Planning Permission Fees Help!

househero

Long story short...

Buying a 5 year old repossessed house (taken from an individual, not the original builder). Found out it has nearly €10,000 of unpaid planning fees!!!

Do WE as the new owners have to pay this? (Sale not finalized yet)

Gumbo

househero wrote: »

Long story short...

Buying a 5 year old repossessed house (taken from an individual, not the original builder). Found out it has nearly €10,000 of unpaid planning fees!!!

Do WE as the new owners have to pay this? (Sale not finalized yet)

Yes, quite possible. Your solicitor should not let the sale of the house proceed as a planning search should show that contributions are owed.

bee06

I would guess these are council development fees? Your solicitor would be the best person to ask but I would say as the sale is not final that you make it contingent on these fees being paid by the bank or reduce your offer by €10000. Probably depends on where you are in the sales process though.

househero

bee06 wrote: »

I would guess these are council development fees? Your solicitor would be the best person to ask but I would say as the sale is not final that you make it contingent on these fees being paid by the bank or reduce your offer by €10000. Probably depends on where you are in the sales process though.

Not exchanged contracts yet. But the repossessors don't want to know.

The fees are outstanding from 2010! You would have thought Wex council would have got the funds from the old developer (or the previous owner) before passing the buck to us

sydthebeat

househero wrote: »

Not exchanged contracts yet. But the repossessors don't want to know.

The fees are outstanding from 2010! You would have thought Wex council would have got the funds from the old developer (or the previous owner) before passing the buck to us

The repossessors are selling an illegal item.
If the conditions are not complied with it becomes an unauthorized development.

househero

sydthebeat wrote: »

The repossessors are selling an illegal item.
If the conditions are not complied with it becomes an unauthorized development.

That's exactly how it looks.

The council is insistent that planning is not compliant until payment is made.

How do I deal with the repossessors?

Gumbo

househero wrote: »

The council is insistent that planning is not compliant until payment is made.

The Council are correct here. The contributions remain with the development, not the person as such.

househero wrote: »

How do I deal with the repossessors?

Ask your solicitor to request a "Letter of Compliance" from Wexford Co Co confirming all planning conditions including financial contributions have been met. The repossessors will have to get this from Wexford Co Co by paying the fees, or agreeing a reduced house price with you so that you can pay the fees.

martinn123

househero wrote: »

That's exactly how it looks.

The council is insistent that planning is not compliant until payment is made.

How do I deal with the repossessors?

You don't, your Solicitor does.

He will inform the vendor that he requires a clear and unencumbered Title to the property..........or no sale.

Assuming you are getting a Mortgage to buy the house, your Bank will not allow this to proceed.

You are paying the Solicitor to protect your, and the Bank's interests.......let him get on with it.

sydthebeat

kceire wrote: »

Ask your solicitor to request a "Letter of Compliance" from Wexford Co Co confirming all planning conditions including financial contributions have been met. The repossessors will have to get this from Wexford Co Co by paying the fees, or agreeing a reduced house price with you so that you can pay the fees.

while this is preferable... the repossessors may fob this off by saying that there is a "cert of compliance" already on the property.

these certs (opinions) would have been carried out post completion to cover the site works only... and will state as such. This was done because every development has 5 years to comply with all conditions, and the banks / developer / certifier all cannot wait around for these 5 years before offering / receiving a cert of compliance.

to the OP, in my opinion you need to weigh up whether this property is worth the purchase price + the development contributions (remember if you are paying by mortgage you are basically paying double). If it is still worth it when compared to similar properties... then perhaps the repossessors have factored in the contribution costs. If it doesnt compare favourably, then threaten to walk away unless they drop the purchase prices significantly.

remember:
1. the repossessors simply want to get rid of the properties off their books
2. the development contributions are index linked so may be less than what the planning conditions state (check with the planning office)
3. ask the planning office if the development contribution scheme has changed (many counties have dropped theirs up by up to 50-60%). If so, ask if permission for retention of the dwelling was applied for, (considering its now an unauthorised development), would that bring the dwelling into the new reduced development contribution scheme.

Gumbo

sydthebeat wrote: »

while this is preferable... the repossessors may fob this off by saying that there is a "cert of compliance" already on the property.

these certs (opinions) would have been carried out post completion to cover the site works only... and will state as such. This was done because every development has 5 years to comply with all conditions, and the banks / developer / certifier all cannot wait around for these 5 years before offering / receiving a cert of compliance.

to the OP, in my opinion you need to weigh up whether this property is worth the purchase price + the development contributions (remember if you are paying by mortgage you are basically paying double). If it is still worth it when compared to similar properties... then perhaps the repossessors have factored in the contribution costs. If it doesnt compare favourably, then threaten to walk away unless they drop the purchase prices significantly.

remember:
1. the repossessors simply want to get rid of the properties off their books
2. the development contributions are index linked so may be less than what the planning conditions state (check with the planning office)
3. ask the planning office if the development contribution scheme has changed (many counties have dropped theirs up by up to 50-60%). If so, ask if permission for retention of the dwelling was applied for, (considering its now an unauthorised development), would that bring the dwelling into the new reduced development contribution scheme.

Dublin City issue individual Certificates of Compliance for individual houses in estates on payments of the fees apportioned to that house. May be different in Wexford though.

sydthebeat

kceire wrote: »

Dublin City issue individual Certificates of Compliance for individual houses in estates on payments of the fees apportioned to that house. May be different in Wexford though.

certs that only cover payment of development contributions?

if they offer certs of compliance to cover everything, then thats a complete game changer!!

Gumbo

sydthebeat wrote: »

certs that only cover payment of development contributions?

if they offer certs of compliance to cover everything, then thats a complete game changer!!

Yeah, i thought we were only talking about the financial end of things. Our Levies/Contributions section will issue certs to say the financial levies have been paid on a development or a single house in that development in order to allow a sale to go through, obviously once the levy is paid though

sydthebeat

kceire wrote: »

Yeah, i thought we were only talking about the financial end of things. Our Levies/Contributions section will issue certs to say the financial levies have been paid on a development or a single house in that development in order to allow a sale to go through, obviously once the levy is paid though

Thats a very good service and great help to the professionals who have to provide certification....

now, if it was only rolled out nationwide

Poor Uncle Tom

sydthebeat wrote: »

now, if it was only rolled out nationwide

...and for Building Regulations..:p

househero

Under the new fees, it would be around 4k.

Can we apply for retention? It will be built (completed) 5 years in august.

fash

@OP: drop your offer to match the amount of outstanding levies.

sydthebeat

househero wrote: »

Under the new fees, it would be around 4k.

Can we apply for retention? It will be built (completed) 5 years in august.

You have to ask your planning offices this, and ask through a professional as they would know what questions to ask.

househero

Solicitor gets a good deal out of all this mess.

Penn

OP, the only one who can give you proper advice on this is your solicitor.

As legal advice is not allowed, thread locked.