons given in the conclusion, you should be able to establish how strong the reasons are and how likely they are to be upheld in the future.

bouicca21

I second looking up the reasons for the failure of the applications. Site next to me had several planning applications before permission was granted, but each was rejected on issues of detail. The applicant kept tweaking the plans till he got it right.

If your applicant has changed the application so drastically it seems that much more general considerations must be in play. That probably makes it a safer bet for you. OTH I've been told that one should never buy for a view over green fields - because someone will want to build on them and may succeed.

AdrianC

So you've put in an offer, which has been accepted, then you've found out about these refused applications.

No, it is not the vendor's responsibility to make you aware of every planning application in the general vicinity of a property.


If you don't like the fact that vacant land may be built on, then you can still pull out, right up to the point of exchange - or you can reduce your offer (which the vendor would be within their rights to refuse). But, really, it shouldn't have come as a surprise that there are heavy pressures from local authorities all over the country to increase the amount of housing... I presume this fence was there when you viewed the property?

Ozzuk

You should consider if you want to live there if something was developed on that land. The applications might keep failing but given the likely profit if they succeeded they are unlikely to stop.

Nothing is certain, but a space of undeveloped land should always set alarm bells off, you never know what could be built there.

Smudge1980

Thank you for the responses. We did discuss that if the land was developed, would we still live there. My question was really more about undisclosed applications potentially having an effect on the valuation of the property to which the answer seems to be that it wouldn't as it is not having a direct imapct on the one we are buying.

We are both first time buyers so new territory for us but we are trying our best at this.

Neither of us are against new properties being built. It was just the worry of paying over the odds on something which doesn't seem to be the case. We are happy with the price we have offered however.

Cash-Cows

It sounds like as a hamlet that the general principle of development is in question as being open countryside but this is easily checked by viewing the decision notice and the officer's report.

Basically any land can potentially be developed so you can always assume that at some point someone will take a flyer.

I guess the question is does it devalue the house for you? There is also the chance it could increase the value of your house. If the land was poor a well maintained private dwellings could improve the area. It really is site a by site issue so only you would know.

AdrianC

Smudge1980 wrote: »

We did discuss that if the land was developed, would we still live there.

The ONLY way to be sure that land will never be developed is to own it yourself.

My question was really more about undisclosed applications potentially having an effect on the valuation of the property to which the answer seems to be that it wouldn't as it is not having a direct imapct on the one we are buying.

And, even if there hadn't been any previous applications, who's to say there won't be one go in on the day after you exchange contracts?

Cash-Cows wrote: »

It sounds like as a hamlet that the general principle of development is in question as being open countryside but this is easily checked by viewing the decision notice and the officer's report.

"Hamlet" is a very flexible term. Our own parish is about 140 houses spread over about 3 miles in any direction from the centre. The LA have told us our neighbourhood development plan needs to accommodate around 20 houses over the next few years.