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Original poster

Offer accepted but no dropped kerb

81 replies

GranolaGranola · 28/05/2022 15:31

We had an offer accepted on a house in April which has a driveway with space for 2 cars. However we’ve just been back to look at it again and realised the kerb isn’t actually dropped - not sure how we missed this first time although the kerb is fairly low along the street anyway so it’s not as noticeable as it could be. The owners are parking on it anyway but I understand it means they aren’t legally permitted to access their drive.

I’m not sure what we should do next. Should we lower our offer by the amount it costs to drop the kerb? And potentially pull out if the vendors refuse?

It does look like using the drive should be fine but I’m not happy that potentially the council could stop us using it in the future or people could park across it on the street. I’m also conscious that regardless of the cost of getting it dropped it’s not guaranteed we’d be granted planning permission.

OP posts:
whyohehy · 28/05/2022 16:45

No that's ridiculous and would piss me off if I was the seller.

2bazookas · 28/05/2022 16:50

I would not entertain that kind of cf-ery. When you view a house, it's YOUR responsibility to notice obvious stuff in plain view; vehicle access , parking meters, , a railway line over the fence. You make your offer accordingly .

prettybird · 28/05/2022 17:07

In my council (Glasgow) it costs something like £1975 if the council does the work (or gets an external contractor to do it) or £437 to inspect the work if you get someone to do it. Not sure if that includes VAT or not.

I'd been looking it up because there's a new house nearby that's been built in the grounds of another one and I have a suspicion that they've not formally asked for the kerb to be dropped (extremely low kerb at that point, but very close to a traffic light and some road signage).

amandadada · 28/05/2022 17:08

LittleOwl153 · 28/05/2022 15:40

If its listed as a house with a driveway for 2 cars then I'd want to to be a house with a driveway for 2 cars. I'd want to check with the council what the status is - they'll be able to tell you what it woukd cost to do properly too.
I would pull out over this - but then I live in an area where parking is a premium and driveway parking would be high on my list of needs in a house.

This.

Original poster
GranolaGranola · 28/05/2022 17:10

Thanks for everyone’s replies. As I said, I had thought the cost was a lot more than it is so if it’s a matter of 2-3k we’ll stomach it. We won’t look to reduce the offer.

However, if it’s likely we won’t get permission to drop the kerb ourselves then that will be a problem so I’ll look into it further. I appreciate we should have noticed this issue before we offered but we only had the opportunity to view once - it was a case of 15 min viewing slot then best and finals on the Monday morning -, it’s not that obvious as the kerb is relatively low anyway, it’s not visible from the photo on the advert, and as a house presented as having a drive for two cars I naively assumed this meant there was position to park on it!

OP posts:
Jessbow · 28/05/2022 17:16

We dont have one dropped curb on our whole estate, it is , however, a lower curb (and angled) and built that way 30 years ago.

If you are not driving over grass to get to the drive, it assume it was okay

Seeline · 28/05/2022 17:21

There are two elements to this - PP is only required if the access is onto a classified road (Class C and above). PP may also be required to extend/resurface the drive if it is more than 5sq m in area and is not permeable/have appropriate drainage.

You will need consent from the highways department for the construction of the dropped kerb, regardless of whether PP is required.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 28/05/2022 17:22

Before you decide whether to drop your offer, how was the house advertised? Did they make a thing of the driveway and parking space, or were viewers just left to assume (or not) that the facility was available?

Basically, if nothing was mentioned I'd pay for it myself, but if they claimed it had the parking I'd reduce the offer

bellac11 · 28/05/2022 17:22

I get annoyed with people that dont bother to drop their curb and drive over the pavement or street and damage it, thats more money for the tax payer to pay for the council to fix the pavement.

You need to check out whether there would be a problem with it and then check whether they advertised the house as having a driveway and off street parking because currently they legally do not have a useable driveway or off street parking

Lavenderlast · 28/05/2022 17:23

You can’t lower your offer price, the kerb is exactly the same as it was when you viewed the house.

Speak to council and establish if kerb can be dropped and if so what the cost is.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 28/05/2022 17:23

Apologies, OP; I missed the last sentence of your PP and see it was indeed presented as having parking space for 2 cars ... in which case yes, I'd reduce the offer

mumieone · 28/05/2022 17:25

Johnnysgirl · 28/05/2022 15:34

No, I'd imagine they'll refuse to engage with this nonsense. I would.

I wouldn't engage too. It's not Thier problem it's yours. They have managed without it...why should they pay for it for you?

Makes no sense.

You don't want to buy this place really do you? Sounds like hole picking your way out of an agreement. I'd be really piseed to have a buyer fully dallying like this and may poss not sell to you. Don't be a red flag

DietCoke99 · 28/05/2022 17:27

Only £350 to drop your driveway? Where?
Ours cost £2k - London. This was about 3 years and was about 6m long.
I would call the local council - speak to the dept that deals with driveways and explain the situation- do they do them generally on the road you are buying, is there any reason they wouldn't... etc

Floralnomad · 28/05/2022 17:28

If the house has been advertised as having off street parking for 2 cars and it has no dropped kerb then it legally has no off street parking - people do pay a premium for off street parking so it’s perfectly reasonable if the OP wanted to review her offer . Just because the current owner wants to park illegally the OP may not wish to do so .

chuckaberry · 28/05/2022 17:29

Had the same issue. Rightmove/estate agent and had parking for cars on the ad. At the time we didn't notice as the kerb and the road had a relatively small gap.

When we went round for a viewing post offer accepted, noticed the road had been redone and the kerb gap was a good 8cm! Was a bit back and forward, but ultimately they knocked down the price by that amount.

CF seller tbh. When they were redoing the road, they were offering a discount to get the dropped kerb.

Check the ad or on the paperwork what comes with the house fixtures. On ours it stated parking for cars... So was quite happy to push back!

Good luck

GentlemanJay · 28/05/2022 17:29

My builder said we could apply to drop it or just do it ourselves. We did the latter.

Snog · 28/05/2022 17:36

It will cost £2-3k to get the kerb dropped. Whether you drop your offer depends on whether you are prepared to risk losing the house over this.

As it's a sellers market the seller may very well sell to someone else.

ATadConfused · 28/05/2022 17:41

Johnnysgirl · 28/05/2022 15:34

No, I'd imagine they'll refuse to engage with this nonsense. I would.

What?

they can't sell something they don't have!

they've sold it with off street parking, that needs to be legal, or it doesn't exist'

@GranolaGranola

I would want full disclosure of facts. I would pull out (if off street parking is important to you) until they get it approved, and either the drop kerb done or reduction in price for you to do it.

no way would I be buying it until they had approved!!

carefullycourageous · 28/05/2022 17:43

I'd want to know if it had been refused, if it had not been applied for/granted it should be sold with no off street parking.

Something like this would make me a bit wary as they may have made other illegal alterations.

QuebecBagnet · 28/05/2022 17:45

No. It will have been priced accordingly due to the fact there’s no dropped kerb.

IcakethereforeIam · 28/05/2022 17:51

When we had our kerb dropped a few years ago the cost varied depending on how wide the pavement was.

lassof · 28/05/2022 17:51

If it went to best and final offers on a first viewing only of 15 minutes, exactly how sympathetic do you think they will be to your request to now reduce your offer? It may be that you have changed your mind and latched onto this? They don't sound short of other buyers, maybe just withdraw your offer?

bellac11 · 28/05/2022 17:53

QuebecBagnet · 28/05/2022 17:45

No. It will have been priced accordingly due to the fact there’s no dropped kerb.

How do you work that one out considering they advertised it as a driveway. How would such a driveway be used without a dropped curb... legally of course because one shouldnt be advertising or inviting others to break the law

ATadConfused · 28/05/2022 17:55

QuebecBagnet · 28/05/2022 17:45

No. It will have been priced accordingly due to the fact there’s no dropped kerb.

That's highly unlikely as they're advertising two off road parking spaces which legally they do not have

AnnaSW1 · 28/05/2022 18:08

@GentlemanJay you have a cowboy builder. You cannot do this.