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Original poster

To ask for a price rededuction of house purchase?

87 replies

Whitescarf · 26/11/2018 16:31

Me and DP are currently trying to buy our first home, agreed purchase price of 228 for a three bed end of terrace.

Searches and reports from solicitor show a few problems - mainly:

  • there is shared access next to our garden, running behind ours and a few of the houses next to us. Previous owners moved their fence 1 metre into the shared access which is not on the deeds and we wouldn't legally own the area. We asked if they would have this put on the deeds before purchase however they refused, saying it's too small to put on there. This also wasn't mentioned when we viewed the property.
If in the future we had to move the fence back, we would have to knock down a shed and a summer house to do this, costing us money and time.
  • The original owners of the land the house is built on made agreements for no houses to be built on the land. The house was built after this and indemnity insurance was taken out to cover any loss as this is still enforceable, however the cover is not enough and the sellers do not want to take out new insurance to cover this.

Based on these, would we be unreasonable to ask for a price deduction or are they not that big of an issue?

We originally wanted to settle on 226 but they wouldn't go below 228 and said they would give us a few household goods for the 228 as well, so we settled with this, so I'm not sure they would even agree to a reduction!

Appreciate any replies

OP posts:
MulticolourMophead · 26/11/2018 18:23

I'd pull out, they can sense your desperation. And I would not want to risk these issues dragging on and potentially costing more.

SistersOfPercy · 26/11/2018 18:51

there is shared access next to our garden
That would have me running without taking the rest into consideration.

Don't do it OP.

perfectstorm · 26/11/2018 18:54

You could not pay me to buy this house. I'm so sorry, but it sounds a horrendous mess just waiting to unravel.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 26/11/2018 18:54

Indemnity insurance is usually pretty cheap-
That pettiness would piss me off enough to threaten to pull out. first issue I don’t know enough about to know if a real risk

Puzzledandpissedoff · 26/11/2018 18:55

Yet another vote for walking away; I'd be surprised if your solicitors don't say the same, given the sellers' attitude

I wouldn't even want to bother with indemnity insurance and the hassle of possible future claims, but since it's pretty cheap why on earth haven't the sellers sorted it? You really don't market a house with so many issues and then just shrug your shoulders about them - not if you've got any sense anyway

londonrach · 26/11/2018 18:56

Walk....no run from this unsellable house.

cstaff · 26/11/2018 19:03

Sounds like messy title to me so if you ever want to resell this property all of the same issues would arise. Tbh OP I would run away.

Notwiththeseknees · 26/11/2018 19:09

Another vote for Adverse Possession here. If the vendors have annexed that land & fenced it for their exclusive use, then after a period of time (it used to be 12 years, I think) then they can apply for Adverse Possession which means that will become the owners. If they only did it last week or last year, that is a different matter.
The breach of covenant is easily dealt with by insurance - that kind of thing happens all the time.
If the property is otherwise nice & the neighbours seem okay, there is plenty of parking and you like the house & area, then carry on. But I would be reducing my offer on my "solicitors advice" ;)

PrincessConsuelaBannanaHammock · 26/11/2018 19:14

Your solicitor should be advising you on that. We have an indemnity policy for a similar thing & it was our solicitor who insisted on it. I wouldn't even consider purchasing without it. I know your under pressure to move before you have the baby but a rash decision now could cause you a massive headache later.

hibbledibble · 26/11/2018 19:17

Op are you cash buying? If not, then you may well find that the bank is not willing to lend on a property with such legal issues. I would discuss with your solicitors and seriously consider pulling out.

trojanpony · 26/11/2018 19:27

On the first point I was going to suggest indemnity but then I read the second and thought Ruuuuuun!

I think justmarriedbecca’s advice on adverse possession/indemnity combo is good and strongly agree the real red flag here is the vendors themselves.

For comparison my vendor was an arsegole of the highest order. He tried to screw me for more cash at every turn and at one point went raging to the EA and threatened to punch him in the face over a form of some sort.
Even he agreed to get indemnity on a moved internal wall (it’s a flat)

Also think on this - one day you are going to need to sell that house. will it be attractive to buyers or will all these issues put them off?

Evidencebased · 26/11/2018 22:03

Adverse Possession will take, at a minimum, several months.
It's complex, involves a legal claim for AP to the HMLR, who will then invite responses from every nearby property owner.And if they get any objections, months possibly a year or more will pass before it's settled.
If the vendor won't fork out 100-200 for an indemnity policy, it's scarcely credible that they're going to go to these lengths.

NotDavidTennant · 26/11/2018 22:12

The original owners of the land the house is built on made agreements for no houses to be built on the land.

Who was the agreement made with?

bridgetreilly · 26/11/2018 22:20

Shared access is a VERY normal thing, especially for terraced houses. It's generally just so people can get into their gardens without going through the house, to put wheelie bins out and so on. I really don't think that's a red flag at all. The boundary issue strikes me as a very minor point indeed, tbh, but you could ask how long the fence has been up in its current position. If it's over 10 years it's very unlikely that anyone is going to ask for it to be moved.

The only thing that would worry me at all is the lack of permission to build, so I'd want to make sure I had proper insurance for that, and again, find out how long the house has been up. It seems unlikely that it will actually be a problem. Don't panic, OP! Though I also think you're unlikely to get money off for these issues.

redastherose · 26/11/2018 22:37

I work in this field. I wouldn't advise any client to proceed with this purchase given what you've said. They don't own part of the land they are purporting to sell and not only that they are blocking other people's right of way so that is a serious issue which you would have the expense of resolving in the future. The restrictive covenant indemnity insurance being insufficient is less of a risk as it wouldn't cost much for you to buy further insurance but it is usually for the seller to pay for this. The sellers attitude is rubbish.

Bluntness100 · 26/11/2018 22:41

They don't own part of the land they are purporting to sell and not only that they are blocking other people's right of way so that is a serious issue which you would have the expense of resolving in the future

You don't work in this field do you? Because she hasn't said they are purporting to sell that metre of land, in fact the opposite, they are clear it's not being sold, and she hasn't said it's blocking anyone's way either.

nellieellie · 26/11/2018 22:45

Its standard for the seller to pay the indemnity insurance in cases like this.

wijjy · 26/11/2018 22:45

Ring round, find out the cost of the mitigation you need, and then reduce your asking price by that amount. If you want to sell you want all these issues to be watertight.

You will have the paperwork to show them.

PurpleFlower1983 · 26/11/2018 22:52

No way would I buy this house! Sounds like an absolute nightmare!

Maelstrop · 26/11/2018 23:06

Walk away, far too many potential issues and any decent solicitor will spend a lot of time researching the problems, so you potentially wouldn't be in by the time you have the baby anyway.

redastherose · 27/11/2018 08:37

@Bluntness100

  • there is shared access next to our garden, running behind ours and a few of the houses next to us. Previous owners moved their fence 1 metre into the shared access which is not on the deeds

If in the future we had to move the fence back, we would have to knock down a shed and a summer house to do this, costing us money and time.

They have clearly fenced around the area behind the property over which the right of way exists and blocked it. They have also situated a shed and summer house there. This wasn't pointed out when they viewed the property ergo they lied to OP when they viewed the property and yes they are blocking the right of way which exists over that specific area of land.

Alfie190 · 27/11/2018 08:53

The words End Terrace is enough for any sane person to walk away, never mind all the rest of the problems.

I think plenty of sane people live in end terraces.

To OP, a couple of grand off the asking price would not be sufficient for me to take on this level of legal problem. I am another that would walk away.

notapizzaeater · 27/11/2018 09:29

Worse case scenario it could cost you a lot more than the few thousand you might get knocked off. Tbh I would touch it. When did they build the summerhouse ?

notapizzaeater · 27/11/2018 09:30

Wouldn't ! Doh ?...

PrincessConsuelaBannanaHammock · 27/11/2018 10:00

The words End Terrace is enough for any sane person to walk away
Didn't realise I was insane Hmm
Could you elaborate as to why I should be questioning my mental health?