Indemnity Insurance and Buyers Surveyor

littlerock

My sister is selling her house which she purchased in 2003 on a Nationwide mortgage. One of the reasons for buying it was the roof space had been converted into a room to use as a home office. The person who sold it to her told her it had been done by the previous owner some years before they bought it.

Recently she agreed a sale with a potential buyer. Now she has been asked by her buyer's solicitor for detailed info on the planning permission, building regs etc for the roof space conversion and to pay for an indemnity against future claims. When her solicitor queried why, he was told that the buyer's surveyor had asked her neighbour when the conversion took place ,(although it is not visible from outside) and they said they thought 2005 which he put in the survey report.

Of course this is incorrect and was never verified with my sister or her solicitor. In fact my sister has her original purchase info and paperwork which shows extension was already there, in 2003 when she purchased the house. No extra paperwork was requested at the time and there are no external alterations. However it is the buyers survey and she has no official right to see it and only knows this unofficially via her own solicitor. Surely just using hearsay from neighbour and not checking back is unprofessional work by the surveyor?

Also the house is currently empty and her neighbour on the other side recently tried to pinch a slice of her front garden, quite illegally, to make a hard standing for his car. She sent him a solicitors letter which made it clear he had to stop (he had misread his own deeds) and she thinks he may have approached/been approached by the surveyor too because the buyer has requested an indemnity over the extent of her front garden and a signed undertaking from the neighbours that both accept this. There were never any problems until her neighbour got it into his head that his garden was wider than it really is ,(relates to plots being at an angle to the road. It is quite clear legally what size her front garden us, also on the deeds.)

could my sister pull out of the sale?

eddddy

littlerock wrote: »

Should she could pull out of the sale?

You need to clarify your question, but...

Either the seller or the buyer can choose to pull out of the transaction.

Either party can pull out up until exchange of contracts. Based on your description, it's pretty certain that exchange of contracts hasn't happened.

littlerock

I meant my sister as seller (have edited original post to make it clearer) and yes I don't think contracts have been exchanged.

AlexMac

She can pull out, but reassure her that she needn't. While she may have a nervous or cautious buyer, neither issue is a barrier to this or future sales.

Presumably she has, or will, receive the standard written enquiries from the buyer's solicitor (via her own solicitor). These include questions abour whether she has done any building work (in which case they'd then ask for any permissions or building regs sign-off) and if there have been any neighbour disputes.

Just answer these honestly. It's unlikely that the loft room needed Planning permission unless she lives in a conservation area. Even if it didn't get building control sign off, any structural problems would have shown by now. No reasonable buyer should get stressed by work done over 15 years ago, and the indemnity will cost peanuts.

The boundary dispute seems starightforward too- in fact it wasn't even a dispute as much as a misunderstanding or innocent mistake by the neighbour, which she can claim, was simply resolved.

So just keep it simple rather than running scared

eddddy

Based on what you say, my reply to my solicitor might be something like this:

"The loft was already converted when we purchased the property in xxxx. I enclose a copy of the Estate Agent's details from that time, showing the converted loft. I have no information about planning consents or building regulations in relation to the loft. [Assuming that is all true.]

I think it is unrealistically hopeful to expect my neighbour to sign an undertaking as described, because there is no benefit to my neighbour in doing so.

I suspect that any solicitor, including the buyer's solicitor, would not advise one of their clients to sign an undertaking, if it does not benefit them in any way."

littlerock

thanks for the advice