Link-detached mis-advertised as detached

propertyhunter

Thanks everyone for your advice. 

canaldumidi

propertyhunter said:

I think in terms of the value, it does affect it in the sense that we can't add a second storey extension to the side of the house over the garage without knocking down the neighbour's garage (the surveyor said). So it's the cost associated with that, right?

I'm liaising with the solicitor to see what the deeds actually say before going further. 

Your plans for an extension might certainly affect whether the property meets your needs, but not the value really. The property is what it currently is, and that's what is being sold.

If a 2nd story extension is important to you, but you determine it can't be added (whether because of the neighbour issue,,planning permission, depth/strength of foundations or any other reason) then you need to look at another property.

Getting hold of the deeds is aways wise.Personaly I buy the LR Title of any property before I make an offer.

propertyhunter

Good advice @canaldumidi. I appreciate it. 

maisie_cat

The only thing I would say is that sound will travel through any connected part, when we bought our last house the porch next door had been attached to our garage decades before.
We never noticed but when next door were having building work done inside their house the sound travelled though the solid walls. If either of you turn the garage into living space there may also be an issue.

Exodi

I think you're letting the tail wag the dog by looking into the cost to make the house detached to reflect the original ad.

The house is link-detached. Despite what you say about it being hard to notice from looking at the front of the house (presumably your viewing wasn't just a quick walk past the front of the house?), it beggars belief you didn't notice and I think an attempt to renegotiate on the survey, on this detail, would be pretty laughable.

While I am in agreement that the estate agent did originally mismarket the property - I can't see that you could argue they should reimburse you the cost of the survey, when it should have been obvious from viewing the property wasn't fully detatched.

I would personally move on if this is a dealbreaker for you - I don't think there is any mileage in going down the route of making the house detached as part of the sale - it's not.

Tiglet2

propertyhunter said:

peter3hg said:

To me how it is link-detached makes a difference.

If it is like on this road with separate blocks of two houses linked by the garage, then I personally don't see that it has any real impact on the value of the house to a true detached.

https://goo.gl/maps/548iyJNpr1qRL5DK7

However if it is like this style with a long row all linked then I would expect there to be some impact on value, in part due to there being no external access to the rear. 

https://goo.gl/maps/raC6i51XpweFzJPc6


As has been said though I'm not sure how you wouldn't have noticed this at the viewing.

It's a mix of detached and link-detached looking at Google Earth, but mostly detached. 

I suppose I'm only raising this as a point on this forum because of the EA's behaviour in changing the listing, like it was a bad thing that materially affected value. They know the market best and have an interest in making it seem detached. 

From an EAs viewpoint, detached is more marketable than link-detached, but as the sales particulars are not legally binding and you have had a viewing before you offered, I don't think you have a case to argue.  You obviously liked the house enough to offer on.  Perhaps you didn't go into the garden to look back at the property to see how the layout was from there, but maybe in hindsight you should have. 

I used to live in a link-detached property, described as both link-detached and detached, depending on the EA (we advertised with a couple of local EAs, before rightmove was really popular), but it was quite obvious to anyone looking at the photos or passing by that my garage and next door's garage were joined. 

I think you should take the sales particulars as a guide, but do not rely on them as being legally accurate.  They do not form part of the draft contract pack.  

It is for the seller to approve the sales particulars before the EA advertised the property, so I assume they did approve and did not query the description. 

user1977

I can't see there being any significant difference in value between "houses so close they're almost touching, but are actually detached" and "houses so close they do in fact touch to a non-material degree".

Exodi

user1977 said:

I can't see there being any significant difference in value between "houses so close they're almost touching, but are actually detached" and "houses so close they do in fact touch to a non-material degree".

Some of the houses down my road are like that.

Could barely slide a piece of paper between them but because there is a nanometre gap between them, classed as detached.

gingercordial

The house we bought was advertised as detached in the EA's ad.  It's a semi, which is blindingly obvious given there's another house stuck on the side, which was clear in the photos, floorplan, Google Maps etc, let alone on viewing.  I'm sure this was a simple mistake, wrong box ticked on Rightmove or similar, I don't attribute anything sinister to it.  I am not sure why what the advert says is really an issue once you've viewed.  You need to assess based on what's on the ground, so to speak.

If it might scupper your plans for extending, and that's a must for you, the next step could be to ask a builder/architect what they think - do they agree with the surveyor, could there be another way?  Don't assume the neighbour would allow their garage to be knocked down, some (most?) may not want the hassle and change even if you are paying!  If it can't be done I would walk away, not down value because - if demolition of both garages is the only way - I would have to assume the neighbour will say no so it will be a case of it not happening rather than additional costs.

(Personally if a neighbour wanted to destroy and replace my garage, it would take a significant upgrade plus a hefty additional payment for me to agree to building works not under my control, the mess and noise, having to work out where to store all my stuff for however long, and possibly needing to inform my mortgage lender.  And most likely I'd still say sorry, no, because I just wouldn't want to deal with all of the above.)

molerat

user1977 said:

I can't see there being any significant difference in value between "houses so close they're almost touching, but are actually detached" and "houses so close they do in fact touch to a non-material degree".

In our road we have identical houses both detached and link detached. The detached are in a council tax band higher and a fair bit more expensive when they sell.