Buying home on unadapted road - advice needed!

Housebuyernightmare · 2021-06-26T06:00:18+00:00

The house we want to buy turns out to be in an unadapted road. It seems the current owner wasn’t aware this could be an issue but our solicitor has said it’s unsellable! She talked about getting an indemnity policy in place - there’s already one for the rights of way. Has anyone got any experience of this and if so, who would we get an indemnity policy from?

MinnieMountain · 26/06/2021 07:13

The seller pays for the indemnity policy. Their solicitor will have a company they use for that.

Get as much information as you can about how repair and maintenance of the road is dealt with by the houses that use it.

It will need reporting to your lender but it’s not unsellable. There are plenty of small unadapted roads.

FuglyHouse · 26/06/2021 07:38

I think the solicitor is overreacting, as it won't be unsellable. The houses on the unadopted road where I live are some of the most expensive in the area and nobody seems to have trouble selling.

However, you will need to make sure that you have cooperative neighbours and that you have spare funds to cover any maintenance that arises. The road near me is in a reasonable state of repair but there's an unadopted road where my PILs live, and it's a mess of potholes.

ScrumptiousBears · 26/06/2021 07:41

My sister has bought her house in one. It's a cul de sac off a large residential road. The issue is the road is falling apart and no neighbour wants to put in to fund the repairs.

PlanningNewbie · 26/06/2021 07:42

We were advised not to proceed with a property on that turned out to be on an unadopted road, and I'm very glad we pulled out.

Is it a new build? It's usual for a new build to be on an unadopted road and they're usually adopted by the LA within 2 years.

If it's not, it could be because 1) it was never intended to be, but then should be made clear who is responsible by the developers
Or 2) developers didn't create it to a standard which LA is happy with.

Even with an indemnity it can be a nightmare to sell on again especially if a mortgage is needed.

Shadowboy · 26/06/2021 07:57

I live on a private road. It’s about half a mile long and has maybe 15 properties on it. We had no issues with the purchase- we just had to be aware that maintenance is down to home owners

BarkingUpTheWrongRoseBush · 26/06/2021 08:02

We didn’t buy on an unadopted road. It’s got some lovely properties on it, is a short curl de sac, but it was in poor repair and no one was clear what was happening with it. Not seller, solicitor, estate agent. But people do buy those houses, for quite a lot of money.

BarkingUpTheWrongRoseBush · 26/06/2021 08:03

The road I grew up on was a private road, everyone chipped in a set amount, it was in the deeds.

DinosaurDiana · 26/06/2021 08:04

There’s one near me and all but the last house paid towards the tarmac, so there’s one house with a pot hole riddled patch outside their house.
It doesn’t look good.

Livingintheclouds · 26/06/2021 08:12

Indemnity against what?
There are loads of unadopted roads where I live. Of course houses sell on them, but as PPs have said, the roads themselves can be in pretty poor shape (maintaining your adopted road is one thing to thank your council for). If there's a clear repair plan in place not a problem (what is the condition of the road now)?

Smidge001 · 26/06/2021 08:15

That's ridiculous, of course it's not unsellable. There's an unadopted road where I grew up and it's got the most expensive houses on it, which sell perfectly well.

JamMakingWannaBe · 26/06/2021 08:17

It won't get gritted in the winter. Check the Council collects the bins from the house and not the end of the road.

squashyhat · 26/06/2021 08:18

I have lived on one for over 20 years. No problems. According to the number of cars you have each household pays a set amount every month into a bank account held in a trust. When the potholes get unbearable we organise a contractor to do the work. Houses change hands occasionally so presumably nobody minds.

EversoDelighted · 26/06/2021 08:19

Our old house was in an unadopted (never going to be adopted type) cul-de-sac of 14 houses. We were aware when buying that it was so and that there was no existing residents group or similar to organise repairs but the houses were pretty new and the road in good condition. By the time we sold 7 years later potholes were starting to appear so I was relieved that the sale went through without it being an issue. It would be quite a big undertaking to organise all the houses together to sort out and pay for any work.

squashyhat · 26/06/2021 08:20

True about the lack of gritting though, and our lane includes a short north-facing slope which can be a problem in snow and ice.

FindMeInTheSunshine · 26/06/2021 08:20

Do you know who owns the road? Is it owned by all the houses, does each house own the section directly outside, or is it owned by the original developer or a maintenance company? Is it well maintained at the moment? All those things can make a difference and you'll probably need to know for the insurance.

Original poster

Housebuyernightmare · 26/06/2021 08:27

@Livingintheclouds

Indemnity against what? There are loads of unadopted roads where I live. Of course houses sell on them, but as PPs have said, the roads themselves can be in pretty poor shape (maintaining your adopted road is one thing to thank your council for). If there's a clear repair plan in place not a problem (what is the condition of the road now)?

The road is quite long - about a mile. Half the road, where the house is located, is well maintained by the owners of all the houses on it. The other half, where there are no houses, is in a poor state. The road is owned by the farmer - it crosses his land.

OP posts:

ViewFromTheSteeple · 26/06/2021 08:28

My friend lives on one but it was a new build mini estate. They set up a management company and two of the residents run it. Everyone pays a set amount into a bank account per month, this pays the electric street lighting bill and in the future any repairs to the road surfaces which is a mixture of tarmac and block paving.

My other friend lived on one, very old houses, only 5 of them and their road had become pot-holed. They all chipped in to pay for the repairs.

The issue comes when you have houses that cannot or will not contribute to the repairs needed so then neighbourly relations can break down when John from number 31 won't pay for the road but happily went off on holiday.

ViewFromTheSteeple · 26/06/2021 08:30

cross posts with you, is the farmer's bit the start of the road you have to cross? I wouldn't want to buy a house with that issue. Clearly he can get across it but then the farmer possibly isn't driving a car.

Original poster

Housebuyernightmare · 26/06/2021 08:31

@FindMeInTheSunshine

Do you know who owns the road? Is it owned by all the houses, does each house own the section directly outside, or is it owned by the original developer or a maintenance company? Is it well maintained at the moment? All those things can make a difference and you'll probably need to know for the insurance.

It’s owned by the farmer whose farm it crosses. Most of the properties on the road are either recently converted farm buildings, or old farmhouses. There are newer properties - possibly 50+ years old.

For those talking about gritting, apparently the farmer sorts this out - he needs access to his animals and the access is right next to the house we want. The bin wagon is able to get all the way down the road no problem.

OP posts:

Original poster

Housebuyernightmare · 26/06/2021 08:33

@ViewFromTheSteeple

cross posts with you, is the farmer's bit the start of the road you have to cross? I wouldn't want to buy a house with that issue. Clearly he can get across it but then the farmer possibly isn't driving a car.

The farmer owns the whole road as it crosses his farm. The area is surrounded by what was once a private estate - think Chatsworth House but on a smaller scale 🤣 and the farm is in the middle of what was the estate - which is now owned by the local Council.

OP posts:

MrsFin · 26/06/2021 08:34

Call it a "private road" rather than an "unadopted road" when you sell (if you buy) and it'll instantly add £££ to the value of the house!

(Probably not helpful right now I know)

EversoDelighted · 26/06/2021 08:39

It doesn't sound as though it's likely in your case, but locally to me a new unadopted close of houses was built close to a school. Parents immediately started using it for school run parking, parking on corners, pavements, blocking drives. Council and police won't get involved, it's nothing to do with them.

reprehensibleme · 26/06/2021 08:39

Ddad lives on one - small cul de sac of 7 bungalows. Most of the people living there have been there 40plus years - the road has been resurfaced twice in that time - last time approx 17 years ago at £6k per household. It helps that all residents are on board with payment.

The Council roadmen do grit - think they do it as a finger up to their employers......

Ilovecaviar · 26/06/2021 18:37

It’s not unsellable, there are loads of them. How much of a hassle it will be depends on the state of repair it is in, who owns it, what access rights you have. When we brought we couldn’t determine who owns it and still can’t. All the other houses had it in their deeds that they pay 1/x of cost of maintenance so we did the same, despite not having that deed. It cost £2.5 k per house to have it re-tarmac’d recently having not been done for years. We also had to include golf club and natural england who use it also, so it was a faff but luckily we all as neighbours were able to agree and be sensible about it. So be aware of costs to repair and awkward neighbours. we do have insurance for right of way etc.