Solicitor failed to inform us about our land being conservation area

jackomdj

Mojisola wrote: »

You read through the SSSI documents but didn't think to google or ask your solicitor what SSSI meant?

Reading op's post they got this information several months later and went back over the original docs to see if it referred to it.

ronniemac123

You read through the SSSI documents but didn't think to google or ask your solicitor what SSSI meant?

That's not what I said. We received a letter asking us to confirm that we will not be rotivating, growing fruti trees from the governmental agency that deals with SSSIs after we completed on the purchase. Obviously I have googled that then and as I was concerned contacted the solicitor who we then had to chase for any sort of reply for 4 months.

AnotherJoe

Mojisola wrote: »

You read through the SSSI documents but didn't think to google or ask your solicitor what SSSI meant?

You've misread the OPs position, ironic when you accuse them of misreading something.

Clearly they received these documents some time after purchase and then went back through the original search results to see if they had missed the acronym or words before purchase, but they hadn't.

EDIT: I see the OP posted as i was typing but I'll let this stand.

ronniemac123

jackomdj wrote: »

I think they are admitting liability and expecting you to hire a solicitor to investigate their handling. It could be that you would not have bought the property/land or reduced your offer had they informed you of their findings.
Good luck.

Thank you for your reply! It's hard to know what to do next especially when there seems to be few successful cases against solicitors. Would you say that it would be better to contact another solicitor firm instead of making a complaint to Law Ombudsman then?

patman99

So, what would have happened if you had rotovated the area and planted fruit trees before you recieved the letter asking if you intended to do so?.

Why is it an SSSI?.

da_rule

Have a quick look on your Con 29 results (enquiries of the Local Authority). The answer should be at section 1.2. This is certainly where things like the property being in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty are located.

If it doesn't say it then it may be that the Local Authority failed to identify it as being so, and unless the solicitor knew the area particularly well they may not have known it personally.

da_rule

patman99 wrote: »

So, what would have happened if you had rotovated the area and planted fruit trees before you recieved the letter asking if you intended to do so?.

Why is it an SSSI?.

An SSSI is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and carrying out unauthorised works in such an area is a criminal offence.

ronniemac123

patman99 wrote: »

So, what would have happened if you had rotovated the area and planted fruit trees before you recieved the letter asking if you intended to do so?.

Why is it an SSSI?.

I guess we would have to move them, the letter threatens with penalties of up to £20,000, hence our concern.
It seems that the area is protected because it has special species of fauna and flora growing / living there. I absolutely appreciate that nature should be protected but we would have purchased another property have we known that, as having a bit of land to cultivate was one of our reasons to move to the country side, and the whole applying for permission, and being potentially denied seems like too much hustle when there are other properties. We are not looking to run a full on farming operation on here, but it seems that you literally have to inform them about everything as it might potentially throw off the ecosystem.

ronniemac123

da_rule wrote: »

Have a quick look on your Con 29 results (enquiries of the Local Authority). The answer should be at section 1.2. This is certainly where things like the property being in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty are located.

Thank you! It seems we were not sent this, only Land Registry folios (maybe it's the same thing) that don't contain any info on the land being an SSSI. the solicitor confirmed in a meeting with us, and in a letter they sent they knew about the special status of the land, but forgot to mention it to us. I'm guessing they might not have sent us that document originally, and unfortunately I wouldn't know that it was something we should be shown.

Davesnave

ronniemac123 wrote: »

TIt's hard to know what to do next especially when there seems to be few successful cases against solicitors. Would you say that it would be better to contact another solicitor firm instead of making a complaint to Law Ombudsman then?

I'm no expert, but I'd imagine that the best route would be to obtain a judgement from the Ombudsman first, as that would indicate the seriousness of any claim you might have.

After that, you might wish to appoint another solicitor to pursue a case against the first, who will have insurance.

The devil might be in deciding what to claim, as it's by no means easy to put a figure on the 'loss' you've experienced.
Bear in mind that some people are pleased to buy property with SSSI status.

Are there an annual activities you must undertake to maintain the species you have there, and do these require you to spend extra over and above the usual maintenance costs for land?