Retention when selling house

helphelphelphelp

I sold a house 9 years ago and the buyers solicitors asked for a retention as the house was on a road that had not yet been adopted by the council. Should there be a time limit for a retention? Nothing has been put in the contract for a timescale. Is this usual or should my solicitor have put a time limit in the contract

G_M

Yes there should be an agreed timetable, as well as precise description of the circumstances in which the retention can be claimed by either party.

Has the road been adopted? What cost was the retention supposed to cover?

You need a [STRIKE]conversation[/STRIKE] written explanation from your solicitor explaining how/when you will receive this money and what they plan to do to release it to you.

helphelphelphelp

Thanks for your reply

The road hasnt yet been adopted (one of the residents has a ransom strip which is stopping this process)

Our buyers solicitors wanted some money held back in case of repairs needed to the road but after 9 years it seems unfair that we should have to pay these costs

Correspondence with the solicitor has not been productive. They contacted the buyers solicitors but have not had a reply so have done nothing else in 2 months

I have now raised a complaint using the official process and will take it to the SRA if I dont receive a satisfactory response. Does seem like they took their eye off the ball and missed off some important information on this clause

bigstevex

I wonder how they got a mortgage, our solicitor wouldn't approve the legal side of the mortgage for the bank until ours was resolved in some way and most banks won't lend on unadopted roads I always thought? We had a bit of a ransom strip type of issue but it was accidental in how the plots were divided up and now covered by an expensive indemnity insurance policy at the sellers expense

davidmcn

bigstevex wrote: »

most banks won't lend on unadopted roads I always thought?

You thunk wrong - otherwise how does anyone buy a house (with a mortgage) on a new development?

miletran168

Correspondence with the solicitor has not been productive. They contacted the buyers solicitors but have not had a reply so have done nothing else in 2 months

Tiglet2

More than likely the buyer's solicitors haven't responded to your solicitor. After 9 years, the file is probably stored away in the depths of the office and all the people who might have remembered it have since left and now no-one knows anything about it. Your solicitor has to give a reasonable amount of time for the buyer's solicitor respond, though 2 months should be plenty! If no response is received, your solicitor will probably send another letter to them saying that if they do not respond within the next 14 days, they will release the money back to you.

If you do have a copy of the contract, look and see if there has been a rider attached to it which may specifically mention a time limit. If there is no rider, do you have any correspondence at all relating to this? If there is nothing in writing and the road has still not been adopted, it will very much depend on whether the buyer's solicitor agrees to release the retention back to you - which I would hope they would after all this time.

bigstevex

davidmcn wrote: »

You thunk wrong - otherwise how does anyone buy a house (with a mortgage) on a new development?

True, however my comment still stands about older properties with unadopted roads

davidmcn

bigstevex wrote: »

True, however my comment still stands about older properties with unadopted roads

It doesn't really. This is what the CML Handbook (which is the bible of security instructions for almost all the lenders) says:

6.8.4 Where roads and sewers are not adopted or to be adopted but are maintained by local residents or a management company this is acceptable providing that in your reasonable opinion appropriate arrangements for maintenance repairs and costs are in place.

And even where not, we've had plenty of previous threads here about properties on private roads and I don't get the impression from those that it makes a property unmortgageable, though would probably go back to the valuer for a second opinion.

miletran168

If you do have a copy of the contract, look and see if there has been a rider attached to it which may specifically mention a time limit. If there is no rider, do you have any correspondence at all relating to this? If there is nothing in writing and the road has still not been adopted, it will very much depend on whether the buyer's solicitor agrees to release the retention back to you - which I would hope they would after all this time.

diggingdude

Nice copy and paste there miletran168 fancy adding anything? Even a witty comment.