Can we be sued for not declaring something

HHarry

In your OP you said it would be possible by lowering the 1st floor ceilings.  Perhaps they have the budget to do that.

ThisIsWeird

housebuyer7 said:

We have just accepted an offer on our house from a buyer who wants to do a loft conversion on our house. We have not told her that it is not possible to do this with building regs as the height of the loft is too small. To do it would mean raising the roof (not feasible as midterrace in conservation area), or lowering all the first floor ceilings! If she finds out later down the line we knew this info and did not tell her, could anything come from this?
We also bought the property hoping to do a conversion. When the time came we couldn’t afford it but no one told us the truth when buying the property and the survey didn’t pick it up.

If you say nothing, you shouldn't worry about getting into trouble; you are not hiding a known fault or other issue that could significantly affect the property's value.

But, I think Tacpot has got the correct moral angle on this. You would like to be given this info if it were you doing the buying again.

But but, it's not the most heinous house-selling crime to commit, so don't beat yourself up if you decide to keep schtum.

FreeBear

housebuyer7 said: We have just accepted an offer on our house from a buyer who wants to do a loft conversion on our house. We have not told her that it is not possible to do this with building regs as the height of the loft is too small.

Have you been asked the specific question of "I want to do a loft conversion, is there any specific problems that would prevent it ?"

A response of "well, there may be some challenges, but you would need the qualified opinion of an expert" would be honest. The fact that the property is in a conservation area would probably scupper the thought before it even got to the drawing board. But you wouldn't be an expert in planning or building regulations, so shouldn't provide an opinion ether way.

ThisIsWeird

FreeBear said:

housebuyer7 said: We have just accepted an offer on our house from a buyer who wants to do a loft conversion on our house. We have not told her that it is not possible to do this with building regs as the height of the loft is too small.

Have you been asked the specific question of "I want to do a loft conversion, is there any specific problems that would prevent it ?"

A response of "well, there may be some challenges, but you would need the qualified opinion of an expert" would be honest. The fact that the property is in a conservation area would probably scupper the thought before it even got to the drawing board. But you wouldn't be an expert in planning or building regulations, so shouldn't provide an opinion ether way.

Indeed - if you are asked, then you should reply honestly. Planning requirements change all the time, and even between different groups on the Planning Committee, so it's perfectly correct to recommend they seek their own professional advice on such a thing; you cannot possibly state whether the chances are still zero.

[Deleted User]

I would probably have volunteered to them that a loft conversion is not going to happen at the outset. It will be a bit of a waste of time for you if they establish this sometime after having their offer accepted and then later they withdraw it. Also, the moral aspect of telling them about the problem has appeal to me. Each to their own.

FlorayG

I would answer a direct question honestly but if they haven't spoken with you directly about any alterations then say nothing. I sold a house with a restriction on it, the buyers didn't ask (or even think about the possibility at the time) and later I heard from a friend that they had applied to do the 'thing' that I knew was prohibited and got refused. If they had actually asked me "Will we be able to do X?" I would have told them they couldn't. Possibly then they would not have bought the house, but you never know about that until it happens

Dustyevsky

The simple answer is you can't be sued, but saying nothing may well result in a failed sale if the potential purchaser instructs their surveyor correctly. How you view that will depend on your own plans and circumstances.

Bigphil1474

Can't be sued, can lose your buyer. If the only reason they have offered is that they are expecting to be able to convert the loft, they'll pull out when they find out they can't. You and they will have wasted a few weeks or months. If the loft conversion was a maybe project for the future, then you should be fine. I wouldn't risk it, and I'd tell them now. The house we just bought had a loft conversion but the ceiling is too low so can't be anything other than storage. Vendor told us that right away. The loft access having a fitted staircase was a bonus to us, so we didn't mind.

Niv

I think the worst case scenario here is if they find out late on in the process and pull out which could risk the chain falling apart. However, as others have said, I would not volunteer this opinion of yours as its pretty obvious that the roof cant be raised if its mid terrace and they may be able to lower floors - just because you didn't have the budget / will to do it doesn't mean they wont.

Have other houses in the row done a conversion? If so, then there must be a possibility, if not (and its a conservation area) what makes them think it is viable anyway?

BungalowBel

I personally would feel I should tell them, but  I suspect my husband would say it is up to them to find out .  AFAIK there is no obligation to tell them.