Difficult sale post death

housebuyer143

As the land isn't unregistered I understand the buyers concern, but it doesn't sound like you are talking about a lot of land. 
Why don't you offer them a discount to purchase the house without officially owning the land and potentially purchase an indemnity insurance if possible in case the council come back for the land? 
If they were to lose the land can the drive still be used? If your estate agent is really good they might be best to raise this, but if not then ask your solicitor to enquire. Explain it's only because of timescales that you are suggesting it because if you wait then the buyer won't be able to purchase the house any longer.

I recently sold a house where we had stolen 1m x 5m of unregistered land to the rear of my house and the solicitor was fine with a declaration to say we had it 12+ years. That was unregistered though so the 12 year rule applied. I'm not sure this is the case with registered land. 

lisyloo

Grumpy_chap said:

lisyloo said:

With the current offer there is an issue with a border being put in the wrong place.
It's a front driveway where there used to be a wide hedge and the driveway is wider than it should be meaning it takes up part of the land of a neighbouring (council) property.
We think this was done about 30 years ago and there are google maps pictures from 2008 so we think it's ok under statute of limitations.
The buyers solicitors wants it sorted but that may take a long time dealing with the council.
The sellers solicitor wants them to buy and sort it out afterwards as it will be fine.
Physically returning the area to it's original state will be quite major as the land in not level. It would mean removing a wide strip of driveway and returning it to grass and it might need a bit of retaining wall where there is a step down.

I am struggling a bit to understand this.

If the driveway is narrower - so the next door neighbour erects a fence along what the boundary "should" be - does that make the driveway impractical to use?
There is usually no need for a fence to be erected at the boundary, or anywhere else for that matter.
If the driveway remains practical even if narrower, then the property can be purchased with the boundary as per the deeds and what the neighbour does now or in the future with the strip of "extra" driveway is immaterial.

I can only imagine that any contact to the LA to adjust the boundaries will only result in refusal and the fence being erected on the boundary in any case.

The neighbour is a council tenant so unlikely to erect a fence or care.
if I was the buyer id be concerned about being asked to return it to its previous state which could be expensive e.g. retaining wall, so I’d want to be indemnified for the hassle and the cost.

the issue isn’t the width of the drive or anyone putting a fence up.

eddddy

lisyloo said:

The neighbour is a council tenant so unlikely to erect a fence or care.

if I was the buyer id be concerned about being asked to return it to its previous state which could be expensive e.g. retaining wall, so I’d want to be indemnified for the hassle and the cost.

How expensive? £2k or £4k or £6k or £10k?

So ask the estate agent to phone the buyer to ask the buyer if they are worried about being liable for reinstatement costs.

If the buyer is worried, offer to knock £5k or £10k off the price - just in case the buyer is ever asked to pay reinstatement costs.


I'm not sure why you keep pushing back from talking to the buyer. (Via the estate agent or directly.) It seems like the obvious thing to do.

lisyloo

I’m not pushing back, appreciate all ideas, but if it was me I wouldn’t trust the sellers estate agent over my own solicitor.

i would expect removing a tarmac drive (part of) and putting back garden and retaining wall to be well into 5 figures.

i think the suggestion of a discount is good.

lisyloo

Update 10/4.
The estate agent has gone direct to the buyers, given them quote for £3300 to fix the issue and told them that whatever route they want to go down will have to happen after the sale. If they want the house they need to proceed now as otherwise it will be repossessed and off the market. Awaiting their response. A discount is available but has not been offered on a plate.

GDB2222

Personally, I’m risk averse, so I’d offer the discount up front. I might lose a little, but I would maximise my chances of the buyers actually getting on with the transaction. Maybe, you are right, though. If they think that you are desperate, they might want to take advantage of the opportunity. 

lisyloo

If the estate agent was having a conversation with them verbally then I’d hope a good experienced negotiator would respond appropriately depending on what feedback they were getting. It may be that their primary concern is not money and they felt it was too early to mention it.

silvercar

You don’t know the buyers position. They may be getting a high mortgage and reducing the price only gives them a smaller mortgage. Eg if they are getting a 90% LTV on £300k with a £270k mortgage and £30k deposit, reducing the price to £280k means they can get a £252k mortgage with a £28k deposit. So they only have £2k spare to sort the issue.

lisyloo

It’s been left in the hands of the experienced negotiator. Due diligence is done before accepting offers but I’m not sure on the exact level of detail that has to be provided these days.
The expectation is that they would come back for a discount, certainly if it was a deal breaker but first they need to be willing to proceed based on the fact that they have to deal with this issue themselves as there is no time due the pressure from the equity release firm. Not everyone wants or is able to deal with the hassle of sorting out issues. 

I believe they are first time buyers looking to buy a home so fingers crossed.

GDB2222

Has anyone suggested a retention to cover the cost?