Failed house purchase - incorrect info given

[eyesburntoutbylasers]

I would be really grateful for some advice on this. I have NC for this post as outing.

We were weeks away from completing on a property and pulled out because we discovered that some of the information given to us was incorrect.

We saw a double gate way between what would have been our (tiny) garden and next doors garden, and asked if it was for a right of way at the viewing. We were told no, no right of way it was historic because the house used to belong to the manor house next door. (only recently sold off)

We double checked this with the agent again before arranging a second viewing. They again said, no right of way. They knew this was really significant to us as I had discussed it with them.

Had a second viewing and had an offer accepted on the property. The form that the vendors sent to our solicitor also said no right of way.

Turns out via the searches, there is a right of way, for next door to get their oil delivered via what would have been our garden. For various reasons this is a problem for us so we have withdrawn from the sale.

This has cost us almost £2000 in solicitor fees, home buyer report, searches and mortgage arrangement fee.

The estate agent say that they can not refund any of this.
I find it impossible to believe that they do not have indemnity insurance against this sort of thing.
The vendor gave incorrect information to the agent and on the form they submitted, perhaps they were not aware, however, they have just bought the property themselves 7 months ago so they must surely have known this from their own searches.
Regardless of this being a genuine error on their part or not we are significantly out of pocket.

Does anyone have any experience of this please?

If we had gone ahead and bought the property then it would have been based on incorrect information would the vendor then have been liable in some way?

Thanks for any advice.

Totally depends on the search provider and area, some councils routinely take 3 weeks for the local search results.

@FrancisCrawford - not sure what your point is? I was a property lawyer until recently. Searches take different lengths of time depending on the area, and the timing is not controlled by the lawyers. One of the local authorities regularly asked for local searches takes 2-3 weeks. Water authority takes a week, highways a few days etc. Some of the search results come back same day but by no means all.

They can be done in a day, but it’s not the norm and most purchasers wouldn’t think to have it done unless their conveyancer suggested it, which they don’t!

And it costs more for a personal search doesn’t it?

No, some of them can be done in a day but this can reduce the amount of protection you get - a personal search is not as good as a normal local search.

A lot of the searches cannot be done in a day even if the lawyer tries.

Yes personal searches are more expensive and much harder to claim damages if the results don’t reveal something, we only did them if we’d warned clients of the risks and they instructed us to proceed.

I know it won't be top of your mind given your circumstances, but I would write to the estate agent requesting this information should now be made clear in the details about the house and I would check that they do this. If they don't, I would consider reporting them to their professional body as they would appear they are colluding with the vendor in withholding vital information.

Are you sure the right of way is still used?

We had a right of way for oil delivery over the farm next door's land - only we don't use it as we don't have oil heating anymore - the oil tank was removed 8 years ago.

There's a Property Misdescriptions Act in England too, which you might be able to utilise. Not sure if it would be of use here though.

Think you are beings bit ridiculous about oil being delivered a few times a year.

Property misdescriptions act was repealed.

If estate agents give you incorrect information, it’s sometimes possible to bring a claim or complain to the ombudsman, but in this case it’s highly unlikely the OP would win - this is exactly the kind of legal right of way that the buyers solicitor investigates, it’s not the kind of thing an agent is going to be responsible for.

The property misdescriptions isn't used in England any more. Agents are governed by the consumer protection regulations and trading standards.
It's my understanding that you only have a case for a claim if the agent withheld information that could affect the decision of a purchaser to buy.
I also think it is likely that the owner did know. Right of access is not usually in searches but is on the actual land registry documents - so this is a bit confusing.
You have no real comeback from the vendor though - although I agree with PP agent should now be advertising this.

There are solicitors and mortgage lenders that do a fixed cost and a valuation protection. The solicitors we use charge a fixed fee on completion with no charge for their work if a sale fell through.
Your mortgage arrangement fee should be transferable as presumably you will still use the same company at a similar price with the same deposit - just not the valuation fee which is understandable.

I also can't see why a yearly oil delivery would be that important to not buy the house of your dreams. My LPG tank is on my neighbours land. They don't seem to mind!!