Advice needed on house purchase

[bogeythefungusman]

We've had an offer accepted on the perfect property (for us - ticks all the boxes, very edge of town, rural outlook, reasonably quiet road). Cash in the bank ready and waiting, survey done, no major issues.

Just found out there is a planning application in for an estate of 270 Persimmon houses in the field across the road. .

The access road to the estate would be directly opposite our drive.

Spoken to planning office who believes the application will be successful because the number of properties on the plan has already been reduced from 400+ to 270, and the county council plan for the area requires building of 250 new houses over the next ten years - this estate will pretty much finalise the plan in one fell swoop. But the planning meeting to approve/decline the plans will not be held until at least November, possibly December.

We need to retract our offer don't we?

Conceivably 3 years of construction traffic/noise/dust.
Loss of rural outlook.
500 cars in and out of the estate, right opposite our house/drive. (The estate is a mix of 2/3/4 bedroom homes, some social housing, so probably lots of families with children to take to school and clubs, adults to and from work etc.

I could weep. We've expended £2000 in survey and legal fees. It's a perfect house, but part of the perfection was the rural outlook and quiet position.

Tearing my hair out.

Oh that's tough. But at least you found out before buying. Imagine if you had moved on and then the application had gone in. Must be gutting though x

That's so hard. Thing is it could be a risk anywhere. How much will it impact your view?

I have to say it would put me off but it does depend how long you've been looking, how desperate you are to move etc.

It's the disruption while they are building as much as anything - we've had damage to our mains water supply and boiler because of all the works for the housing developments up the road.

Yeah, I'd pull out. The sellers must know about it and should have disclosed it up front.

I'd be gutted but I'd withdraw the offer. A development that large will create lots of traffic movement and noise, not only during the build phase but afterwards too, so if quiet and rural is what you're looking for you're not going to get it.

Babouchette, yup, I've had serious words with the estate agent. They had a buyer previously but sale fell through - according to the estate agent it was because the buyer's chain collapsed .

I would absolutely pull out and thank your lucky stars that you didn't go through with it and then find out!! But I too would be bloody gutted.

Oh bugger! That's really annoying but at least you found out before you bought it.
I'm sort of surprised that you hadn't found out before though. If the planning permission had already been adjusted then that suggests that it's not a really recent application.
Hope you find somewhere much better.

We pulled out of a purchase because of this. Its never just the ones approved on the plan. The developers will own more land and work in phases over the years.

The house was lovely, and we wanted rural living - but we thought if we were going to end up living amongst other houses anyway - then we may as well live closer to town and amenities.

We just completed today, and the house we ended up with is just incredible and I am just about to pop out the door to pick up a takeout!

Oh dear. How did you not find out before outlaying any cash?

Walk away, and chalk it up to experience.

Walk away . It’s really rotten but good you found out - my parents bought their dream retirement bungalow years ago and within two years there was an estate next to it - more bungalows so not too bad but still! No chance then to find out online but now it is easy so make sure next time you have a good look at the planning portal for whichever county you are in - it’s easy to find current or historic planning applications on line . Also look at the neighbourhood plan for housing development . We lived overlooking a field and when we sold buyers did ask about whether it was likely to be built on. I was totally honest and said no because it was green belt but also told them to check the local neighbourhood plan and any planning apps. It is a case of buyer beware and if you don’t know to ask the questions neither the vendor or the estate agent is obliged to tell you . I checked online for planning apps near a cottage I was interested In and found the nearby dairy farm was going to build a huge cowshed and associated slurry tank ! Hopefully it would have come up on searches but it saved me a lot of money. Not everyone realises that you can do this so you are now all informed and fully armed to find out much as you can about future possible developments . It’s never foolproof of course but it’s the best you can do. Good luck with your next house !

Marymay, yes, that's a lesson learned - we found out due to local searches, tbh it didn't occur to us we could check ourselves - there's evidently such a backlog with searches, surveyors etc that things have happened in a bit of an arsey versey order - the local searches were the last things to come through. The vendors obviously know full well what's going on and it's annoying - every prospective buyer is going to find out eventually (and be hacked off...).

Lemonswan, glad you ended up with a better place. DH keeps telling me we will too!

Oh what a shame. Pull out. Buying a house is stressful. You'll find the right one. Something similar happened to us - lost thousands on solicitors and surveys, and so pleased with what we ended up with

First thing we did when looking at potential house especially in a rural area/with views was to check the planning portal and town plan. It’s definitely worth doing next time before you spend anything or make an offer. Also I have been known to join the local FB groups of any new villages etc as you will quickly get a feel for new developments or anything else off.

Have to say I'm so glad I started this thread now, for the invaluable advice going forward.

That's such a shame. V frustrating that they weren't upfront. It's worth asking next time as they are not supposed to lie if they are aware of planning applications.

I've found local councils really helpful for these sort of queries. Definitely worth looking into prior to making an offer although in the sort of market we've had in the past year plus there hasn't been a lot of time to think before making an offer!

I'm sure you'll find something even better.

Optingout, when we received the search I rang the council and the planning officer was very helpful.

Planning for houses on the field off the cul-de-sac we lived on was the reason I sold my house - was only 32 houses but totally ruined the view and potentially added 60+ cars going down it plus the construction- no thanks.

Our buyer was aware as we were upfront - it's the only way to be if you don't want things falling apart later!

I'd also pull out OP - that's a lot of view ruined!

I’d pull out.

That’s a lot of people needing education doctors bus services etc that you all have to fight over as they don’t appear to put these things in place.

Yes traffic in and out but it also adds to the commute!

I’d definitely pull out. It’s good that you’ve found out now.

Bluebells, yes, the objections to the estate all mentioned doctors, schools, general infrastructure - if each property has an avg of 3 people living in it, the estate will add about 8% to the population of the town. That's quite an increase.

These large estates are so depressing. We currently live near Edinburgh and the number of new build estates going up on the outskirts is awful (and the main reason we're moving).

I know the economies of scale make sense to the builders but it doesn't make for a serene life for the residents. Too many houses squashed in to too small a space, substandard builds, no proper boundaries between properties, garages that aren't big enough for a car and streets too narrow for parking.

Rather than build estates with 2-300 houses, it would be far better for residents if small estates of 20-30 homes could be built, slotting in around towns, integrating both properties and people within existing infrastructure.

I can’t understand why vendors do this, they must know you will find out, if I was on that position I would inform people when viewing my house as I wouldn’t want anything to jeopardise a sale going forward when everyone has invested emotionally and financially. I would never buy a house purely because of a rural view though, even though there may be no planning applications now there could be in the future and even so called green belt land can be built on if it is the economic interest of the area, nowhere is safe and it will only get worse as they relax planning laws more.

Rather than build estates with 2-300 houses, it would be far better for residents if small estates of 20-30 homes could be built, slotting in around towns, integrating both properties and people within existing infrastructure.

That won’t hit quotas for the local plan though and people will still be unhappy if those 20 to 30 houses will be opposite their drive and spoiling their view, everyone’s a NIMBY none of us want our status quo spoilt but it’s the way things are now.

I feel for you. Something similar happened to us and we pulled out of a purchase. A planned estate of 1,200 houses in phase 1 and a further 600 in phase 2 and only one entry/exit road which would have been fewer than 50m from our front door. We'd already done the building survey and only picked up on this planned development as we read through the legal searches. When we pulled out, it was obvious from the estate agent's reaction that he knew full well about the planned development and had simply hoped we wouldn't notice. An expensive lesson learned (not to mention the bitter disappointment) and I do my own online research now before even offering on a house. For what it's worth, we've never regretted pulling out as we know we'd have been miserable there.

How annoying for you and the agents and seller would have known about the proposals for the housing development. Both parties should have disclosed this to you and I would be having a conversation with the estate agent mentioning misrepresentation.

If rhe rural outlook was part if your reason for buying, pull out. As it will be replaced with an unsightly new estate.