Unfinished development

moneysavinghero

Maybe the development was funded by a property development loan, which was to be funded in tranches. Maybe for whatever reason the tranches of cash stopped coming in so the builders stopped working. If there is legal stuff going on in the background that needs to be resolved maybe they can't finish the site off even if they wanted too.

Titus_Wadd

I could have written this post AVB_31!  Just a couple of differences; we bought our house two and half years ago from a family in your position.  They had bought the house from new about 4 years earlier, and we bought from them at the same price they had paid from new (we live in a very popular area for housing, the price was roughly £60-75K less than it should have been).  Our vendors knew within 18 months they wanted to sell.  It took another year before we bought it and the asking price had dropped several times and a couple of sales had fallen through (once the buyers' solicitors read the covenants I suspect).  There was one other house complete and up for sale at the time(£100k more than ours for roughly the same house).  The development started around 2010 - a pre-WW2 house with massive garden which will be demolished and 7 houses in total planned.  The first house is where our sociopath NFH lives, he's a relative of the land owner who still owns this and all the other houses.  They have been prevented from selling any more until the old house is demolished.  The sociopath forced his way into our home when I was home alone just before Xmas but the police viewed it as a "neighbour dispute"...in the same way a beaten spouse used to be dismissed as "domestic disturbance".

We don't really mind that the site isn't finished, though it would be nice to have a few normal neighbours.  The family of builders are not v bright, but think they are.  They rely on covenants that don't exist.  They should never have built houses other than to house their relatives as they have no understanding of how other people live (in the real world!).

We still love the house and have not spent all the money saved on the purchase price in solicitor's fees yet; but our next move is to try to get injunctive relief for a right of way which has been blocked by the NFH for 5 months!  The local council ASB department has been as useless as the police were.  We don't have young children, we've had our adult kids move back home during lockdown which has kept the NFH at bay.  We're tight-knit and bloody-minded, which helps.  We knew (almost) what we were risking before we bought the house.

Our builder family are strapped for cash which has lead to them making trumped up accusations of broken covenants in an effort to extort money from us, thinly disguised as the Estate Rent Charge.  What they don't understand is that we have documented, videoed and logged every action, and inaction every blessed moment and their arguments have crumbled.  They have been dropped by a couple of solicitor firms for giving them incorrect details of the covenants in our conveyance, who have been embarrassed by our lovely solicitor pointing out their mistakes.

I have to say I don't like the person this situation has made me become: I see them up scaffolding and wish they'd fall!  Terrible thought!   We report absolutely every planning breach to the LPA.  The landowner/main builder couple have been camping out in the unsold house next to ours (they live without lights on after dark, thinking we don't know they're in there!)  I've mentioned it to our councillor who has championed our cause; I assume they should be paying Council Tax on two homes until the old house is demolished. 

We think they should pay VAT on the building materials if they occupy a house they have built, rather than selling it (I'll have to check that with an accountant friend).  We don't want to drive them into insolvency, but they have looked to sell on the site to a bigger developer which might at least get the thing finished and sold.

So I have no real advice, only sympathy OP.  We knew when we bought the house that the builders were...er.."known" in the area.  The lunacy of some of their actions has been largely predictable (apart from the home invasion).  If you can, why not stick it out a little longer and enjoy your home to see how the next year plays out.  Definitely spend some time reading through the planning permission for the site; we found several conditions breached and with a few nudges they had been served with a breach of condition notice.  If your main concern is the state of the site you may find they were required to keep the site clear of rubble because they were selling as they built.  Their original planning for the houses, not yet started, may be running out.  Our builders are very keen on the "non-material change" to their permission.  They have applied 3 or 4 times a year, to lower spec, or build 2 semi-detached in place of one detached.  Every time they apply to vary planning, gives you a chance to comment.  We use this as a way to raise any other issues.  The site around you being dangerous to children, breaches of their method statement etc. would be worth raising.  The fact there are children (not just yours) living nearby should require a greater responsibility to keep safe any trespassers (and children are attracted to dormant building sites).   I'll feel as though our builders will have won if we throw in the towel.  We're playing the long game so apart from one solicitors' letter about the blocked easement we've done nothing else because, during lockdown we haven't needed to move the trapped car.  My car is parked on a nearby road if we need it. Don't get mad, get even.  Don't let the barstewards win! 

theartfullodger

AVB_31 said:

Sort of secure but having this 5 metres from our house  four years on  is depressing and stopping us being able to sell. 

Of course you can sell, but likely make a loss.  property prices have ALWAYS gone up and down.  It's reality, most people expect this to happen, up or down.

No need to believe the myth that prices always go up.  Sorrry, tough. Best wishes.

AVB_31

theartfullodger said:

AVB_31 said:

Sort of secure but having this 5 metres from our house  four years on  is depressing and stopping us being able to sell. 

Of course you can sell, but likely make a loss.  property prices have ALWAYS gone up and down.  It's reality, most people expect this to happen, up or down.

No need to believe the myth that prices always go up.  Sorrry, tough. Best wishes.

It’s not about house prices going up or down. The property has been valued fairly but we can’t sell it.

Capri84

Plant a whole bunch of conifers. 

AVB_31

Titus_Wadd said:

I could have written this post AVB_31!  Just a couple of differences; we bought our house two and half years ago from a family in your position.  They had bought the house from new about 4 years earlier, and we bought from them at the same price they had paid from new (we live in a very popular area for housing, the price was roughly £60-75K less than it should have been).  Our vendors knew within 18 months they wanted to sell.  It took another year before we bought it and the asking price had dropped several times and a couple of sales had fallen through (once the buyers' solicitors read the covenants I suspect).  There was one other house complete and up for sale at the time(£100k more than ours for roughly the same house).  The development started around 2010 - a pre-WW2 house with massive garden which will be demolished and 7 houses in total planned.  The first house is where our sociopath NFH lives, he's a relative of the land owner who still owns this and all the other houses.  They have been prevented from selling any more until the old house is demolished.  The sociopath forced his way into our home when I was home alone just before Xmas but the police viewed it as a "neighbour dispute"...in the same way a beaten spouse used to be dismissed as "domestic disturbance".

We don't really mind that the site isn't finished, though it would be nice to have a few normal neighbours.  The family of builders are not v bright, but think they are.  They rely on covenants that don't exist.  They should never have built houses other than to house their relatives as they have no understanding of how other people live (in the real world!).

We still love the house and have not spent all the money saved on the purchase price in solicitor's fees yet; but our next move is to try to get injunctive relief for a right of way which has been blocked by the NFH for 5 months!  The local council ASB department has been as useless as the police were.  We don't have young children, we've had our adult kids move back home during lockdown which has kept the NFH at bay.  We're tight-knit and bloody-minded, which helps.  We knew (almost) what we were risking before we bought the house.

Our builder family are strapped for cash which has lead to them making trumped up accusations of broken covenants in an effort to extort money from us, thinly disguised as the Estate Rent Charge.  What they don't understand is that we have documented, videoed and logged every action, and inaction every blessed moment and their arguments have crumbled.  They have been dropped by a couple of solicitor firms for giving them incorrect details of the covenants in our conveyance, who have been embarrassed by our lovely solicitor pointing out their mistakes.

I have to say I don't like the person this situation has made me become: I see them up scaffolding and wish they'd fall!  Terrible thought!   We report absolutely every planning breach to the LPA.  The landowner/main builder couple have been camping out in the unsold house next to ours (they live without lights on after dark, thinking we don't know they're in there!)  I've mentioned it to our councillor who has championed our cause; I assume they should be paying Council Tax on two homes until the old house is demolished. 

We think they should pay VAT on the building materials if they occupy a house they have built, rather than selling it (I'll have to check that with an accountant friend).  We don't want to drive them into insolvency, but they have looked to sell on the site to a bigger developer which might at least get the thing finished and sold.

So I have no real advice, only sympathy OP.  We knew when we bought the house that the builders were...er.."known" in the area.  The lunacy of some of their actions has been largely predictable (apart from the home invasion).  If you can, why not stick it out a little longer and enjoy your home to see how the next year plays out.  Definitely spend some time reading through the planning permission for the site; we found several conditions breached and with a few nudges they had been served with a breach of condition notice.  If your main concern is the state of the site you may find they were required to keep the site clear of rubble because they were selling as they built.  Their original planning for the houses, not yet started, may be running out.  Our builders are very keen on the "non-material change" to their permission.  They have applied 3 or 4 times a year, to lower spec, or build 2 semi-detached in place of one detached.  Every time they apply to vary planning, gives you a chance to comment.  We use this as a way to raise any other issues.  The site around you being dangerous to children, breaches of their method statement etc. would be worth raising.  The fact there are children (not just yours) living nearby should require a greater responsibility to keep safe any trespassers (and children are attracted to dormant building sites).   I'll feel as though our builders will have won if we throw in the towel.  We're playing the long game so apart from one solicitors' letter about the blocked easement we've done nothing else because, during lockdown we haven't needed to move the trapped car.  My car is parked on a nearby road if we need it. Don't get mad, get even.  Don't let the barstewards win! 

Thanks for your reply, I really hope you get a good resolution to your situation. It seems utterly unbelievable that developers can be allowed to treat people in this way within the law. If we stole money we’d be in trouble but a developer can lose you a fortune  with no redress whatsoever. I do agree though - don’t get mad, get even. I’ll certainly be trying to do so!

Titus_Wadd

I sincerely hope you get a satisfactory outcome AVB.  If our children were still little the situation would have added layers of stress.  We saw letters from our vendors pleading with Planning Enforcement to enforce the hours of work condition attached to all the builder's permission.  We've had them working past 10pm, repeatedly trundling a JCB past our front door (mainly to annoy us, not for any building purpose).  The NFH has gleefully told us that planning won't do anything and told us to phone the police, because they won't do anything either.  Sadly he's been proved right, so far!

GDB2222

I do wonder what happens if, one day whilst the builders are out, you get the site cleared? The opposite of fly tipping. Not sure what that’s called? Ninja clearing perhaps? They can sue you for any losses, so don’t clear anything valuable. But if they sue you for a couple of tons of mixed rubble and rubbish, they’ll have trouble substantiating a significant loss.

Murphybear

Could you let the council tax department know?  If they are genuinely living there they would be liable for it.  Also, don’t the council charge for empty homes?

Im sure they wouldn’t want to be paying so it might just get them to do something like sell the properties 

Titus_Wadd

Murphybear said:

Could you let the council tax department know?  If they are genuinely living there they would be liable for it.  Also, don’t the council charge for empty homes?

Im sure they wouldn’t want to be paying so it might just get them to do something like sell the properties 

We reported ours but have no idea if the council tax folk acted on the tip off.  Our experience of our local authority departments has set our expectations very very low!