Vendors &Estate Agent did not tell me about major works granted to next door?

user1977

BonaDea said:

My buyers got their searches back on 15th October and we exchanged on 30th October.  I'm not sure why you believe receiving the searches in mid-October would have made it impossible to exchange before the 31st.  

Indeed. You get your searches and make your decision, you don't need to spend several weeks ruminating over them.

Also, why has the deposit risen from £250 to £2000?

MysteryMe

Oh dear!

Defective gates and a £2000 holding deposit? My advice is to look up the work of raptor2004.

NameUnavailable

You say a £250 deposit but then quote a contract that says £2000? Was this modern method of auction?

Any changes in stamp duty isn't an issue for the sellers or agents, if you can't afford it you can't afford it. Similar to people who lose their job before exhanging contracts.

It sounds like the EA will do their best to avoid refunding your deposit if you decide to pull out. You can go to small claims court (or whatever it's called now) to challenge that, and if you DO pull out the vendors may become more willing to renegotiate on price as any other buyer will discover the same issues (and the agent may now have a duty to disclose the planning issue to other buyers).

The ball is in your court really.

Tiglet2

MysteryMe said:

Oh dear!

Defective gates and a £2000 holding deposit? My advice is to look up the work of raptor2004.

Haha, I was thinking the same!

Cuticuraser

BonaDea said:

My buyers got their searches back on 15th October and we exchanged on 30th October.  I'm not sure why you believe receiving the searches in mid-October would have made it impossible to exchange before the 31st.  

Clearly you didn't understand. My searches came back with a big red flag with the next door. 

eddddy

If you want, you can try a formal complaint to the estate agent, followed by a complaint to The Property Ombudsman (assuming the estate agent is a member.)

I guess the basis of your complaint could be...

• The estate agent knew, or should have known, about the development next door
• This was material information, and the estate agent should have informed you

Because...

• The seller would have known because they received a notice from the council (as they're a neighbour) and/or a site notice would have been put up. (You can probably check on the council website to see if the seller was sent a notice.)

• The estate agent should have asked the seller about any significant factors which might affect the property - like planned development next door. (For example, the National Association of Estate Agents has that question on the list of questions that estate agents should ask sellers.)

• Then the estate agent should have told you

• (But it's possible that the estate agent asked the seller, but the seller lied in their reply - which would probably remove blame from the estate agent.)

And / or 

• As a local residential estate agent, the estate agent almost certainly monitors local residential planning applications, and monitors local property for sale for development, etc. So it's very likely that they knew about the planning application.

I've no idea whether the ombudsman would decide in your favour.

Or maybe if you tell the estate agent that you'll complain to the Ombudsman, they might compromise (or give in) - because they don't want an Ombudsman's investigation, with the Ombudsman going through their files, etc.

TheJP

eddddy said:

If you want, you can try a formal complaint to the estate agent, followed by a complaint to The Property Ombudsman (assuming the estate agent is a member.)

I guess the basis of your complaint could be...

• The estate agent knew, or should have known, about the development next door
• This was material information, and the estate agent should have informed you

Because...

• The seller would have known because they received a notice from the council (as they're a neighbour) and/or a site notice would have been put up. (You can probably check on the council website to see if the seller was sent a notice.)

• The estate agent should have asked the seller about any significant factors which might affect the property - like planned development next door. (For example, the National Association of Estate Agents has that question on the list of questions that estate agents should ask sellers.)

• Then the estate agent should have told you

• (But it's possible that the estate agent asked the seller, but the seller lied in their reply - which would probably remove blame from the estate agent.)

And / or 

• As a local residential estate agent, the estate agent almost certainly monitors local residential planning applications, and monitors local property for sale for development, etc. So it's very likely that they knew about the planning application.

I've no idea whether the ombudsman would decide in your favour.

Or maybe if you tell the estate agent that you'll complain to the Ombudsman, they might compromise (or give in) - because they don't want an Ombudsman's investigation, with the Ombudsman going through their files, etc.

Quite often planning notices are tied to a lampost and the council sees that as sufficient notice. The previous owners of my house did a substantial extension on the side of the house which would impact our neighbour opposite (2 houses in a mini cul-de-sac). When we bought it I asked the neighbours about the extension, how long, disruption etc. They said all was fine but the only point they knew about it was a couple of weeks before work was to start when the owner knocked on their door to say what the plans were. A site notice was placed on a lamppost just outside the main drive, the neighbours had a side gate that opened onto the adjoining road so never walked past the lampost just drove passed it and didn't notice it.

It could be that the seller genuinely didn't know and as such either did the EA, most EAs won't spend time doing this sort of diligence as that's the role of conveyancing. However if the EA is the one that will market the new properties then that's a different matter.

eddddy

TheJP said:

Quite often planning notices are tied to a lampost and the council sees that as sufficient notice. The previous owners of my house did a substantial extension on the side of the house which would impact our neighbour opposite (2 houses in a mini cul-de-sac). When we bought it I asked the neighbours about the extension, how long, disruption etc. They said all was fine but the only point they knew about it was a couple of weeks before work was to start when the owner knocked on their door to say what the plans were. A site notice was placed on a lamppost just outside the main drive, the neighbours had a side gate that opened onto the adjoining road so never walked past the lampost just drove passed it and didn't notice it.

Yep - some councils don't notify neighbours.

But some do, and they even publish a list of the neighbours notified on their planning website. So that might be a quick check for the OP. For example, from a random council's website:

TheJP said:

It could be that the seller genuinely didn't know and as such either did the EA, most EAs won't spend time doing this sort of diligence as that's the role of conveyancing. However if the EA is the one that will market the new properties then that's a different matter.

Yep.

But the OP says the house next door was "recently bought out by a property developer". So another quick check would be to see if it was advertised on Rightmove etc as a house being sold for development.

All local estate agents will be checking Rightmove etc for properties being sold on their patch.


But as you suggest, all these investigations might come to nothing - and/or the Ombudsman might decide the estate agent has done nothing wrong.

It's up to the OP if they want to investigate these angles, or give up and move on with their life.