Indemnity insurance prospective buyer

KatieXZoe

Has anyone got any experience with buying a house on an unadopted road? 

Just about to exchange on a house (first time buyer) and searches showed that the road running outside the house is currently unadopted. The local council use this route to access the local school with the buses, and also maintain the grass verges however the developer never paid to legally have the road adopted by the council when it was built 20 years ago. 

Since the developer is not around anymore, have heard has been bought out by Taylor wimpy who have since been out and corrected the odd pot hole in the road but again, officially, technically do not own the road.

Lots of houses on the road have sold without issue and I'm surprised the agent hasn't come across this problem before? 

My solicitor has arranged for an indemnity policy to cover our property, however it has a caveat that we are not to alter the property in any way which requires building regs to be signed off (eg basically insurance co don't want council to come and sign off the building works and be tipped off about the road... Understandably). 

Although we had no immediate plans to alter the property, it does have a conservatory which, at some point in years and years to come, we did briefly discuss knocking down and fully extending, or putting a proper roof on it, but now with this indemnity it's not looking like that will be possible? 

Does anyone know how easy it is to get a local authority to adopt a road/ been in a similar situation? Lender is happy to proceed with indemnity policy but am I unreasonably stressing about this conservatory ? 🤷

housebuyer143

KatieXZoe said:

Has anyone got any experience with buying a house on an unadopted road? 

Just about to exchange on a house (first time buyer) and searches showed that the road running outside the house is currently unadopted. The local council use this route to access the local school with the buses, and also maintain the grass verges however the developer never paid to legally have the road adopted by the council when it was built 20 years ago. 

Since the developer is not around anymore, have heard has been bought out by Taylor wimpy who have since been out and corrected the odd pot hole in the road but again, officially, technically do not own the road.

Lots of houses on the road have sold without issue and I'm surprised the agent hasn't come across this problem before? 

My solicitor has arranged for an indemnity policy to cover our property, however it has a caveat that we are not to alter the property in any way which requires building regs to be signed off (eg basically insurance co don't want council to come and sign off the building works and be tipped off about the road... Understandably). 

Although we had no immediate plans to alter the property, it does have a conservatory which, at some point in years and years to come, we did briefly discuss knocking down and fully extending, or putting a proper roof on it, but now with this indemnity it's not looking like that will be possible? 

Does anyone know how easy it is to get a local authority to adopt a road/ been in a similar situation? Lender is happy to proceed with indemnity policy but am I unreasonably stressing about this conservatory ? 🤷

What does the indemnity cover you for? The issue is, what if Taylor wimpy don't come to fix the holes in the road? The council won't do it so what happens then? 
It's great that the indemnity protects you (for what I'm not sure), but you need to know who is responsible for this as this will come to affect you when something needs doing. 
The council will not adopt a road unless the pavement and roads are in a particular condition and they are happy with it. It's normally a high bar.

user1977

KatieXZoe said:

My solicitor has arranged for an indemnity policy to cover our property, however it has a caveat that we are not to alter the property in any way which requires building regs to be signed off (eg basically insurance co don't want council to come and sign off the building works and be tipped off about the road... Understandably). 

I'm struggling to follow the logic there. Building control don't deal with the roads so wouldn't care about it. Are you sure that's what the policy says?

eddddy

Could your solicitor be talking about 2 different indemnity insurance policies?

• One policy relating to the unadopted road - because the deeds don't explicitly say that you have a legal right of way over the road.

• And a second policy relating to a conservatory with no building regs certificate 

If so, when was the conservatory built? And did it definitely need a building regs certificate?


(It's possible that your solicitor was quoting a generic warning about building regs indemnity insurance, rather than something that would apply to this specific house.)

KatieXZoe

user1977 said:

KatieXZoe said:

My solicitor has arranged for an indemnity policy to cover our property, however it has a caveat that we are not to alter the property in any way which requires building regs to be signed off (eg basically insurance co don't want council to come and sign off the building works and be tipped off about the road... Understandably). 

I'm struggling to follow the logic there. Building control don't deal with the roads so wouldn't care about it. Are you sure that's what the policy says?

It's because building control usually requires somebody from the council visiting the house to sign off. So essentially by having building works and then having the council come to visit the property you are increasing the risk of them being notified that the road is not adopted this making the policy obsolete. 

KatieXZoe

eddddy said:

Could your solicitor be talking about 2 different indemnity insurance policies?

• One policy relating to the unadopted road - because the deeds don't explicitly say that you have a legal right of way over the road.

• And a second policy relating to a conservatory with no building regs certificate 

If so, when was the conservatory built? And did it definitely need a building regs certificate?


(It's possible that your solicitor was quoting a generic warning about building regs indemnity insurance, rather than something that would apply to this specific house.)

Possibly. My solicitor is extremely thorough and I have thought that there is also an element of 'covering your own a**' here. I plan to make contact with Taylor Wimpey if and once moved to see their thoughts on getting the road adopted, I just don't want to be held at gunpoint to say that I'm not allowed to modify my house in any way IN CASE the council realise from this visit the road is unadopted. 

KatieXZoe

housebuyer143 said:

KatieXZoe said:

Has anyone got any experience with buying a house on an unadopted road? 

Just about to exchange on a house (first time buyer) and searches showed that the road running outside the house is currently unadopted. The local council use this route to access the local school with the buses, and also maintain the grass verges however the developer never paid to legally have the road adopted by the council when it was built 20 years ago. 

Since the developer is not around anymore, have heard has been bought out by Taylor wimpy who have since been out and corrected the odd pot hole in the road but again, officially, technically do not own the road.

Lots of houses on the road have sold without issue and I'm surprised the agent hasn't come across this problem before? 

My solicitor has arranged for an indemnity policy to cover our property, however it has a caveat that we are not to alter the property in any way which requires building regs to be signed off (eg basically insurance co don't want council to come and sign off the building works and be tipped off about the road... Understandably). 

Although we had no immediate plans to alter the property, it does have a conservatory which, at some point in years and years to come, we did briefly discuss knocking down and fully extending, or putting a proper roof on it, but now with this indemnity it's not looking like that will be possible? 

Does anyone know how easy it is to get a local authority to adopt a road/ been in a similar situation? Lender is happy to proceed with indemnity policy but am I unreasonably stressing about this conservatory ? 🤷

What does the indemnity cover you for? The issue is, what if Taylor wimpy don't come to fix the holes in the road? The council won't do it so what happens then? 
It's great that the indemnity protects you (for what I'm not sure), but you need to know who is responsible for this as this will come to affect you when something needs doing. 
The council will not adopt a road unless the pavement and roads are in a particular condition and they are happy with it. It's normally a high bar.

Thus far Taylor Wimpey and the council have been tending to the road, it's just it hasn't officially been signed over legally to either party. The indemnity is effectively a patch over the problem rather than a solution per se. It assumes that should the road remain unadopted, we are covered for the entire cost of the house if it ever required repairs (basically gives extra safety to lender as well). Road at moment is in very good condition but I just can't believe that an entire street has been left unadopted?? 

user1977

KatieXZoe said:

user1977 said:

KatieXZoe said:

My solicitor has arranged for an indemnity policy to cover our property, however it has a caveat that we are not to alter the property in any way which requires building regs to be signed off (eg basically insurance co don't want council to come and sign off the building works and be tipped off about the road... Understandably). 

I'm struggling to follow the logic there. Building control don't deal with the roads so wouldn't care about it. Are you sure that's what the policy says?

It's because building control usually requires somebody from the council visiting the house to sign off. So essentially by having building works and then having the council come to visit the property you are increasing the risk of them being notified that the road is not adopted this making the policy obsolete. 

But like I said, building control have nothing to do with roads. It makes as much sense as saying you shouldn't have rubbish collections, in case the binmen tell on you.

I think either you or your solicitor has misunderstood something, on this point anyway.

It certainly doesn't make sense if the council have in fact been maintaining the road and so must know about its status!

Section62

KatieXZoe said:

housebuyer143 said:

KatieXZoe said:

Has anyone got any experience with buying a house on an unadopted road? 

Just about to exchange on a house (first time buyer) and searches showed that the road running outside the house is currently unadopted. The local council use this route to access the local school with the buses, and also maintain the grass verges however the developer never paid to legally have the road adopted by the council when it was built 20 years ago. 

Since the developer is not around anymore, have heard has been bought out by Taylor wimpy who have since been out and corrected the odd pot hole in the road but again, officially, technically do not own the road.

Lots of houses on the road have sold without issue and I'm surprised the agent hasn't come across this problem before? 

My solicitor has arranged for an indemnity policy to cover our property, however it has a caveat that we are not to alter the property in any way which requires building regs to be signed off (eg basically insurance co don't want council to come and sign off the building works and be tipped off about the road... Understandably). 

Although we had no immediate plans to alter the property, it does have a conservatory which, at some point in years and years to come, we did briefly discuss knocking down and fully extending, or putting a proper roof on it, but now with this indemnity it's not looking like that will be possible? 

Does anyone know how easy it is to get a local authority to adopt a road/ been in a similar situation? Lender is happy to proceed with indemnity policy but am I unreasonably stressing about this conservatory ? 🤷

What does the indemnity cover you for? The issue is, what if Taylor wimpy don't come to fix the holes in the road? The council won't do it so what happens then? 
It's great that the indemnity protects you (for what I'm not sure), but you need to know who is responsible for this as this will come to affect you when something needs doing. 
The council will not adopt a road unless the pavement and roads are in a particular condition and they are happy with it. It's normally a high bar.

Thus far Taylor Wimpey and the council have been tending to the road, it's just it hasn't officially been signed over legally to either party. The indemnity is effectively a patch over the problem rather than a solution per se. It assumes that should the road remain unadopted, we are covered for the entire cost of the house if it ever required repairs (basically gives extra safety to lender as well). Road at moment is in very good condition but I just can't believe that an entire street has been left unadopted?? 

The council will already know the road isn't adopted, and probably don't care.

There are thousands of unadopted roads un the UK, and in many cases councils now prefer that roads on new developments aren't adopted, so long as some form of management arrangement is in place.

If the road hasn't already been adopted then it is unlikely to be, unless someone comes up with the money to bring it up to the council's standards for adoption, and is willing to pay enough to make it worth the council's while.

KatieXZoe

user1977 said:

KatieXZoe said:

user1977 said:

KatieXZoe said:

My solicitor has arranged for an indemnity policy to cover our property, however it has a caveat that we are not to alter the property in any way which requires building regs to be signed off (eg basically insurance co don't want council to come and sign off the building works and be tipped off about the road... Understandably). 

I'm struggling to follow the logic there. Building control don't deal with the roads so wouldn't care about it. Are you sure that's what the policy says?

It's because building control usually requires somebody from the council visiting the house to sign off. So essentially by having building works and then having the council come to visit the property you are increasing the risk of them being notified that the road is not adopted this making the policy obsolete. 

But like I said, building control have nothing to do with roads. It makes as much sense as saying you shouldn't have rubbish collections, in case the binmen tell on you.

I think either you or your solicitor has misunderstood something, on this point anyway.

It certainly doesn't make sense if the council have in fact been maintaining the road and so must know about its status!

I completely agree! If truth be told im willing to take the risk with doing what modifications I'd like on my own house, I just don't want it to become a problem when we come to sell up. 

So far looks like council happy to tend to road, just don't want to pay legal fees and faff of having the paperwork to make it official but if they're driving school buses down it twice a day then I really hope they will officially take it on.  

fackers_2

I hate these policies, starting to feel like a bit of a scam... Sold incase of a mouse farting... Seems it's now a compulsory add on (with interest) by Solicitors.