Full land search not available in Hackney, should I put down a new offer?

BraveLuna

I'm currently in the process of buying a flat in Hackney, but Hackney Council is not able to process full land searches due to a cyberattack affecting their land charges processing system. Here's a link for more details: See local-land-charges-search on hackney council website.

Can I use this to renegotiate the offer? Based on the fact that, although I'm confident that indemnity insurance will allow me to get a mortgage, there’s no guarantee it will be accepted during remortgaging, and a future full land search could reveal issues that might affect the property's suitability for a mortgage or its resale value.

Indemnity insurance can cover if something needs fixing, but it does not cover if I will have to sell with a loss if the property is devalued for issues that could have been disclosed during a full search.

I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has faced a similar situation. Specifically, I’m wondering what percentage of a discount I should ask for due to this problem. Has anyone successfully negotiated a price reduction because of unavailable land searches? If so, what kind of discount did you manage to get?

BraveLuna

On top of this, lender valuation came back with the following (even if the valued the property same as my offer price).

The property is in an area where there is a risk of flooding which may affect future saleability and there may be insurance issues.
Future saleability may be affected because the property is above a restaurant.
Future saleability may be affected because of adverse locational factors: adjacent non-residential uses and a busy road

AskAsk

Can't you just wait for the council to get their act together?  I am sure they are just using that as an excuse.  Their system has already been under cyber attack not so long ago!

user1977

I can't see that the appropriate level for any discount ought to be more than what an indemnity policy costs. And given such policies typically cost peanuts, that indicates the tiny level of risk involved.

powerful_Rogue

Are you a first time buyer?

Southend_2

Presumably you were aware the property is above a restaurant and near a busy road when you made the offer?

BarelySentientAI

BraveLuna said:

Specifically, I’m wondering what percentage of a discount I should ask for due to this problem. 

Zero.      

BraveLuna

AskAsk said:

Can't you just wait for the council to get their act together?  I am sure they are just using that as an excuse.  Their system has already been under cyber attack not so long ago!

This is an issue that has been going on since 2020, I did not know of course about it. I read that there have been people not able to pay council tax because for years the council has not been able to calculate how much they owed. Definitely not an excuse, I cannot post links for some reasons, see the official note from the council, see here hackney dot gov dot uk /local-land-charges-search

BraveLuna

Southend_2 said:

Presumably you were aware the property is above a restaurant and near a busy road when you made the offer?

Of course I did, not about the risk of flood of course and not that the council is not able to process full land search. Which is my main concern.

BraveLuna

user1977 said:

I can't see that the appropriate level for any discount ought to be more than what an indemnity policy costs. And given such policies typically cost peanuts, that indicates the tiny level of risk involved.

Getting an insurance does not protect against knowing that the property lose value because of an issue that would have been disclosed in the full search. Plus you'd still have the hassle to deal with the admin on an insurance, should you actually claim it. It's very different from knowing that there are no issues at all.

AskAsk

BraveLuna said:

AskAsk said:

Can't you just wait for the council to get their act together?  I am sure they are just using that as an excuse.  Their system has already been under cyber attack not so long ago!

This is an issue that has been going on since 2020, I did not know of course about it. I read that there have been people not able to pay council tax because for years the council has not been able to calculate how much they owed. Definitely not an excuse, I cannot post links for some reasons, see the official note from the council, see here hackney dot gov dot uk /local-land-charges-search

I had properties in Hackney, so I am well aware of the cyber attack problem.  I sold two properties in hackney since 2020, and never heard any of this having an impact on my sale.  The council tax eventually got sorted, so this seems to be a new attack?

But sounds like no reduction as others have said.