Leasehold conditions have changed after sale agreed and costs incurred - is there any recourse?

Marshy1

An agent advertised a leasehold apartment sale with a "We have been informed that holiday lets, pets and residential lets are permitted" - this was part of the reason a higher sale price was agreed in negotiations

We then incurred fees for surveys and searches as we started the conveyancing process

Our solicitors haven't been great - it has taken 5 months and we've just found out that the lease does not allow short-term lets (which my solicitor seemingly was advised of early September but hasn't shared that with me yet)

Regardless, the legal and survey costs would still have been incurred ... had we known about the lease restrictions we may not have even looked at this property, never mind made an offer

I am raising complaints with the solicitors and estate agents, is there anything else I should be doing? or can do? Or is this all part of the game, and these costs (several hundred quid so far) are just lost as a lesson learnt?

EssexHebridean

So have you not yet been sent a copy of the Lease? How about the other title documents? 

Never base anything on information from Estate Agents - it's pretty much worthless. If you complain to them they will simply say (very probably rightly) that they WERE informed of what they told you - they were just reporting what the seller told them. The seller meanwhile might deny that entirely! 

user1977

Was your solicitor aware that it was a significant point for you?

Marshy1

user1977 said:

Was your solicitor aware that it was a significant point for you?

yes - as I say they haven't been great, but from what I've seen they have pushed this aspect pretty hard, although they still haven't communicated the leasehold position formally to me (but I have received a copy of an email from the seller's solicitors which confirms the lease position)

Marshy1

EssexHebridean said:

So have you not yet been sent a copy of the Lease? How about the other title documents? 

Never base anything on information from Estate Agents - it's pretty much worthless. If you complain to them they will simply say (very probably rightly) that they WERE informed of what they told you - they were just reporting what the seller told them. The seller meanwhile might deny that entirely! 

no - was not provided this as part of offer negotiations and starting the legal process, is that standard practice to do so?

I suspect it will become a "he said, she said" debate between agent and seller - but someone has clearly got it wrong to attract a better sale price ....

artyboy

Well it sounds like you could at least reduce your offer to take account of the new information, if as you say you had specifically offered at a higher level initial on the basis that holiday lets were allowed.

The vendor can obviously refuse, but that, as you also say, is the game. They might be less than pleased that their EA has wasted time here by implying something that wasn't the case, but again, that's pretty much par for the course.

EssexHebridean

Marshy1 said:

EssexHebridean said:

So have you not yet been sent a copy of the Lease? How about the other title documents? 

Never base anything on information from Estate Agents - it's pretty much worthless. If you complain to them they will simply say (very probably rightly) that they WERE informed of what they told you - they were just reporting what the seller told them. The seller meanwhile might deny that entirely! 

no - was not provided this as part of offer negotiations and starting the legal process, is that standard practice to do so?

I suspect it will become a "he said, she said" debate between agent and seller - but someone has clearly got it wrong to attract a better sale price ....

Wouldn't have been provided as part of negotiations unless you had specifically asked for it, but would usually be sent through by the solicitor once they had received it from the other side. Generally the Lease will be sent from the seller's solicitor to the buyer's solicitor as part of the initial contract pack - or sometimes following on shortly afterwards depending on how long it takes to arrive from the Land Registry. 

Marshy1

artyboy said:

Well it sounds like you could at least reduce your offer to take account of the new information, if as you say you had specifically offered at a higher level initial on the basis that holiday lets were allowed.

The vendor can obviously refuse, but that, as you also say, is the game. They might be less than pleased that their EA has wasted time here by implying something that wasn't the case, but again, that's pretty much par for the course.

thank you - and yes a reduced offer is exactly our plan at this stage ....

anselld

Marshy1 said:

artyboy said:

Well it sounds like you could at least reduce your offer to take account of the new information, if as you say you had specifically offered at a higher level initial on the basis that holiday lets were allowed.

The vendor can obviously refuse, but that, as you also say, is the game. They might be less than pleased that their EA has wasted time here by implying something that wasn't the case, but again, that's pretty much par for the course.

thank you - and yes a reduced offer is exactly our plan at this stage ....

Surely if you plan to live there it is better that holiday lets are dissallowed, so why lower offer?

If you plan to holiday let then it has become a non-starter.

Unfortunately no recourse, but next time on any leasehold purchase get a copy of the lease before doing anything else.  If it is not forthcoming from the agent it can be got from Land Registry for a £7 fee.

Albermarle

anselld said:

Marshy1 said:

artyboy said:

Well it sounds like you could at least reduce your offer to take account of the new information, if as you say you had specifically offered at a higher level initial on the basis that holiday lets were allowed.

The vendor can obviously refuse, but that, as you also say, is the game. They might be less than pleased that their EA has wasted time here by implying something that wasn't the case, but again, that's pretty much par for the course.

thank you - and yes a reduced offer is exactly our plan at this stage ....

Surely if you plan to live there it is better that holiday lets are dissallowed, so why lower offer?

If you plan to holiday let then it has become a non-starter.

Unfortunately no recourse, but next time on any leasehold purchase get a copy of the lease before doing anything else.  If it is not forthcoming from the agent it can be got from Land Registry for a £7 fee.

Maybe just because it is a good excuse to try and renegotiate lower.

eddddy

If you end up walking away from the purchase as a result of the misleading information the estate agent gave you, you could try a complaint to whichever redress scheme the estate agent is a member of - either the Property Ombudsman Scheme or the PRS - to potentially get compensation for your losses.


In simple terms, the estate agent would have broken consumer protection laws if they give you information which they knew was misleading, or should have known was misleading.


In my experience, it is extremely unusual for a residential flat lease to allow holiday lets. So there's the argument that a 'Property Professional' like an estate agent should have queried such an usual statement from the seller, and asked to see a copy of the lease to check.

But it would be up to the Property Ombudsman / PRS to decide whether they agree with that view.


If they did agree, they might order the estate agent to repay your abortive legal fees, survey fees, etc.


But there's also the argument that saying "We have been informed..." implies some level of doubt that the statement is true. (It might have been better if the estate agent added something emphasising this like "...however, prospective buyers should make their own enquiries to confirm this".)