Buyers solicitors questions

Becksie11

Hello

I brought a new build (Taylor Wimpey) property approx 9yrs ago, I’m in the process of px for another new build. 

Late yesterday I got a list of questions from the builders solicitors. 

Are these normal questions? I’ve never sold a house before, so I appreciate any advice. 

 1. Please supply the planning consents P/10/1580/2, P/11/1096/25, P/11/2231/2, P/11/2322/2, P/11/2729/2, P/17/2517/2, SN11/1024/1.

2. Please supply evidence of building regulation consent (IN/18/0512/2) for the erection of the property and final inspection certificate.

3. Please supply a copy of the Section 278 Agreement dated 20th December 2011.

4. Please confirm there are no outstanding obligations under the Planning Consents to be performed or payments made.

5. Please confirm the Planning Consent does not impose liability on individual plot owners of the dwellings, such as this property.

I have been through all my solicitor paperwork that I have filed away & do not have majority of these documents, I’ve contacted the previous solicitor so awaiting a reply. 

Thank you!!

ss2020jd

These do sound like standard requests. The planning permissions might be available to view and download online by searching the numbers on your local authority’s website under planning section. Sometimes the building regs documents and completion certificates are there as well under building control. 

Your previous solicitor should have seen these documents when you purchased but not sure how long they keep records for, normally about seven years. 

Flugelhorn

My solicitor asked for all this stuff when we bought a 9 year old house - it was for the vendor's solicitor to find them from the council etc not you 

diystarter7

Flugelhorn said:

My solicitor asked for all this stuff when we bought a 9 year old house - it was for the vendor's solicitor to find them from the council etc not you 

Hi

Apols, I will disagree with you. IMO, the other solicitor may have tried finding them and they possibly cant because possibly they don't exist is my take on this.   Therefore giving the other side a chance, just in case papers have been mislaid by the LA?

Thanks

user1977

Becksie11 said:

I brought a new build (Taylor Wimpey) property approx 9yrs ago, I’m in the process of px for another new build. 

Late yesterday I got a list of questions from the builders solicitors. 

Are these normal questions? I’ve never sold a house before, so I appreciate any advice.

Yes, they're normal questions - but I presume you're not doing your own conveyancing? So why isn't your solicitor giving you any advice, or (as I'd expect them to do) answering them by themselves?

EssexHebridean

Flugelhorn said:

My solicitor asked for all this stuff when we bought a 9 year old house - it was for the vendor's solicitor to find them from the council etc not you 

The OP is the vendor - and I assume from the wording that their solicitor has passed the question on to them to see if they already have the copies of the documents (as they might had they been supplied at the time of purchase. 

In terms of how long files are retained - they have to be kept for 7 years. In reality I’d be surprised if most firms shred that fast though - I’m currently working my way through 2012 - 14 files at work for checking prior to destruction, and I’m not prioritising the later ones in any way, so they can easily linger around for longer. You can’t rely on it though. 

Go back to your own solicitor and explain that those docs weren’t sent to you - let them take it from there. The documentation will be easily available to them online or through the developer. (Don’t worry about the frankly highly unlikely suggestion that these permissions weren’t granted or “don’t exist” either, that would be incredibly rare allowing that nothing was flagged when you purchased!) 

user1977

I suppose it's beyond the capabilities of either solicitor just to use Google:

https://portal.charnwood.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorerAA/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Planning Applications On-Line&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=551890&XSLT=/Northgate/PlanningExplorerAA/SiteFiles/Skins/charnwood/xslt/PL/PLDetailsSiteHistory.xslt&FT=Planning Application Details&PUBLIC=Y&XMLSIDE=/Northgate/PlanningExplorerAA/SiteFiles/Skins/charnwood/Menus/PL.xml&DAURI=PLANNING

Becksie11

Thank you for all your replies. 

I’m that anal when it comes to paperwork so I know I have kept everything that I have been sent, it’s all filed away in the original envelopes! 

The covering letter from the original solicitor states they keep the documents for 7 years, I spoke to them yesterday late afternoon and have put it all in a email to them but I’m pretty sure if they have anything it will be the same as I have. 

I’ve also been on the council planning website and found the planning, my reply was also going to go along of the lines of it’s easily accessible online, I found some of it in a matter of seconds, I’m also going to add in about gaining a copy from the developer. 

I have 13 points to answer, my job for this evening. 

Flugelhorn

diystarter7 said:

Flugelhorn said:

My solicitor asked for all this stuff when we bought a 9 year old house - it was for the vendor's solicitor to find them from the council etc not you 

Hi

Apols, I will disagree with you. IMO, the other solicitor may have tried finding them and they possibly cant because possibly they don't exist is my take on this.   Therefore giving the other side a chance, just in case papers have been mislaid by the LA?

Thanks

Vendors should never be chasing round finding stuff like this. My solicitor had to chase the vendor's solictor to get some of it, ultimately telling them where they could find it   ie the council websites

Tiglet2

It's possible that the council will charge a fee for supplying the documents, so the solicitor might have thought of asking you in case you had copies supplied to you when you bought 9 years ago, to save the cost of paying the Council's fee if you didn't need to.  If you don't have copies in your files, just say that.

diystarter7

Flugelhorn said:

diystarter7 said:

Flugelhorn said:

My solicitor asked for all this stuff when we bought a 9 year old house - it was for the vendor's solicitor to find them from the council etc not you 

Hi

Apols, I will disagree with you. IMO, the other solicitor may have tried finding them and they possibly cant because possibly they don't exist is my take on this.   Therefore giving the other side a chance, just in case papers have been mislaid by the LA?

Thanks

Vendors should never be chasing round finding stuff like this. My solicitor had to chase the vendor's solictor to get some of it, ultimately telling them where they could find it   ie the council websites

Hi
The word "never" is often over used and rarely applies to any scenario inc this one. There are times when it is helpful when as per my previous post, the sol outfit for whatever reason did not find what they seek and LA are at times not great at putting stuff in the right place. However on the whole, I do agree with you.

Thanks again