Would this be a red flag to you?

Claire89_

Hi, I am currently in the early stages of buying my first home. 

The house itself is perfect for me. 

However, there are two half finished outbuildings in the back garden which also join to nextdoor with the same in their garden. There is no garden fence. 

The seller told me the previous owner owned both houses and decided to build extra rooms and didn’t finish them. 

I have found pictures of the house in 2020 where the outbuildings are complete with windows and a roof. I can only assume these were done without planning permission and then had to be stripped down. (I have searched planning and there is none).

Going back to the garden fence, I have found pictures of the house in 2012 still with no fence. Understandable if owner owned both houses however google says the owners next door moved there in 2003 and seller tells me they are an elderly couple. He did not mention these are the previous owners of the house. It’s all just giving me spooky vibes and I have no idea how much it would cost to get rid of the outbuildings although I would be in no rush to do so. But my worry is about them being attached to nextdoor and what my rights would be to get rid. I would also absolutely want a garden fence. 

They are not attached to the actual house. 

In the meantime my solicitor has gone back and asked questions about them.

lisyloo

I would want to find out more in your shoes.
There could potentially be issues if these are on your land.
Also what if the elderly couple die (nothing is more certain in fact). What happens then?

Is the seller not being forthcoming?
I don't think I'd be prepared to spend a whole lot of solicitors time on it TBH unless it was my dream home and then I'd be looking for info from the seller and estate agents for free before spending £kkkks with the solicitor.
Is your conveyancing a fixed fee or are you paying your solicitor per hour?

Claire89_

Being an over excited FTB I instructed solicitor immediately. It is fixed fee and I have already learnt my lesson and come to terms with the fact I will lose this money if something dodgy comes out. I rushed in as I love the house and location, size etc everything else is perfect. The garden situation didn’t put me off as I had my rose tinted glasses on. 

The solicitor didn’t seem too concerned, however, other people I speak to say yes it’s strange. 

lisyloo

I am not a lawyer, but my concerns as a layperson would be 

am I liable for the buildings on my land? - for example tile flies off neglected roof and hits passer by in the head
as a follow on - are you going to have issues getting insurance?
could I have to pay costs to remove them if they are on my land? e.g. council condemn them
could new owners damage my property? e.g. churn up the lawn, when they remove them or access them
could there be disturbance if they decide to use them? e.g. kennel dogs in there
could they be used for nefarious purposes? e.g. crack addicts sheltering in there

Having thought about that I'd probably want a plan to have them removed before I bought and have that as part of the contract at no cost to me. I think that would be a showstopper for me due to the concerns above.
I would then plan to put a fence in on my side of the border and factor that into my offer (possibly not big enough issue to lower the offer on it's own but would need to be considered with other issues post survey).

ThisIsWeird

I'd be guided by your conveyancer - ask them the relevant Q's, and make sure you have a note of their answers.

This wouldn't 'put me off', and I'd more likely be considering how I could use these buildings, unless they are an eyesore or take up too much space.

Quite possibly the vendor is being 'evasive' because they knew they didn't comply with Planning, and also perhaps that's why it's now missing it's roof - there are height restrictions to what you can do in your garden, and possibly planning got involved and told them to reduce it. Who knows! But, it largely doesn't matter - you will be responsible for what's on your side, and your neighb for theirs. If you want to restore them as useful outbuildings, then do so, whilst keeping within regs. If you'd rather remove them, then factor in the cost of doing this, whilst preventing damage to the neighb's. (Or do it together).

It isn't a 'problem' in itself, as far as I can see; lots of folks have constructions and outbuildings on their land, in various states of repair!

Also, the vendor does not have to do anything about them - it's up to the buyer to negotiate if they think they can, but on what basis this would be, I don't know.  

As soon as your conveyancer gets sight of the deeds, see if there any restrictions on the fences that can be put up.

ThisIsWeird

Do you have pics of these outbuildings? Or are they shown in the property listing details you could show us? 

lisyloo

ThisIsWeird said:

I'd be guided by your conveyancer - ask them the relevant Q's, and make sure you have a note of their answers.

This wouldn't 'put me off', and I'd more likely be considering how I could use these buildings, unless they are an eyesore or take up too much space.

Quite possibly the vendor is being 'evasive' because they knew they didn't comply with Planning, and also perhaps that's why it's now missing it's roof - there are height restrictions to what you can do in your garden, and possibly planning got involved and told them to reduce it. Who knows! But, it largely doesn't matter - you will be responsible for what's on your side, and your neighb for theirs. If you want to restore them as useful outbuildings, then do so, whilst keeping within regs. If you'd rather remove them, then factor in the cost of doing this, whilst preventing damage to the neighb's. (Or do it together).

It isn't a 'problem' in itself, as far as I can see; lots of folks have constructions and outbuildings on their land, in various states of repair!

Also, the vendor does not have to do anything about them - it's up to the buyer to negotiate if they think they can, but on what basis this would be, I don't know.  

As soon as your conveyancer gets sight of the deeds, see if there any restrictions on the fences that can be put up.

These outbuildings are owned by the neighbours.

Claire89_

ThisIsWeird said:

Do you have pics of these outbuildings? Or are they shown in the property listing details you could show us? 

 I have messaged you the pics. 

ThisIsWeird

lisyloo said:

ThisIsWeird said:

I'd be guided by your conveyancer - ask them the relevant Q's, and make sure you have a note of their answers.

This wouldn't 'put me off', and I'd more likely be considering how I could use these buildings, unless they are an eyesore or take up too much space.

Quite possibly the vendor is being 'evasive' because they knew they didn't comply with Planning, and also perhaps that's why it's now missing it's roof - there are height restrictions to what you can do in your garden, and possibly planning got involved and told them to reduce it. Who knows! But, it largely doesn't matter - you will be responsible for what's on your side, and your neighb for theirs. If you want to restore them as useful outbuildings, then do so, whilst keeping within regs. If you'd rather remove them, then factor in the cost of doing this, whilst preventing damage to the neighb's. (Or do it together).

It isn't a 'problem' in itself, as far as I can see; lots of folks have constructions and outbuildings on their land, in various states of repair!

Also, the vendor does not have to do anything about them - it's up to the buyer to negotiate if they think they can, but on what basis this would be, I don't know.  

As soon as your conveyancer gets sight of the deeds, see if there any restrictions on the fences that can be put up.

These outbuildings are owned by the neighbours.

My understanding is that the buildings are in Claire's future garden, but are matched by similar in the neighb's one? IE, the unfenced boundary passes through them.

MikeJXE

ThisIsWeird said:

lisyloo said:

ThisIsWeird said:

I'd be guided by your conveyancer - ask them the relevant Q's, and make sure you have a note of their answers.

This wouldn't 'put me off', and I'd more likely be considering how I could use these buildings, unless they are an eyesore or take up too much space.

Quite possibly the vendor is being 'evasive' because they knew they didn't comply with Planning, and also perhaps that's why it's now missing it's roof - there are height restrictions to what you can do in your garden, and possibly planning got involved and told them to reduce it. Who knows! But, it largely doesn't matter - you will be responsible for what's on your side, and your neighb for theirs. If you want to restore them as useful outbuildings, then do so, whilst keeping within regs. If you'd rather remove them, then factor in the cost of doing this, whilst preventing damage to the neighb's. (Or do it together).

It isn't a 'problem' in itself, as far as I can see; lots of folks have constructions and outbuildings on their land, in various states of repair!

Also, the vendor does not have to do anything about them - it's up to the buyer to negotiate if they think they can, but on what basis this would be, I don't know.  

As soon as your conveyancer gets sight of the deeds, see if there any restrictions on the fences that can be put up.

These outbuildings are owned by the neighbours.

My understanding is that the buildings are in Claire's future garden, but are matched by similar in the neighb's one? IE, the unfenced boundary passes through them.

Not seen the layout but it sounds similar to my sons old property.

A centre terrace with a building down the garden built across the boundary, each neighbour owning their half. His fence was down the centre 

I guess they could have been the wash house or outside loo

GDB2222

I don’t think I would run away just yet.  There may be a problem, but I would be trying to work out what I could do with the buildings, rather than only thinking of demolition.

Would you need to pay the whole cost of the fence, or could you split it with next door?