property boundaries have changed since we offered.

Alleyrabbit

Hi, I am looking for advice and help on what I should do next.


We are currently in the process of buying a house, we were hoping to have completed by Christmas. we knew that the house we were buying was part of a larger parcel of land that was being split by the current owners and sold in 2 parts, the other part having planning permission for a barn conversion.


We were in a position to exchange, with all the searches and plans having been reviewed and agreed.


Then yesterday we were made aware that, for part of the planning for the barn conversion, a large area of our current driveway would need to be made shared ownership and one or the other party given right of access across this land to a new gate access.
None of the plans we have been provided with previously, or in any of the discussions we have had with the agent or owner have said that the property boundaries would be changing in any way. (the barn currently has a gate access to the road so we had assumed this would be their access).


This means that we are losing an area of land from our agreed purchase, changing from having a private drive access to a shared access, will have the hassle of rebuilding our driveway and increased (temporary) traffic associated with the redevelopment of the property next door. All 2 days before we were looking to exchange.


We still love the house, and the driveway will still be adequate for our needs so don't really want to lose the sale but I have no idea what to do now, we have questions out with the solicitors about how we are only just finding out about this after nearly 5 months after we had an offer accepted and what this means, but I'd appreciate any advice on what we need to do next, any questions we should be asking?


Cheers

Comms69

I'd ask them what they're offering pricewise in exchange for your agreement

daveyjp

It may be the planning wasn't sorted and the planning department have now insisted the existing driveway must be used, not a field gate.

Have a look at the planning portal for the planning officer's report to see what highways had to say.

However if you still want to buy you will need to renegotiate the price and also have contracts redrafted to incorporate new rights of access, you will also need to agree reinstatement works for the drive should building work begin - you of course will not be paying for the extra legal work.

Aylesbury_Duck

I reckon daveyjp is correct, that the planning department have imposed the condition to avoid sanctioning an extra entrance/exit to the road.

I would advise the vendor that you are considering revising your offer in the light of the change to the property description. Then you should quantify the things you can, such as how much it will cost to reinstate the shared driveway after it's been used as an access road to a building site and what extra conveyancing costs you might incur to draw up the revised agreements. Then you should attach a value to the disadvantage of a shared access versus what you thought you were buying. Add the two together, deduct it from your accepted offer and make a new offer.

Ozzuk

Certainly the property is worth less. The rest is down to how you feel. For me, I would never put up with a shared driveway - there are just too many horror stories. you could be lucky, awesome neighbours that never cause an issue, or you could end up hating the house and being desperate to move.

What can happen? Owners/guests blocking your drive "Its only for a few minutes"; lack of privacy; more difficult to secure frontage (especially an issue if you have dogs). The list goes on. I'd think long and hard about this.

pinkshoes

How big is this driveway?

Assuming you cannot park on the shared bit, how many parking spaces would that leave you with?

Is there alternative parking e.g. On the road?

I would be seeking a considerable price reduction based on these answers.

G_M

Very good points above. Just to add

our current driveway would need to be made shared ownership and one or the other party given right of access across this land to a new gate access.

It will not be 'shared ownership' and you need to establsh who the owner will be - you or the neighbour.

One of you will own, the other have Right of Way.

What are the exact terms of the ROW?
* to pass and re-pass only?
* to park?
* on foor and or vehicular?
* maximum size/weight of vehicles (what happens if neighbours do building wwork and cement mixers are using the ROW)?

And critically, who will be responsible for repairs and maintenance and how will this be agreed?

Davesnave

Ozzuk wrote: »

Certainly the property is worth less. The rest is down to how you feel. For me, I would never put up with a shared driveway - there are just too many horror stories. you could be lucky, awesome neighbours that never cause an issue, or you could end up hating the house and being desperate to move.

Surely it depends on particular circumstances and layouts. We don't seem to be discussing a typical semi-dee here.

However, many people do see the issue in black & white terms, which is why I plan to gift a seperate drive to my neighbour, rather than continue to share an access that has never been any problem, nor could be, because of the layout.

So yes, there are price considerations, which sit beyond and above day to day practicalities.

chappers

I would be very wary of this. You are going to do a deal with someone over a piece of land you are going to have to share access over with a party as yet unknown.
How desperate is your vendor to sell. for example would he sell the barn and then wait until it was finished before selling your plot, if not then you might have him over a barrel. I would then maybe open the negotiations by saying this wasn't part of the deal and that you are seriously thinking about pulling out of the deal as your property will be devalued. see what he says

Aspiration

I rarely comment however saw this post and felt the need. We bought a house in 2013 with a shared driveway and had reservations at the time, however still proceeded as we thought it would be alright.

How wrong we were! Our next door neighbour was always paranoid about being blocked in and we began hearing that our next door neighbour had fallen out with the previous owners of our house due to the driveway.

This was not disclosed and we've since found out that solicitors were involved and this is why they sold the house.

After spending thousands on solicitors and mediation we've now agreed to split the cost of works for my neighbor to get their own access and remove their rights to cross my lands and I'll remove mine from theirs (we're allowed to turn on their driveway).

Solicitors cost £3500, half of their costs£12500 so currently £16 k spent with lots of upset to my wife caused by the solicitors letters and bad feeling.

I'd never buy another house with a shared driveway and would personally walk away whilst you still can.

Just my current situation which I wanted to share.

Aspiration

Re the additional driveway from obtaining planning permission with an architect for next doors driveway I'd advise reading the local authorities hardstanding advice I think comes from the highways agency. It outlines the criteria for creating a new driveway, am pavement amendments etc. Worth a read and quick Google search. The local planners told us in the main if highways advice and criteria was met they never really objected.