Sale Agreed Planning Issues

tipping

Hi

Just went sale agreed on a house recently. Paying booking deposit in the next few days and appointing solicitor also. It's a 1 off house in the country (built 2001/2002) so I went in and checked the planning application today and there's a few notable differences between the planning and what it actually built which I believe is a pretty regular occurrence on these 1 off houses built during that era.

Examples of things I noticed straight away
There was planning for a conservatory at the rear of the house but it was never built.
3 velux windows to the rear
House is situated slightly further back in the site than planned
Additional windows at rear of garage.
Window at front of garage bigger and different shape (not significantly)
Internal layout differs (but I don't think that this is a problem)
Other conditions such as planting for screening from the road not completed.

So with these kind of issues what would be the next step? Is it typically the solicitor or surveyor that would pick up on these kind of issues and would the like of these issues typically require retention planning permission on behalf of the vendor?
Obviously will get and pay for professional advice but just wanted to see peoples opinions on the best people to contact etc. I believe that our solicitor doesn't really do anything until he receives the pack from the vendors solicitor. We're in no particular hurry to close the sale so a few hold-ups here and there won't worry us too much.

More generic question then as to when would you recommend to get survey done. As soon as possible or wait until the process if further down the tracks?



Regards

moleyv

How much further back is it sited?

Everything else is fairly minor, maybe the larger garage windows.

Unless you are in some sort of protected scenic area or something.

You could get retention, guideline 3 months to get it if no appeals, I think the application would cost 102e per element to be retained from what you have mentioned.

Siting may be different.

You would need drawings maps etc on top of that.

A lot of the issues may be statute barred if over 7 years since completed, which means they can't be enforced. Screening trees may not be as it was a condition not done in the first place.

The above isn't a woopee thing though, it could exclude you getting permission for anything else on site until the wrongs are retained. And the onus is on you to prove they are there for 7+ years.

Also if there is a mortgage, a condition of approval typically requires it to be planning compliant.

Metric Tensor

As the other poster said most of the issues are fairly minor but still non-compliances all the same.

Tell the vendor you need them to give you a cert of planning compliance - your solicitor will ask for one anyway. If the cert arrives then get your solicitor to query the items you have listed with the vendor/professional and see what they say. The vendor may be advised from the outset, by his own professional, to get retention in order to have an appropriate cert of planning compliance.

The bank will require the house to be compliant for the mortgage anyway.

One point to note is that you need to read the wording of the cert of compliance yourself - I've seen some ridiculous "certs" accepted by solicitors on behalf of banks.

tipping

moleyv wrote: »

How much further back is it sited?

Everything else is fairly minor, maybe the larger garage windows.

Unless you are in some sort of protected scenic area or something.

You could get retention, guideline 3 months to get it if no appeals, I think the application would cost 102e per element to be retained from what you have mentioned.

Siting may be different.

You would need drawings maps etc on top of that.

A lot of the issues may be statute barred if over 7 years since completed, which means they can't be enforced. Screening trees may not be as it was a condition not done in the first place.

The above isn't a woopee thing though, it could exclude you getting permission for anything else on site until the wrongs are retained. And the onus is on you to prove they are there for 7+ years.

Also if there is a mortgage, a condition of approval typically requires it to be planning compliant.

Thanks for the reply. I'm kinda guessing its 2-3 meters further back than as per planning but certainly the house and garage are aligned currently and are supposed to be offset somewhat. I don't think that statue barred thing helps me as there certainly will be a mortgage on the property.

Metric Tensor wrote: »

As the other poster said most of the issues are fairly minor but still non-compliances all the same.

Tell the vendor you need them to give you a cert of planning compliance - your solicitor will ask for one anyway. If the cert arrives then get your solicitor to query the items you have listed with the vendor/professional and see what they say. The vendor may be advised from the outset, by his own professional, to get retention in order to have an appropriate cert of planning compliance.

The bank will require the house to be compliant for the mortgage anyway.

One point to note is that you need to read the wording of the cert of compliance yourself - I've seen some ridiculous "certs" accepted by solicitors on behalf of banks.

Perfect and much appreciated. We want everything to be pretty straight as the plan would be to make some modifications (attic conversion etc) down the line once we have a few quid again.

Metric Tensor

It's also worth noting that the minimum 12 week (+ applying/drawing/measuring time) process for achieving retention permission will probably annoy the vendor and they may spend a few weeks initially trying to avoid doing so. If retention is required you are realistically adding about 16 weeks to the process.

Another thing to be aware of is that if the house is in a sought after area or if there is a less diligent under-bidder for the property the vendor may pull out of selling the house to you. If this happens I STRONGLY recommend you treat this like a business transaction and stick to your guns. Some people would let their heart rule their head in a similar situation and just buy themselves into problems.

tipping

Metric Tensor wrote: »

It's also worth noting that the minimum 12 week (+ applying/drawing/measuring time) process for achieving retention permission will probably annoy the vendor and they may spend a few weeks initially trying to avoid doing so. If retention is required you are realistically adding about 16 weeks to the process.

Another thing to be aware of is that if the house is in a sought after area or if there is a less diligent under-bidder for the property the vendor may pull out of selling the house to you. If this happens I STRONGLY recommend you treat this like a business transaction and stick to your guns. Some people would let their heart rule their head in a similar situation and just buy themselves into problems.

Well I'm in no particular rush to get into the property, in fact it being held up by a few months might suit me better than now as it will make the conversation with our landlord a few months down the line a little easier. Yes the house was pretty sought after and had multiple bidders but I'm a pretty straight individual and if it's not a fairly straight deal then I'll bow it, but I presume you've to trust the advice of your solicitor on that one ( mixed it with your own cop-on)

Anyway we'll see what the vendors solicitor comes back with in a few weeks and take it from there.

Thanks again for the advice.

Angry bird

Up to them to sort out planning issues and while minor in nature it still needs to be dealt with.

Mad Benny

How did you get on with this OP?

tipping

Mad Benny wrote: »

How did you get on with this OP?

Still waiting on the survey. I have the planning files and there's an extra thing or two I noticed. Hopefully will get the survey completed next week. I'll update then.

tipping

So survey complete. Engineer was happy with everything. He said that the building was substantially in compliance and he was happy with the cert of compliance. Everything else checked out ok too, few very minor points around drains but nothing that would present a problem. The few modifications we are planning present no structural problems and can be done for handy money.
Waiting on the report but looks like we are good to go. Very happy with it all.