House bought but wrong plans exchanged - what options?

DeepBlue

My sister bought her first house in a development last year which is due to be completed this summer. The development had a number of different options (A, B and C) for the style of house and she selected Option A. Contracts were exchanged and signed late last year.

Last week she received revised plans from the builder which included a minor change. However those plans are for a type B house and it turns out that the builder is building a type B house. The original plans had been for a type A house.

Obviously an error occurred at some point and my sister is very disappointed and unhappy with the situation and it looks like she may pull out of the deal. As the error has been caught at such a late stage there are no type A houses left which she could buy instead.

Thus far the builder acknowledges an error was made and is trying to find out where this occurred and while he seems genuine it's difficult to see how it can be resolved to everyone's satisfaction.

Since the plans on which the contract were based were incorrect I presume she is within her rights to pull out of the deal without negative consequences?
Also she will be down about €2K in solicitor fees as a result of the error. Could/should she look at recouping this?

Any advice or similar experiences appreciated.

Victor

The principle involved is consensus ad idem. They were only selling oranges, when you bought an apple.

I have no idea how this would apply to a signed property contract. It is good that the builder seems to be on side though.

How did she sign without checking?

DeepBlue

Victor wrote: »

How did she sign without checking?

She did check. She specified she was buying a type A house. The plans in the contract which came from the builder's solicitors were plans for a type A house so there was no reason to suspect that anything was amiss.

Or to use your analogy - she asked to buy an apple, they said they were selling apples, they showed her an apple but when it came down to it she was presented with an orange.

Hopefully it can be resolved. But it does seem a very odd thing to happen all the same.

Jo King

Which type of house is the planning permission for? Did the builder get permission for a type A house and then start building a type B one? Is he now trying to fix up the situation by submitting a revised planning application? Do the plans you were originally given match the planning permission?

Victor

Check the planning permission. Potentially you insist that the builder build the house that has been agreed to, unless he can come up with something better.

antoinolachtnai

Be careful here. Your sister has to think carefully about what she actually wants. Is there some modification (such as an extension) that would give her a result as good as or slightly better than what she wanted originally?

That will be a much easier way to do it than getting the guy to knock a house and rebuild it.

That said, she should stick to her guns to get the concessions she needs.

Another possibility is that she could walk away and get her money back, then buy into the market again at current prices (which are supposed to be lower).

Legal fees issue is interesting. She must be using the solicitor to conduct what are really commercial negotiations. I personally would not do this. But if she is more comfortable doing it that way, then she is probably going to end up paying for it.

It is certainly worth having a look at the planning. It might give some clue as to what really happened.

DeepBlue

Jo King wrote: »

Which type of house is the planning permission for? Did the builder get permission for a type A house and then start building a type B one? Is he now trying to fix up the situation by submitting a revised planning application? Do the plans you were originally given match the planning permission?

The differences between type A and B are mainly differences in the interior layout with some slight cosmetic exterior differences. We'll get a copy of the original planning permission plans and see what's on those.

The builders did make a change by moving a rear extension type utility room from one side of the house to the other during the build. It is possible that this *may* have caused them to also change some aspects of the interior layout also.

Victor wrote: »

Check the planning permission. Potentially you insist that the builder build the house that has been agreed to, unless he can come up with something better.

Do you mean that the buyer could insist that the builder build the house that was agreed in the plans exchanged when the contract was signed or that he builds according to the plans he got approval for?

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

Be careful here. Your sister has to think carefully about what she actually wants. Is there some modification (such as an extension) that would give her a result as good as or slightly better than what she wanted originally?

There is a third stage to the development yet to be built. She might come to an agreement with the developer on one of those houses.
Probably her preferred solution is that the builders rip out the current layout and build the one on the original plans that she exchanged contracts on. I don't know if that's practical though.

Thanks for all the comments so far; they are appreciated .

Jo King

It looks as if the builder may not have built in accordance with his planning permission . This means that you may be able to extract significant concessions.
It will be necessary for your legal people to examine the situation carefully. Counsel will probably have to be involved. It is an extremely tricky area of law.

lasalle

I am in a similar situation, myself and another person have bought the same unit, only our contracts have it numbered differently. The other person has the correct number for the unit on his contracts. the unit number on my contract is in a different location on site than outlined on my contract map.

Would this be reason enough to redress the contract and pull out legally with my deposit???

antoinolachtnai

It sounds to me that if he can't sell you the site you contracted for, as shown on the map, then he is going to have to give you back your deposit, and potentially further compensation. But this is really one you're going to have to talk to your solicitor about.