Advice needed found out house we are buying has holiday let restriction

fantasyvsreality

Hello All,

Bear with me while I explain our situation. Sold our house in Devon back in November, the house we were purchasing at the time fell through at exchange and we lost money on conveyancing and survey. We decided to complete our sale and put our belongings in storage and moved in with family and then into short term rental (a holiday let given over to rolling monthly rental during pandemic). In January we found a house we loved, still in Devon and secured it for a bit more than the asking price after 3 full price offers received - our being locals helped. The property we are buying is being sold by an estate agent on behalf of a relative. Within a few weeks our solicitor flagged that he property could not be sold as residential as it had a holiday let restriction on it! The estate agent was unaware of this. 

We still want the house and so far the Estate Agent on behalf of their relative is trying to get the restriction removed. The relative has been renting the property with the tenants paying council tax for over 10 years. The relative thought that the restriction to holiday let had been lifted.......

The situation we now find ourselves in is that we need to vacate our current rental come March, we are in limbo buying a house that may not be for sale to us if the restriction can't be lifted. The Estate Agent has offered the property to us to rent but we are nervous that we move in and we either can't buy it because the council won't remove the restriction; that it won't be legal to be in there because the owner is in breach of the restriction........and what is to stop the owner deciding to increase the sale price? 

We are entertaining the above because we love the property and if we walk away will have no where to go come March but back to parents. We have tried repeatedly since November to rent a property other than a holiday rental. It has been impossible to secure somewhere so far as we have a dog and are both self-employed. Competition in our area is strong. 

I guess I am interested in different peoples response to the above. We feel a bit battered by it all.

davidmcn

If it's been openly used as a normal residential property for over a decade (without any enforcement action being taken by the council), I doubt there's much the council can now do, and an application for lawful use ought to be straightforward. But obviously you'd want that to be the buyer's risk before you agree to proceed. If you want to tie in the vendors to the current agreed price you could enter into a conditional contract.

Do you need to vacate your current rental in March? It's pretty difficult for landlords to achieve that at the moment.

princeofpounds

Just stay in your current property on (presumably) a statutory periodic tenancy until the situation becomes clearer.

fantasyvsreality

Thanks davidmcn that's helpful. It's not a standard rental we are in at the moment, it is a holiday home/park and we are renting one of the lodges on a monthly basis, no contract. The owner is hopeful that people will be able to holiday soon so will want to have the lodges back but we can stay on as long as he has availability. He and his wife have been very helpful - one nice thing to come of our situation.

greatcrested

fantasyvsreality said:

......
 The Estate Agent has offered the property to us to rent but we are nervous that we move in and we either can't buy it because the council won't remove the restriction; that it won't be legal to be in there because the owner is in breach of the restriction........and what is to stop the owner deciding to increase the sale price? 

Once there are tenants living there (ie you) the market value will drop. No owner-occupier buyer will be willing to buy unless they are confident the tenant (you) willleave, and it will take the owner (your landlord) at least 9 months to evict you. Probably more.

NameUnavailable

fantasyvsreality said:

Thanks davidmcn that's helpful. It's not a standard rental we are in at the moment, it is a holiday home/park and we are renting one of the lodges on a monthly basis, no contract. The owner is hopeful that people will be able to holiday soon so will want to have the lodges back but we can stay on as long as he has availability. He and his wife have been very helpful - one nice thing to come of our situation.

Very unlikely that holidays will be allowed as soon as March, they might not even lift the lockdown then. I would think you'd be OK for a few more months.

Davesnave

(Edited ) Provided the owner can prove they have been in breach of the restriction for more than 10 years there should be no problem getting a certificate of lawful development. The rent book and council tax records will  make this straightforward, but only if there has been no significant  break since the tenants left.

In the case of a breach in agricultural restrictions, the 'non-compliance clock' will re-set to zero if the property is left empty for a substantial period. It could well be similar and logical that the same rule applies in the case of a holiday restriction.

fantasyvsreality

Thank you for all the replies. Appreciate the responses, all helpful.

Tiglet2

fantasyvsreality said:

Hello All,

Bear with me while I explain our situation. Sold our house in Devon back in November, the house we were purchasing at the time fell through at exchange and we lost money on conveyancing and survey. We decided to complete our sale and put our belongings in storage and moved in with family and then into short term rental (a holiday let given over to rolling monthly rental during pandemic). In January we found a house we loved, still in Devon and secured it for a bit more than the asking price after 3 full price offers received - our being locals helped. The property we are buying is being sold by an estate agent on behalf of a relative. Within a few weeks our solicitor flagged that he property could not be sold as residential as it had a holiday let restriction on it! The estate agent was unaware of this. 

We still want the house and so far the Estate Agent on behalf of their relative is trying to get the restriction removed. The relative has been renting the property with the tenants paying council tax for over 10 years. The relative thought that the restriction to holiday let had been lifted.......

The situation we now find ourselves in is that we need to vacate our current rental come March, we are in limbo buying a house that may not be for sale to us if the restriction can't be lifted. The Estate Agent has offered the property to us to rent but we are nervous that we move in and we either can't buy it because the council won't remove the restriction; that it won't be legal to be in there because the owner is in breach of the restriction........and what is to stop the owner deciding to increase the sale price? 

We are entertaining the above because we love the property and if we walk away will have no where to go come March but back to parents. We have tried repeatedly since November to rent a property other than a holiday rental. It has been impossible to secure somewhere so far as we have a dog and are both self-employed. Competition in our area is strong. 

I guess I am interested in different peoples response to the above. We feel a bit battered by it all.

Does the property still have tenants in situ?

moneysavinghero

The owner is hopeful that people will be able to holiday soon so will want to have the lodges back but we can stay on as long as he has availability

I think thats a case of fantasy vs reality on the owners part. Unlikely that holidays will be resuming so quickly

Slinky

My friend is in an airBNB whilst she was waiting for her purchase to complete. That's fallen through and she's having to start again trying to find somewhere. Meanwhile the airbnb landlord is grateful for the ongoing rental as she had nothing firm booked in the diary until August. This is in Norfolk so a place where holiday demand is usually high.