Last minute problems

stripedbanana

FTB supposed to be completing on our purchase very soon. The conveyancing has thrown up several permission issues that are now causing a delay. In short, there are various alterations that have been made to the property and none of them have had the correct permissions. One is now rectified but more have since come to light. My solicitor, understandably, won't finalise the sale until the issues have been resolved. He maintains that since the home report states that it assumes all necessary permission was obtained for work, it was the sellers' responsibility to ensure the relevant paperwork was in place at that point. It is only now coming to light that this has not been the case. The pressing issue at the moment seems to be the lack of dropped kerb where the front garden is used as a driveway. The off street parking was a massive selling point for us and now it seems that because there's no dropped kerb, we can't actually legally park there. Not really sure where to go from here. The solicitor thinks that the sellers should be responsible for obtaining permission and having the kerb dropped before completion. I would be willing to meet the sellers half way and take on responsibility for this work in exchange for a small reduction in the sale price to reflect the cost. Given that we're right at the end of the process I don't even know if that would be an option. Very frustrated with the whole process now and no idea what to do for the best. WWYD?

davidmcn

Reducing price is fine, but (assuming you're buying with a mortgage) after you agree that in principle with the seller you'd need to go back to the lender as their valuation would no doubt have assumed there is off-street parking, and in any event to amend your mortgage offer with the new price.

AnotherJoe

If I was your buyer I wouldn't buy without permission for a dropped kerb from the council in writing. It's not the money for the work it's the uncertainty. Suppose the council don't grant it ?Then it is the money, what would that do to the house price?

AdrianC

stripedbanana wrote: »

The pressing issue at the moment seems to be the lack of dropped kerb where the front garden is used as a driveway. The off street parking was a massive selling point for us and now it seems that because there's no dropped kerb, we can't actually legally park there.

That's correct - without a drop kerb, and the correct permissions for it - there is no legal right for a vehicle to cross a footpath. It's a tarmacced garden, not a drive.

The solicitor thinks that the sellers should be responsible for obtaining permission and having the kerb dropped before completion. I would be willing to meet the sellers half way and take on responsibility for this work in exchange for a small reduction in the sale price to reflect the cost. Given that we're right at the end of the process I don't even know if that would be an option. Very frustrated with the whole process now and no idea what to do for the best. WWYD?

Whatever it takes to get it done. Is a grand either way a showstopper at this stage, given the costs and time implications of dropping out?


When you viewed the property, you would have noticed the lack of drop kerb - you placed an offer on the property in full knowledge there was no drop kerb. Whether you understood the implications of that is a separate question.

G_M

stripedbanana wrote: »

FTB supposed to be completing on our purchase very soon.
No idea why you think this. The rest of your post suggests otherwise.

... The pressing issue at the moment seems to be the lack of dropped kerb where the front garden is used as a driveway.
The off street parking was a massive selling point for us and now it seems that because there's no dropped kerb, we can't actually legally park there.
Corrrect
Not really sure where to go from here. The solicitor thinks that the sellers should be responsible for obtaining permission and having the kerb dropped before completion.
Absurd.
1) this will take months
2) the council might, after months, refuse
3) the seller might just put the propety bback on the market rather than waste time and money

I would be willing to meet the sellers half way and take on responsibility for this work in exchange for a small reduction in the sale price to reflect the cost.
Fair ennough - your choice. Bear in mind you might never get a dropped kerb
Given that we're right at the end of the process I don't even know if that would be an option.

Option
* ask the seller to reduce price (eg by half the estimated cost) and gamble that you successfuly get a dropped kerb later
* walk away if the dropped kerb is a show-stopper
* just buy, and use the drive, and hope the council never take action - how long has the seller been using the drive?

stripedbanana

We had agreed a completion date. This now won't be met. It's not a deal breaker for us, we just want keys! We would deal with it later if need be. It's the solicitor who is reluctant because it's his job to make sure we have all the relevant paperwork in place so we don't run into problems when we later sell. I don't think getting the permission itself would be a problem, around half of the street has a dropped kerb. The delay is just very frustrating this late in the game.

HampshireH

stripedbanana wrote: »

We had agreed a completion date. This now won't be met. It's not a deal breaker for us, we just want keys! We would deal with it later if need be. It's the solicitor who is reluctant because it's his job to make sure we have all the relevant paperwork in place so we don't run into problems when we later sell. I don't think getting the permission itself would be a problem, around half of the street has a dropped kerb. The delay is just very frustrating this late in the game.

So you exchanged before finding this out?

TBagpuss

Don't assume that you'll get permission just because others have - the criteria may change, or the planners may decide that adding extra dropped kerbs mean that there is too little on-street parking.

If off-street, private parking isn't a deal-breaker for you then the issue is how much does the lack of parking affect the value of the property? I'd expect a property with off-street parking to be worth more than a similar one without, in most cases, but how big the difference is would vary a lot depending on the area.

You need to know what the property is worth now it's known that it doesn't have parking, and then you can either decide to reduce your offer, or not, or to pull out. And assuming that there is a difference in price, your solicitor will have to let the mortgage lender know, and they may amend your mortgage offer.

G_M

stripedbanana wrote: »

We had agreed a completion date. ...

So you have Exchanged?

In that case your options are limited to

* Complte and deal with the kerb later

* don't Complete and pay the various costs and penalties that arise from failure to Complete

stripedbanana

To be honest I'm not sure quite where exchange came in, I don't know if the process is different in Scotland but our solicitor has been involved since the offer stage and since our offer was accepted everything has sort of merged into one. I assume we have exchanged given that the completion date was agreed and we have been sent various paperwork, but I can't say for sure. At this point I do want to just go ahead and get things finalised as soon as possible, just was a little unsure if I could go against the solicitor's advice and tell him to go ahead anyway. Either way we will miss the completion date. We won't pull out of the sale regardless, would just rather things were finalised sooner rather than this issue dragging it out any longer.

davidmcn

stripedbanana wrote: »

To be honest I'm not sure quite where exchange came in, I don't know if the process is different in Scotland

It is but mainly just different jargon here - if you haven't been told that you've concluded missives then nothing is binding, and the date of entry is just an initial suggestion which people try to work to. If your solicitor had concerns then they wouldn't have allowed you to conclude missives.

At this point I do want to just go ahead and get things finalised as soon as possible, just was a little unsure if I could go against the solicitor's advice and tell him to go ahead anyway.

If you're a cash buyer, yes. But as I said above, if you have a lender then they'll need to be brought along too. If it's an area where off-street parking is valuable, then the fact the property doesn't have a legal driveway is likely to affect the valuation. So it would need to go back to the surveyor.