Planning issue right before exchange

emca

Hi all 

we’ve received our exchange contracts this week and everything is signed and good to go. 

Then we mentioned to the solicitor that although the property has a large driveway there is no dropped kerb. We applied to the county council with the freeholders permission and they quickly told us because the road is classified that we need planning permission.

Our solicitor has has to tell our mortgage lender because their valuation of the property is inclusive of 2 off road parking spaces which cannot be used without a dropped kerb. (I totally understand that that the house would be worth less if we don’t get permission to drop it, and also we want a house with parking spaces). All the houses on that road have a dropped kerb, and this property’s driveway and the neighbours is big enough for 4-5 cars. 

Any ideas what could happen or what the options are? The seller had proposed a completion date of mid July but it seems this will hold everything up. 

AdrianC

I assume the lender's valuer would have noticed the drop kerbs, or lack thereof...

I assume you noticed the lack of them on your viewings, before you offered? There's plenty of precedent to suggest that it shouldn't be an issue getting permission.

It will only hold things up if you want it to.

user1977

This is about the property you're buying? Why are you doing the application rather than the seller? If it affects the value then I don't see an alternative to applying for permission and waiting for the decision anyway.

emca

AdrianC said:

I assume the lender's valuer would have noticed the drop kerbs, or lack thereof...

I assume you noticed the lack of them on your viewings, before you offered? There's plenty of precedent to suggest that it shouldn't be an issue getting permission.

It will only hold things up if you want it to.

we were surprised it wasn’t mentioned in our homebuyers report of by anyone else. We mentioned to the estate agent that we were offering slightly less because we’d have to pay for a dropped kerb to be installed, and it’s only been found out now that we require planning permission. 

emca

user1977 said:

This is about the property you're buying? Why are you doing the application rather than the seller? If it affects the value then I don't see an alternative to applying for permission and waiting for the decision anyway.

We applied for a dropped kerb because we were happy to do it after buying - but the council then told us we’d need planning permission which can only be done by the current owner (and of course we can’t be sure it will be granted)

Yes I expect you’re right and we will just have to wait which we don’t mind and how the seller sees it that way too

user1977

emca said:

user1977 said:

This is about the property you're buying? Why are you doing the application rather than the seller? If it affects the value then I don't see an alternative to applying for permission and waiting for the decision anyway.

the council then told us we’d need planning permission which can only be done by the current owner

No, anybody can apply for it, you just need to notify the owners. But it would make more sense for them to do it

emca

user1977 said:

emca said:

user1977 said:

This is about the property you're buying? Why are you doing the application rather than the seller? If it affects the value then I don't see an alternative to applying for permission and waiting for the decision anyway.

the council then told us we’d need planning permission which can only be done by the current owner

No, anybody can apply for it, you just need to notify the owners. But it would make more sense for them to do it

We were allowed to apply for the license for a dropped kerb but the district council have told us only the current owner can apply for planning permission, which we need before a license can be granted. 

Yes I agree - I hope the seller applies and sees that this will just happen again for someone else buying with a mortgage