Advert said garage and driveway... Searches say different

Lyd00

Noneforit999 said:

Surely the existing vendors own solicitor would have picked up the same thing about the driveway when they bought it? I find it hard to believe they had no idea. 

In terms of what you can do, you have two options. Pull out or try to negotiate a lower price. Reality is if you plan to sell in future you won't be able to advertise the house as having two off road parking spaces which means the house is worth a little less and would put a lot of buyers off.

 I've spent a lot of money so farin the form of all the solicitor fees and a RICS level 3 so I have some thinking to do. 

The EA just called and was pretty arsey saying something to the effect of I should have known it didn't have a driveway. I said can you repeat that? How so when the advert states driveway and garage and your colleagues told me it was definitely worth its asking price given it has a garage and driveway??? My solicitor has even told me that the vendor has stated they didn't know it wasn't theirs. Yet now they're admitting to Leeds city council being responsible for it. I'm furious. 

EA has told me I've had a 10k discount already (RICS level 3 kicked up tonnes of stuff and actually it's only 6k discount below asking price. I offered asking price originally but was then entered into a likely pretend bidding war) so I do think a 10k below asking price is fair given all of the RICS 3 findings and now no driveway.

However they've instructed EA to put it back on the market asap if I don't go ahead 

Slithery

I know this is a bit late for you but for anyone else reading this thread it's always a good idea to download the title plans from the LR website for £3 before even deciding to view a property as this would have brought up the issue at the start of the process.

twoLou

Slithery said:

I know this is a bit late for you but for anyone else reading this thread it's always a good idea to download the title plans from the LR website for £3 before even deciding to view a property as this would have brought up the issue at the start of the process.

This is such good advice.

I had a similar issue to the OP and did not go ahead with the purchase. I now do exactly this for peace of mind.

canaldumidi

I'm off to view a property on Friday. Just seen it on Rightmove.

I wouldn't dream of going to view without first getting the LR Title & Plan and having them with me to compare with what I see.

Has it got fishing rights? EA might/might not tell me; EA might/might not be right. But the Title will likely tell me...

As for the photo in your other thread, (why confuse us with 2 threads...?!) well that doesn't look anything like a drive.

But assuming the garage is within the property boundary, and has been there for 15 years, I can't see anyone preventing you from driving up and using the garage. Or indeed parking beside the house wall.

When asked by user1977 about your development plans, I think the point was whether you want to build on that land (which obviously you can't if you don't own it). If you just want to re-pave it - well the Title says you have to maintain it in good condition so.... go ahead!

Rights granted to the purchaser - 

A right of way in common with the council and all others having a like right over and along the passageway coloured green on the said plan if there is a passageway coloured green on the said plan the purchaser paying a proper proportion of the expense of keeping such passageway in a proper state of repair and condition 

HampshireH

Having read your other thread I'd suggest you put the photos in here 

That does not look like a driveway. That is clearly a footpath from the front to back of the property 

That would have been obvious at viewing.

Doozergirl

Looking at the pictures, I'm not entirely sure how you are supposed to park your car at the side of the house and get out of it on the ROW anyway. 

It looks to me that if you removed the garage then you could very legally use the side as a ROW and the rear as permanent parking.  Or  possibly even still use the area between house and garage as parking now without removing the garage.  

I think the council probably will sell some of that land though if you're not asking for the footpath too.  It's clear that they're not maintaining it themselves - the new tarmac in front suggests what their workers think is theirs and what is yours, and some of it does look very much like it belongs to the house in practicality, if not in name. 

There are indemnity policies that might protect you if you did park at the side, speak to your solicitor, but the deeds do expect you to maintain the land, so paving it isn't out of the question for you and you do at least have the benefit of a ROW that no one can remove from you.  

It is the sort of thing that people may take issue with on paper, but the reality is that there's unlikely to be challenge unless you start to impede the footpath.  

Had a similar situation with our old house,
in fact, with our current one too, where some of the the land between road and house is owned by no one and we have a claimed ROW over it.   No one else could want to ever have claim over it because it's behind massive trees that are as old as
the house.  We took a view on it, as did our buyers.  

Noneforit999

Looking at the pictures in the other thread, its not as bad as I was expecting.

If the current vendors have been using it as a driveway since they bought it, I don't see why or how anybody is going to do anything if you were to do the same.

It sounds to me like you are ok with using the land to park on as long as the buyer gave you some money off?
So the money is the issue rather than the fact you won't own that land?

Considering how far along you are with the process and the vendor is unwilling to negotiate further, you have two options:

1. Go ahead
2. Pull out

Nobody on this forum is going to be able to tell you what you should do, its quite clear the vendor has no interest in dropping the price further so you need to make a decision.

eddddy

HampshireH said:

Having read your other thread I'd suggest you put the photos in here 

That does not look like a driveway. That is clearly a footpath from the front to back of the property 

That would have been obvious at viewing.

Yep - so the EA is very clearly at fault, they should have known / suspected that was the case.

So their property listing was misleading, and they further mislead you on the phone.

The EA shot themselves in foot by saying that "you should have known that it wasn't a driveway", because they didn't. (But I guess they said that on the phone, as opposed to in writing.)


If you decide not to proceed because of this, and the EA is a member of The Property Ombudsman Scheme (most are), you could:

• Complain to the EA, asking them to pay your lost fees
• Complain to the Property Ombudsman

The Property Ombudsman expects EAs to know more about property than typical buyers and sellers. So even if you didn't realise about the issue with the driveway and garage, the EA probably should have.




Your complaint sounds a bit similar to a combination of these two complaints, where the EAs had to pay compensation:

• Here's a case where an EA advertised a property as having parking, but there was no dropped kerb. The seller and buyer didn't seem to realise the significance, but the Ombudsman said the EA should have realised. As a result the EA had to pay compensation to the buyer:

• https://www.tpos.co.uk/news-media-and-press-releases/case-studies/item/an-undropped-kerb-misleading-action

• And here's a case where an EA mis-described a property (unrelated to parking etc) resulting in the buyer walking away. The EA had to repay the buyer £795 to cover the buyer's lost solicitor’s fee, mortgage broker’s fee and the mortgage application fee.

• https://www.tpos.co.uk/news-media-and-press-releases/case-studies/item/investment-property-misleading-action

See: https://www.tpos.co.uk/consumers/how-to-make-a-complaint

Lyd00

Thanks everyone. 

Yeah now I'm looking at it it again it seems very obviously a path. But it was drilled into me that it was a driveway and my eyes were seeing the tarmac'd bits as where the wheels of your car go = driveway. Now I see it as absolutely not that.

My viewing lasted a whole 10 minutes before I was ushered out in place with the next, they didn't even open the side door to show me the coal room.

I asked a neighbour about where they park and they confirmed around the side of the house so again I assumed all OK. And it probably always will be unless a new resident moves into one of the bungalows overlooking it and complains maybe.

It won't be my forever home so I've got to think about sellability as well. It's an end terrace with no parking if someone ever kicks up a fuss.

If I get rid of the garage it doesn't have a garage affecting its value. And even if I get rid of the garage to park there instead do I have pedestrian access only with it being a path or can I drive up it? I'm going to try and find out.

Thanks 

Lyd00

Noneforit999 said:

Looking at the pictures in the other thread, its not as bad as I was expecting.

If the current vendors have been using it as a driveway since they bought it, I don't see why or how anybody is going to do anything if you were to do the same.

It sounds to me like you are ok with using the land to park on as long as the buyer gave you some money off?
So the money is the issue rather than the fact you won't own that land?

It's not what I thought I was buying. If I'm able to pave it then maybe yes I still want it and take the risk. I'm not sure in OK with it because ultimately I can't sell it on (which I'll want to do one day) as having a driveway because it doesn't. And if worst came to worst I can't park nearby. I'm stuck and don't know what I want now