New build land dispute

yangzijiang

Countrysider said:

yangzijiang said:

The developer admits it is a error they made. They refused to give us compensation and asked us to sign a 'correct' plan with just one walk path.

I would not sign the new plan, irrespective of your choice to take the matter further legally. This is the only leverage you have.  

Presumably having this would make the neighbouring plot harder to sell (now or in the future) as there is clearly encroachment and that's a standard solicitor enquiry.

Also:

Our solicitor asked us to sign

Is that really your solicitor (chosen by you) or the solicitor recommended by the developer? What happens if you don't sign? You've presumably already exchanged so it seems to be the developers problem to put right. 

it is our solicitor, she is useless, just wanna finish the case to take our money...

yangzijiang

mi-key said:

I'm sure the developers have some tiny print somewhere saying that plots are for illustration only etc...etc...

this is not an illustration plots, these are the land registration title deeds that we actually signed with our solicitor.

user1977

How does this compare with what the planners have approved? Your contract is likely to say the developer is to comply with the planning permission, and to give them some flexibility to make amendments.

silvercar

Normally your solicitor sends you the deeds and asks you to confirm that they match with what you expected. Did this happen? 

daveyjp

Thats quite a strip of land to lose, so you need compensation if you agree.

However are there also other matters to consider.

Land registry.  What plan do they have?  Is it actually registered yet?  If so it needs a rectification,  who pays?
Mortgage company will need updating and may need to be involved before changes as they hold a charge.
Estate maintenance company if there is one.  Any issues there?

[Deleted User]

Definitely don't sign anything. Might be worth taking to your mortgage provider, they will certainly not be happy that what they mostly own is not what you paid for.

Does your home insurance have legal cover?

Is the plot next door sold or occupied? If they sold the land twice then compensation is probably all you can get, but if not they should give you the land.

user1977

[Deleted User] said:

Might be worth taking to your mortgage provider, they will certainly not be happy that what they mostly own is not what you paid for.

I very much doubt they'll be interested in whatever value that sliver of land adds to the house. Only a 1% or so chance of them ever repossessing.

pinkteapot

daveyjp said:

Thats quite a strip of land to lose, so you need compensation if you agree.

However are there also other matters to consider.

Land registry.  What plan do they have?  Is it actually registered yet?  If so it needs a rectification,  who pays?
Mortgage company will need updating and may need to be involved before changes as they hold a charge.
Estate maintenance company if there is one.  Any issues there?

These are key questions. If you have already completed and the red outline you showed us is what's been registered with the Land Registry, then it needs to go through the correct process to be updated if you give up the land to your neighbour. Or was that the version you were shown but then a different version was registered? 

silvercar

user1977 said:

[Deleted User] said:

Might be worth taking to your mortgage provider, they will certainly not be happy that what they mostly own is not what you paid for.

I very much doubt they'll be interested in whatever value that sliver of land adds to the house. Only a 1% or so chance of them ever repossessing.

I think a lender would be very interested in the loss of a path around the house, it could diminish the value or at the very least take longer to sell. It isn't only a question of repossessing it is security for the borrowing.

Our house originally had paths on both sides. A previous owner added a garage, now a room, on one side, so the only path access is on the other side. If we had lost that when the property was initially sold it would have limited extension/ garage options and therefore potential future value.

In fact this could be a trump card  - if the lender won't agree then the developer is stumped.

theoretica

Has the property got as far as being registered with the land registry yet?  Has the Neighbour's property been registered? 

Who bought first? Did the developer 'sell' you something they didn't own as they had already sold it to your neighbour - or did they 'sell' something they didn't own to your neighbour as you had already bought it?