New build conveyancing

Becbeluga

I'm in the process of buying a new build. My conveyancer has sent several enquiries on the purchase and it has been established that some of the pre-commencement and pre-occupancy planning conditions have not yet been discharged. A couple have not even been submitted. Our conveyancer is concerned about this and from what I have learnt so far this appears to be a valid concern. The developers say that it's just the way it is and we shouldn't worry as not all planning conditions will be met until the development is complete. They are now threatening to cancel the sale and have set a deadline for the contract to be returned. We are in a chain and everyone was expecting to be exchanging in the next couple of weeks. People are already occupying properties on the development, is it common practice for some pre-commencement and pre-occuonacy conditions to not be discharged prior to work starting and people already occupying properties or should I be thanking my lucky stars that I have a good conveyancer who picked up on this? 

davidmcn

What are the relevant conditions?

prl

I personally wouldn’t be too worried if there was a clause in the contract indemnifying any owners against non compliance with the conditions. There usually will be. Other buyers will be more cautious. 

jmmo20

prl said:

I personally wouldn’t be too worried if there was a clause in the contract indemnifying any owners against non compliance with the conditions. There usually will be. Other buyers will be more cautious. 

To the OP.. make sure that is in the contract. When I was in the process to buy my property the developer initially refused such a clause but we insisted. Our initial contract drafts actually said we as purchasers inherited all obligations related to planning application. They changed it so that developers were liable for any issues.

AdrianC

Becbeluga said:

or should I be thanking my lucky stars that I have a good conveyancer who picked up on this? 

YES! Exactly this.

An indemnity might be adequate - it depends on what the conditions are.

Becbeluga

davidmcn said:

What are the relevant conditions?

That the agreed approved remediation works from the contaminated land assessment be carried out in full - this sounds like an important one to me!

The others are to do with the landscaping plan and sign off of the arboricultural impact assessment and method statement which is to be complied with and auditable 

davidmcn

Becbeluga said:

davidmcn said:

What are the relevant conditions?

That the agreed approved remediation works from the contaminated land assessment be carried out in full - this sounds like an important one to me!

Indeed! Do you know that the works have been done? The problem is often that these things have been done (and details sent to the relevant council department), it's just getting the council to confirm they're happy which can take time.

Becbeluga

I don't and from what I can see they have not submitted anything to the council, I spent several hours on the planning portal over the weekend. I found found comms from the planning dept reminding them that they needed to submit files to satisfy that condition which isn't a good sign....is it possible that other conveyancers have not asked this question and that is why people are already living there? 

Becbeluga

@davidmcn sorry wasn't able to quote in my reply to you

ele_91

I am purchasing a house that was newly built several years ago and some of the planning conditions were not discharged... it is causing us a big headache. Definitely don’t overlook this. 

Section62

Becbeluga said:

The developers say that it's just the way it is and we shouldn't worry as not all planning conditions will be met until the development is complete.

It would be a red flag to me that the developer is apparently seeking to trivialise this, rather than provide you with assurance the conditions have been complied with and updating you with progress on them getting the formal discharge paperwork completed.

Even allowing for Covid delays, not having pre-commencement conditions discharged (especially something as important as contaminated land remediation) by the time the first houses are occupied, would at the very least make me want to know exactly what is going on and have doubts about anything the developer tells me.