Buying a house - extensive building work next door

PAGER80

We are in the process of buying a house in Surrey - a 4 bed detached, moving further out from London for more space & value for money.  We had a drive-by the property over the weekend and discovered the neighbours are doing some very extensive building work - converting a bungalow into a 2-story house (i.e. a full roof conversion) and extending to the side closer to "our" property.  From what we could tell, the gap between the properties will reduce from around 5m to 1m after the work is complete.

Fair to say we are not too happy about this, and annoyed that it wasn't disclosed to us before!  We don't really want to pull out, but we feel the property is now worth less than we offered as it will no longer enjoy the space/separation it once had. We had also considered adding a couple of windows to the side to increase the natural light but clearly that would now be pointless. 

Do you think it's reasonable to request a price reduction and, if so, how much?  For context the original agreed price was £960k.

LandyAndy

I would be very tempted to pull out.  A million pounds to have a house that close? Even in Surrey, no thanks.

hannah021

what are they building? converting to flats? for me this would be the dealbreaker, having to deal with too many neighbours is difficult, especially if they turn out troubling, and god not for a million pound!

Anyway, for you, I would renegotiate if I really want it, or pull out. Stuff like this should have been declared.

Doozergirl

My neighbour is a lot closer to their other neighbour than we are to ours.  Ours isn't worth more.

If you don't like it, don't buy it.  The house, the plot nor the detached status have changed.   It quite probably wouldn't have bothered you if you'd only seen the house 'after'. 

The thought of development is worse than the finished product.  New build estates don't
affect the prices of older houses nearby in a negative way when they're built. 

freesha

I mean, it wouldn't bother me. But for ONE MILLION POUNDS, you should get exactly what you want. So pull out if it bothers you

AdrianC

PAGER80 said:

We are in the process of buying a house in Surrey

What stage of the purchase are you at?

We had a drive-by the property over the weekend and discovered the neighbours are doing some very extensive building work

Did you look at planning apps for the area?

We don't really want to pull out, but we feel the property is now worth less than we offered as it will no longer enjoy the space/separation it once had. ... Do you think it's reasonable to request a price reduction and, if so, how much?  For context the original agreed price was £960k.

Of course, the neighbour could have put in a planning app the day after your purchase completed...

If you think it's affected the value of the property, then - absolutely - reduce your offer. Don't be surprised if the vendor doesn't agree. So would you then walk away?

PAGER80

AdrianC said:

PAGER80 said:

We are in the process of buying a house in Surrey

What stage of the purchase are you at?

We had a drive-by the property over the weekend and discovered the neighbours are doing some very extensive building work

Did you look at planning apps for the area?

We don't really want to pull out, but we feel the property is now worth less than we offered as it will no longer enjoy the space/separation it once had. ... Do you think it's reasonable to request a price reduction and, if so, how much?  For context the original agreed price was £960k.

Of course, the neighbour could have put in a planning app the day after your purchase completed...

If you think it's affected the value of the property, then - absolutely - reduce your offer. Don't be surprised if the vendor doesn't agree. So would you then walk away?

We are some weeks after having the offer accepted but solicitors being very slow so prob still 6-8 weeks from completion.
There are no planning apps for that road, which seems surprising given the extent of the work.
Of course, the neighbour could have done this at any point after we bought the property, but then we would have had the opportunity to reject or request a modification of their plans if we felt they were unreasonable.  

davidmcn

PAGER80 said:

AdrianC said:

PAGER80 said:

We are in the process of buying a house in Surrey

What stage of the purchase are you at?

We had a drive-by the property over the weekend and discovered the neighbours are doing some very extensive building work

Did you look at planning apps for the area?

We don't really want to pull out, but we feel the property is now worth less than we offered as it will no longer enjoy the space/separation it once had. ... Do you think it's reasonable to request a price reduction and, if so, how much?  For context the original agreed price was £960k.

Of course, the neighbour could have put in a planning app the day after your purchase completed...

If you think it's affected the value of the property, then - absolutely - reduce your offer. Don't be surprised if the vendor doesn't agree. So would you then walk away?

There are no planning apps for that road, which seems surprising given the extent of the work.
Of course, the neighbour could have done this at any point after we bought the property, but then we would have had the opportunity to reject or request a modification of their plans if we felt they were unreasonable.  

They might be taking advantage of the recent relaxations which have widened the scope of permitted development. Even if a planning application were required, that doesn't mean neighbours have any right of veto - the decision is made on planning criteria.

pinkshoes

How about knocking on the neighbours door and asking what building work they are having done? How long it's going to take etc...

If you're spending that much on a house, it's always worth having a chat with the neighbours first. You might decide they are ghastly and rude!

AdrianC

davidmcn said:

PAGER80 said:

AdrianC said:

PAGER80 said:

We are in the process of buying a house in Surrey

What stage of the purchase are you at?

We had a drive-by the property over the weekend and discovered the neighbours are doing some very extensive building work

Did you look at planning apps for the area?

We don't really want to pull out, but we feel the property is now worth less than we offered as it will no longer enjoy the space/separation it once had. ... Do you think it's reasonable to request a price reduction and, if so, how much?  For context the original agreed price was £960k.

Of course, the neighbour could have put in a planning app the day after your purchase completed...

If you think it's affected the value of the property, then - absolutely - reduce your offer. Don't be surprised if the vendor doesn't agree. So would you then walk away?

There are no planning apps for that road, which seems surprising given the extent of the work.
Of course, the neighbour could have done this at any point after we bought the property, but then we would have had the opportunity to reject or request a modification of their plans if we felt they were unreasonable.  

They might be taking advantage of the recent relaxations which have widened the scope of permitted development. Even if a planning application were required, that doesn't mean neighbours have any right of veto - the decision is made on planning criteria.

There are no such relaxations yet.
All there is is a white paper saying they might perhaps think about introducing some legislation at some point in the future.
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/planning-for-the-future

So they've started work without PP...

This is definitely going to get entertaining.
Don't walk away, run. Not the kind of people you want to be next door to.

Doozergirl

PAGER80 said:

AdrianC said:

PAGER80 said:

We are in the process of buying a house in Surrey

What stage of the purchase are you at?

We had a drive-by the property over the weekend and discovered the neighbours are doing some very extensive building work

Did you look at planning apps for the area?

We don't really want to pull out, but we feel the property is now worth less than we offered as it will no longer enjoy the space/separation it once had. ... Do you think it's reasonable to request a price reduction and, if so, how much?  For context the original agreed price was £960k.

Of course, the neighbour could have put in a planning app the day after your purchase completed...

If you think it's affected the value of the property, then - absolutely - reduce your offer. Don't be surprised if the vendor doesn't agree. So would you then walk away?

Of course, the neighbour could have done this at any point after we bought the property, but then we would have had the opportunity to reject or request a modification of their plans if we felt they were unreasonable.  

No you wouldn't.  If it needed planning permission then you could have 'objected' which isn't the same as rejecting or asking nicely if they'll modify something for you.  

All houses come with the risk of neighbouring extensions.