Re-listing Indemnity

MHA2912

I am in the process of purchasing a property in Wales that dates back to before 1750. The current owner has been there for around 31 years and with various alterations has dramatically changed the internal layout (for example changing a smithy into accomodation).
At present, the property is unlisted but there is circumstantial anecdotal evidence that dated properties in the area may have been added to the listed buildings register shortly after sale with the associated restoration costs needed to be met by the new owner (alongside restoration grants). This liability to the new owner could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.
I am looking for advice on how I may indemnify myself legally at the point of sale against any possible future listing by the planning authorities post sale? Alternatively is there another legal option I could consider?

davidmcn

Is there some misunderstanding going on here? Listing applies to the condition of the property as at the date of listing, they can't retrospectively make you undo previous alterations. It would of course make future alterations or maintenance more tricky, but not to the extent of costing hundreds of thousands.
Can't say I've heard of insurance against the risk of your property being listed, though maybe someone offers it.

eddddy

MHA2912 wrote: »

At present, the property is unlisted but there is circumstantial anecdotal evidence that dated properties in the area may have been added to the listed buildings register shortly after sale with the associated restoration costs needed to be met by the new owner (alongside restoration grants). This liability to the new owner could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

I can believe that local authorities might rush to list buildings when they change hands - because that's often when people want to make major changes to a property.

But as davidmcn says, the owner cannot be forced to undo any alterations made before the listing.


It can result in anomalies, like this one I came across:

The owner of a period property replaced ornate cast-iron gutters and down-pipes with cheap plastic ones. Then the property was later listed.

A later owner needed to repair the gutters and down-pipes. The planning authority said that the owner could replace like-for-like (i.e. cheap plastic) without needing consent. But if the owner wanted a different style, he would need consent - and they would only give consent for ornate cast-iron, like the originals.

He couldn't afford to get cast-iron stuff specially made, so he had to replace with like-for-like cheap plastic.

Davesnave

What you've been told isn't a surprise to me. We were told something similar when viewing a ramshackle property in Ceredigion around 2008.

At the time, we thought the agent was trying to put us off, probably because he had a local developer friend in mind for the house; something that seemed confirmed when we saw him greet a another person at the site just after we'd left. It was obvious they'd met before.

However, we were wrong. Around last Christmas time, I found a blog related to that property, which showed the purchasers were ordinary people, not serial developers. They'd welcomed the listing and worked with local craftspeople to restore the small house, using traditional materials and methods.

It was all a far cry from the future we had in mind for the house and it's 10 acre site, before we were warned off!