Buyers have made PP a condition

[bellepup29]

We are selling our house to a couple who want to extend, and they have made the granting of planning permission a condition of the sale. So we are not just subject to contract & survey, but also to their getting PP.
It's very unlikely that there would be any problem with getting it, but the issue is that it can take up to 6 months in our area!
Has anyone else had experience with this notion of PP before contracts? I never realized that PP could be applied for by anyone except the owner!

Ha Ha what chancers they are. I take it the planning permission is for an extension only and not building on a garden plot. If that was the case, I was going to suggest you imposed an overage (think thats the word) covenant upon sale. This means they would have to make a payment to you if they got planning permission! I'm pretty sure it doesn't apply to extensions more's the pity.

I can see you want to keep your buyer to proceed with your purchase. But honestly, you will have more problems. You are also having works done prior to survey which you are paying for as well. Surely they offered on the house in the state it was in at the time, but you are improving it for them when they have already got it at a knock down price. The survey would have picked up problems which they could then have negotiated with you - that being the whole point of the survey.

I would also be having firm words with your estate agent.

Anyone can apply for PP and it's fairly common if a sale is dependent on planning (ie they need the extension or building to make the property work for them) that the offer is made subject to PP. Your solicitor should have explained this all to you. I don't understand how you accepted an offer without understanding the conditions. Go back to your solicitor and see where you stand regarding re-advertising. Also check the detail of the offer, whether they are seeking detailed planning, outline planning or just favourable conversations with the planning officer.

Ha ha LOL. Tell them to stuff off.

Crazy, they might put in a plan for a double basement dig out with an observatory on the roof and a helicopter landing pad on the garage.

I think outline planning permission is something that people might apply for if they were selling a formerly empty field , but I imagine it would be something you do as a seller before you go to the market, not as someone who doesn't even own the property.

"Hello ,is that Westminster council? I'd like to know how I go about applying to build a block of flats on the south facing lawn of Buckingham Palace. NO of course I don't own it, do I honestly sound like the queen?"

I think they are deluded buyers, walk away, no, run away.

Just tell them to seek and pay for pre-app advice from a planning officer....then they need to hedge their bets and buy or pull out. End of.

Call their bluff. Tell them you're not prepared to wait and will be putting the house back on the market. I'm sure they won't want that to happen.

Perfect time to sell your house late spring. Pop it back on the market. You have been very good to do as much as you have.

It's actually fairly common to put in a planning app for something you don't own. The Council wouldn't find it odd at all.

Hang on. Did the EA know about this and did they take it off the market or did you ask them to? Have you had many visitors and have the other houses in the area been as slow to sell?

We had a buyer, very plummy voice said he was a pilot, the girlfriend said not a word, started telling us what his demands were I thought it odd. When I made some enquiries with another agent she said oh that man he has driven all the estate agents mad. He is living in his girlfriends parents caravan in a god forsaken village which I shan`t name.

There are some fruitcakes out there.

So the condition was in their offer, which you accepted. Once accepted, it is a binding contract and you can’t simply go back on it. First rule of buying and selling property (or any contract for that matter) - READ before signing. “I didn’t realise what I was signing” is no excuse, legally.

I made an offer on a house subject to planning permission. They said no thanks I said fine and bought something else. No drama needed really!

My borough has very clear advice on their planning section about what is permitted development, what needs pp and what will likely never get permission (e.g. large roof terraces), does yours?

I'd tell them to fucking whistle! Why should you do all the work for them getting PP and delaying the sale and possibly losing out on the house you want to purchase. I'd tell them you're not doing it and put the house back on the market immediately. CFers!

You can take the house off the market, where about do you live OP, accepting an offer isn't always a bineing contract. Presumably the offer is subject to survey and they have cancelled the survey.

Offers in England and Wales are not in any sense binding contracts.

And you absolutely can go back on it. As can they.

Same in NI.

What works do you have to do before the survey? It isn’t normal for works to have to happen first. Now the pp. I agree with the consensus. House back on the market. You may find you complete faster with other buyers or these ones stop dicking you around.

Who decided you needed to have work done, surely that would increase the value.

You've already sold at less the area's going rate
They want various works done before the survey
They're trying to get you to apply/pay for the PP
They're unlikely to want to pay more to reflect greater value of a house with PP
You've been encouraged to take the house off the market

Are you quite sure they're not "known to" the estate agent in some way? Because, to me, this has all the hallmarks of an inside deal

Tell them to piss off. Cheeky fuckery. PP can take ages and if for some reason it doesn't go through, they'll just walk away. Put it back on the market. Accepting or making an offer is in no way binding on either side. You might get a better offer and find someone who can move quickly. Maybe get the work done first and increase the sale price before you put it back on the market. We are coming to the peak house sales time of the year, your best chance of selling for a good price.

I'd just say that is an unacceptable condition and either it is withdrawn or the property goes back on the market.

They can apply for planning permission if they wish - you don't need to own the land or property strangely (remember when Tesco applied for planning permission on a lady's house in Liverpool, she retaliated by applying to do something to the Chief Exec's garden ) so tell them to crack on and they can make an offer when they have the PP if it's not sold in the meantime.

I think you need to be leading the process OP, not be led by the buyers quite so much!

Puzzledandpissedoff That’s what I was thinking. Something feels off about the whole things.

Agree with everyone else. Speak to everyone and get it sorted before the weekend so, if you are re-marketing, you are available for viewings over the Bank Holiday.

My apologies, Kennehora. No, I’m not in the UK, but Canadian. I did not intend to lecture, nor am I arrogant, but thank you for letting me know and putting me in my place.