We have almost completed selling house but neighbour has just applied for planning permission

carefullycautious

Agree with getmore4less what you are saying Moneyseeker is totally over the top. The Op just needs to state the facts not try to frighten the buyers off by suggesting there are problems with the neighbours!!!

mufi

carefullycautious said:

Agree with getmore4less what you are saying Moneyseeker is totally over the top. The Op just needs to state the facts not try to frighten the buyers off by suggesting there are problems with the neighbours!!!

There is something terribly familiar about Moneyseeker's meanderings...

NameUnavailable

Gavbo2013 said:

The neighbour did mention their plans to me a while ago, but said it wasn't definite. Then said that that if they are doing it wouldn't be until 2021 at earliest. So it's not a total surprise to see a planning application, even though I did say I didn't want it joining if they ever did do it. They've probably just chanced putting plans in hoping we wouldn't object as we're selling.

We did put on the property information that the neighbours did mention about loft conversion but nothing was definite, which was honest and accurate at the time.

Annoying as we're so close to completion. I think we're just going to tell the solicitors and not object as it's nothing out of the ordinary and may cause more problems if I object. Hopefully the buyers won't mind. It wouldn't particularly put me off tbh, but everyone thinks differently.

It may get knocked back by planning without intervention anyway, but I don't want any come back from it further down the line if I've not declared it.

Of course if we don't object though and the sale falls through, then we'd have to live with it I suppose, which is the risk.

You could always have your extension changed so it leaves a gap and doesn't go right up to your boundary line? Seems fairer than telling your neighbour they can't do it.

Competsoph

Giving my opinion, as a current buyer, if I found out my to-be neighbours were planning to do a significant amount of building work, extending their property to likely include/impact on mine, I’d pull out. At least I would want to wait until I had a decision on PP if this is actually going ahead. It depends on how perfect this house is for your buyers but technically this is changing dramatically from when they’ve viewed etc and won’t be the same property/environment.
This is such rubbish timing but could potentially cause you to lose your sale. Good luck, I hope everything works out for you!

rik111

That’s bad luck but doubt they will have the planning application turned down. If your house has already been extended and they want to do the same you won’t have a leg to stand on. Your buyer may be understanding and just want a small reduction for the inconvenience but the again might run for the hills....

MalMonroe

This is something you really have to discuss with your solicitor. If I were your buyer it would definitely put me off. I wouldn't want the neighbours attaching anything to my extension. As you are technically still the owner, the ball's in your court and I guess you still have the right to object to planning permission.

MalMonroe

rik111 said:

That’s bad luck but doubt they will have the planning application turned down. If your house has already been extended and they want to do the same you won’t have a leg to stand on. Your buyer may be understanding and just want a small reduction for the inconvenience but the again might run for the hills....

I don't agree. I think the OP will have a leg to stand on. Just because they had an extension  doesn't mean their neighbour's application will be approved. And if the OP objects, that has to be seriously considered. What a very unhelpful and pessimistic comment.

GDB2222

MalMonroe said:

This is something you really have to discuss with your solicitor. If I were your buyer it would definitely put me off. I wouldn't want the neighbours attaching anything to my extension. As you are technically still the owner, the ball's in your court and I guess you still have the right to object to planning permission.

Whilst you might not want anything attached, the alternative would be a tiny gap, which would lead to serious maintenance problems. That’s why, in practice, it’s normal to join them. You just have to make the best of it. 

danlightbulb

Sounds to me, from the descriptions given of the proposal, that a semi detached (albeit with connected garages) is now being turned into a mid terrace.

Surely that would influence the sale - how could it not? Certainly the buyers should be made aware of it.

Jeepers_Creepers

The OP wants to sell their house and are concerned about the neighb's planned building. Ok, say they do put in an objection and that this objection is accepted by planning, and they insist the neighb stops short of the boundary (I've no idea what Planning Departments tend to do in such cases in practice), what new info are you now going to pass on to the buyer? 

Is there a dispute? That's surely 'yes'. What's the outcome? A highly pi**edoff neighb. Happy new home.

What's the new owner going to face as soon as they buy the house? An appeal from their neighbour to retract the previous owner's demands. Good luck sorting that.

Now, that's what would put me off from buying a house - an impending fall out with a neighb.

If I were in the market for buying a link-detached house like this, and the house I was interested had had an obvious extension like this in place (or it had been done by another similar house on the road), then I would pretty much assume that the chances of it also happening next door at some point would be pretty high. I would base my decision to buy not so much on whether it has happened, but whether it quite likely will.