Help! Deep in to the buying/selling process and we’ve just found out about a huge housing development in the quaint village we were buying in!

[Pebble65]

I’ll start this off by explaining that we don’t necessarily WANT to move but due to schools, costs of remortgaging and aging parents we’ve felt we should sell up and move. Hence why we already had slight reluctance about moving house.

We accepted an offer on ours mid September and had an offer accepted on a house mid October. Since then the process has gone pretty fast and we’re being chased to name a completion date by our buyers. We wanted the searches and valuation done before we had a survey done as we had an inkling that the price had on the house we’re buying was a bit high. We also had some concerns about the local area.

Saying that, it’s a quaint village, lovely community with lots of events going on and access to excellent schools so we were pretty happy.

Anyway, we’ve just heard that there is a plan to build almost 600 homes in and around the village - many of them 1 bedroom houses, so not necessarily family homes.

This worries us a lot! It’s not what we were looking for and we have concerns that the schools/doctors etc won’t cope and it will affect the feel of the village. They are also planning to build close to the house at the end of the lane so the slice of countryside we loved will be gone. We wouldn’t have made an offer if we’d known this.

I guess we pull out and try to keep our buyers happy and reassured??! They’ve sold and have moved in with family and there is a specific reason that they want our house so I think it will take a lot for them to back out of the purchase, but I can’t guarantee that, obviously!

Any advice/ reassurance gratefully received!!

Thanks everyone.

We’re still pretty undecided. Our options are:

1. proceed with the purchase and hope for the best.
2. drop out and persuade our buyers to hold on, hoping something better comes on the market in the next few months.
3. drop out and move in to my parent’s empty house which is down the road from us here and keep looking.
4. drop out and rent there, get the kids in to schools and keep looking (although we have 2 cats, 2 Guinea pigs and a hamster- will landlords let to that many pets??)

I received an email from our lender over night with the porting offer but we’ve not heard the outcome of the valuation survey. Does anyone know if they still offer even if the the property is undervalued? Considering the original undervalue and the maximum we can contribute this year the LTV would be 70:30.

Ultimately, if there was a nice house in another area we would probably go for that instead.

I should add that we were kind of hoping the surveyor would confirm the undervalue, that would give us a legitimate reason to back out of the purchase that we couldn’t blame ourselves for, whereas because the planning is a draft plan at the moment's, if we ended up renting and couldn’t find anything better we’d feel a lot of guilt.

Also, can anyone give an opinion on bedroom size for teenagers? The house is advertised as 4 double bedrooms but I struggle to see how you’d fit doubles in two of the rooms. One is 2.4*3.4m. It would fit a single bed width ways. My DD wants this room but I worry she’ll outgrow it quickly.

If you have got the official mortgage offer then it means the lender is happy with the valuation.

Exactly. Searches are not just a tick box exercise. You are right to be concerned about a massive project that will change the nature of the village and for which the infrastructure isn't there. We had several small housing projects built in and around our village rapidly in a couple of years. Now it is impossible to get an appointment with the GP, the small high street is jammed with traffic and the pharmacy keeps making basic mistakes because they are overrun with demands. Before the projects were built these problems didn't exist. If the infrastructure isn't already there to support the expanding population, it probably never will be.

In relation to room sizes 2.4mx3 4m is about 7.5ft x 11ft. I think many, many teenagers have rooms this size.

From all of the infirmation yiu have given, I think you don't really want this house regardless of the new build. It is a compromise.

However, all houses are compromises and ultimately you have to decide if the compromise is too great. Clearly you can't afford what yiu really want in school catchment. The alternative is to buy better but out of catchment.

Or

Let's bear in mind the economy is about to go to shit, the housing market will inevitably suffer and prices are likely to fall. Your parents house is presently empty and is a stop gap. Sell your house, move into your parents', rent awhile if you have to and wait for the market to adjust.

To be honest, the development wouldn't put me off. It's a proposal and it may bring improvements in due course vis a vis transport and a local shop. I'd reduce the offer by £5k and crack on.

I feel sorry for yiur vendors, you've led them down the garden path a bit when it sounds like you don't like the house much. If you aren't going to proceed be swift and be honest.

A small double bedroom is 3x3m ish if that helps.

On the housing plan, this is happening everywhere it seems. The land that had been kept in reserve has come online with the changes to the planning system.
I think it’s odd that the houses are 1 and 2 bedroom houses - this is a density play as most families want 3.. But it would suit retired and single people for sure.

If you have you have your parents house to move into as a stop gap do that. As buyers outside a chain you may be more appealing to vendors if a good house comes up. However don’t necessarily believe everything on Facebook - plans of some description will be available from the council even if planning permission hasn’t been sought.

I think you should pull out and move into your parents empty house, as you will then be in a brilliant position for the right house. Don’t let people guilt trip you, it’s a perfectly legitimate reason to pull out. You didn’t know about the development. You don’t have to carry on with a purchase with that knowledge just to be polite. It may even be why the vendors are selling.

Desperately sad. Labour is on a mission to destroy rural England 😔

I would consider going ahead for the following reasons ; the school sounds ideal for your dc, anywhere you move you are likely to encounter new houses being built, at least this way you know where the development is, do you want to end up moving and disrupting schooling?, Gps are all busy so anywhere you move is going to face same issues, if the immediate area around the house is right for you then thats better than being next to a main road?.

Better the devil you know I think in regards to the new builds.

We had two fields in different spots in the village in planning when we moved to this house. Dd was 7 and in the tiny village school. She's now year 2 of Uni. One field is still in planning and the other has started building. That one had been trying to build for 20 years apparently. So I wouldn't be put off at all.

@RosesAndHellebores i find that an unfair comment. We’ve only been in the process a month. We were prepared to make some compromises on the house and we’ve only known about the development for 4 days! We’ve been waiting for the valuation to come through before knowing what our position is and making a decision. We’ve hardly been stringing them along.

@Mumlaplomb that’s definitely an option. The only issue being that we have to be living in the area we want to apply for schools in by September so we worry about any delays happening.

I guess if we were less risk averse and/or we weren’t working to a deadline we would definitely pull out of the purchase.

Errr… you know there have been local development plans for many many years, right?

If the main concern is the school catchment I wouldn't worry about that. It takes forever for all of this to actually happen so your kids will be halfway through school by then.

The room is much larger than my son's room so can't see an issue there. He has a loft bed.

Basically you have to decide if the school catchment is the most important thing or the other issues you mention and focus hard on your priority. You can't have everything you want for your budget so what is more important - that your kids go to this exact school or that you might find a place that will stay quiet and undeveloped for longer?

I mean personally I'd move to the free parents' house but there must be a reason that's not a great option that you haven't shared as no mortgage at all sounds amazing just now!

Pull out.

What are the schools like near you now?

Live in your parent’s empty house.

You will be out of a chain and ready to move. This will give you bargaining power.

You say there are houses you love slightly out of budget? Have you tried offering to see if they could come within budget?
I think I would pull out, you obviously don’t love the house and moving is so so expensive. I live in a house that was bought due to lack of other available options and I still feel like it might not have been the right choice and I’ve lived here for years!

Gosh if you’ve got an empty house to move into definitely take option 3! It’s a no brainer…

I definitely wouldn’t buy if you’re having serious doubts like this and it will change the value of the home you are buying. We rented between our last house move literally just as we emerged from the pandemic. Our house sold beneath us in days and like you we needed to be in a new area for a school. So we rented, put a lot of stuff in storage (much easier and cheaper than you think especially as you’re packing up anyway) and rented a house no problem with two elderly dogs. Initially they said no pets but we sent the letting agent a link to our previous home showing how we kept it, and offered the first 6 months rent upfront. Landlord agreed immediately although he didn’t take the rent in advance. Best thing we ever did, as when our ideal house appeared we got a good price because we had no chain or property to sell, and we got 100% the house we wanted. Really took a lot of the stress out of the conveyancing too as it was only us and them. Also gives you time to find out any issues/problems with an area and where you want to be. We’ve bought houses before we’ve had doubts about and it’s always been a huge mistake.

@harriethoyle it would be a good option if it was in the catchment for the schools we want to apply to but it’s 2 hours away and in our current catchment, unfortunately.

@HoundsMamma with 10 months to find a new house to buy and move in would you be confident enough that it’s enough time?

Also, how did your kids find lots of moving house? Were they OK with it. I’m concerned about the upheaval.

Trying to future proof isn't easy anywhere.

I have a good friend who lives in a built up area just outside London. You would think that would mean you know in advance about the number of people living there but no. Everytime I visit I hear that yet another large house has been demolished and a block of flats built in its place. There are still a lot of big houses with large front and back gardens that could be bought and redeveloped in this way. She is getting more and more anxious about things like GP appointments because of the increase in people, A house that would maybe have had four or five people living in it is now has a block of 8 or more flats with the potential for 8-16 people.

We ended up in the rental for 6 months in total. Took us about 3 months to find this house. Children are amazingly resilient and don’t have the same worries us adults project onto them I found. In fact, depending on age it’s all an adventure. If you’re moving area anyway it’s really not an issue. Plus they get into the school they want from the start. I didn’t really find it difficult at all. The house we rented was lovely but smaller than our previous and current home, hence a lot of stuff going into storage, but that made moving into our new home easier as it was ready to go. But it really took the pressure off, wasn’t really any harder overall, we enjoyed our short time in our rental, , and we got a very good price indeed on our current house as sellers wanted to proceed asap as a previous buyer of theirs had fallen through due to a chain issue.

I would pull out. This happened to my friend. She moved out of Leeds to get a more rural/village life. It was absolutely stunning where she went. Her views and nearby walks were to die for, so much so they re worked the layout of the house to take advantage of the views with a glass wall and raised decking. Stunning. Now, many years on they look out the the back of about 40 new build houses. I'm gutted for them. It's completely ruined the main feature of her beautiful home.