Uplift clause....

Baffled99

Hi, 
We're looking at buying a house with an uplift clause already on the deeds. The property has DPP for extending and refurbishment of the property and already obtained by the current owner, and he has already split the garden and sold that half as a plot.
Would we trigger the uplift by carrying out the works?

eddddy

You need to read the clause to find out how it is triggered, how much you'd have to pay etc. (Or ask your solicitor to read it and report on it for you.)

Often uplift clauses are triggered by planning consent being granted - so it's possible that payment is already due.

Has the clause been added by the current owner, or a previous owner?

ThisIsWeird

It might also have an expiry date.
You just need to read the specific terms.
The EA should really have this info too, as such things will obviously tend to have a material effect on the property's desirability and value.

Baffled99

My solicitor wants £1000 to go through the file.
The clause was put in by the current owner.
I have read and re read the deeds but it's worded in legalese that I don't understand!
There is a 20yr time limit on the clause.

ThisIsWeird

Blimey!
I wonder if anyone in here could decipher it? Do you have a copy?

eddddy

Baffled99 said:

The clause was put in by the current owner.

So the current owner should know all the precise details of the clause, so you can ask them.

Obviously, in due course, you would want your conveyancer to check the clause to make sure that what the current owner tells you is accurate.


And if there are terms in the clause that you don't like, you can try to negotiate with the current owner to have them changed - or even to have the whole clause removed.

Baffled99

Unfortunately the current owner is very old! I think I might pass on thus property aside feel it could be very expensive before we even get to exchange or completion! And then the complexities and uncertainty of the overage. Apparently there is also a second charge in the name of the previous owner to this current one.
You're all very kind ....

eddddy

Baffled99 said:

Unfortunately the current owner is very old! I think I might pass on thus property aside feel it could be very expensive before we even get to exchange or completion! And then the complexities and uncertainty of the overage. Apparently there is also a second charge in the name of the previous owner to this current one.

Yep - the uplift clause was possibly a 'clever idea' by the elderly owner's relative, which just ends up deterring buyers.

 

ThisIsWeird

Almost always ultimately driven by their intense aversion to anyone getting summat that they didn't.

Bookworm105

Baffled99 said:

My solicitor wants £1000 to go through the file.
The clause was put in by the current owner.
I have read and re read the deeds but it's worded in legalese that I don't understand!
There is a 20yr time limit on the clause.

you are considering spending the single largest amount of money you are likely to do so in your life
you admit you do not understand what you read
yet you refuse to pay someone who will be able to explain it to you (and will be liable if their advice is wrong)??


there is a time being MSE and a time for knowing what is the value of money spent

Jellynailer

It is a risk and return decision.  £1k could get you peace of mind or tell you not to touch it with a bargepole; or the usual less than clear advice to cover their backs.  Personally, I would walk away and find somewhere else.