Advice needed please!!!!

[AllyH25]

Hey, I'm wondering if anyone could help?!?!

We bought a property in July. The property is a bungalow with a loft conversion which was completed around 25 years ago. In November, we had a leak in our roof. We contacted our house insurance provider who sent a surveyor round a month later, only to tell us that they wouldn't pay for the damage.

When we bought the property, we had a home buyers survey completed who highlighted some issues with the roof, but only classified these as a level 2. We've had a roofer come to inspect the roof who has highlighted other issues and really the only way forward is to have the roof redone which is going to be a costly job. I've got in touch with the surveyors who have said that it could have been a level 2 problem at the time but is now a level 3. I personally don't feel that the problems stated could deteriorate to a level 3 so quickly.

Further to this, the property never had planning permission or building regulations. Our solicitor asked for indemnity policies which we were told we needed to progress with the purchase but never went into details as to what this meant or the implications this would have on us as the buyers. Our solicitor only ever sent us through a draft copy of the indemnity policy for the planning permission and never sent us through the finalised version. Again, we were never really made aware of what they were actually for just the reason for needing them to progress the sale. We also never saw or received a copy of the building regulations indemnity policy until 4 days after we had completed and received the keys. In addition, when we went to sign the contracts, our solicitor was actually on holiday, so a different solicitor took over the file, who openly admitted she wasn't sure on our file so would have to familiarise herself with it as we went through before signing. At no point during this conversation were indemnity policies mentioned, discussed or shared with us, so as the buyers we were still unaware of the implications these would have.

In amongst all of this, we've been told that as the property never had planning permission, the property should never have been sold to us as a 3 bedroom and has been misrepresented by the estate agents.

As you can imagine, this situation is causing a lot of stress and anxiety.

If someone could help, I'd just like to find out some information as to where we stand.

We are going to have to apply for planning permission to get the roof sorted properly, so this will invalidate the indemnity policy that's in place. As the conversion has been there for many years, where does that leave us?

Also, was the bungalow misrepresented by the estate agents?

And as for the solicitors, I feel they didn't fully inform or properly advise us on the purchase we were making.

Any help would be hugely appreciated!!
Many thanks!

[R0b]

Hi

First and foremost, property disputes are a very costly job so you should bear that in mind, and I'm not just talking a few thousand pounds either.

Second, based on what you describe I am not entirely convinced that you have a claim against the estate agent, if the agent was told it was a 3 bedroom property their reliance would be on the seller's knowledge and information as well as physical inspections around the house. If anything, a claim is more likely to be targeted towards the seller.

There are several stages of the conveyancing process, one of which is the SPIF (Sellers Property Information Form) which consists of a series of standard questions to be asked by your solicitor based and there may be further questions asked depending on the transaction and if anything shows up as a concern. In there, there is a section around alterations to the property including planning permission and building control. You should carefully read the response from the buyer and then consider whether that statement continues to be true or not. If not, then you may have a case for misrepresentation against the seller. Equally, if something was true at the time the information was provided but during the conveyancing process that statement was no longer true, again you may have a case against the seller for misrepresentation.

I am sure you have heard of the general principle around property purchases which is 'caveat emptor' or 'buyer beware'. If you don't ask a question to the seller then you can't expect them to pay compensation if it turns out something is wrong with the property. I should also add that you would have been given a report on title by your solicitor which would have explained everything they have done as part of the process as well as supplying you with copies of the documents gathered to date. In that report on title the solicitor would have expressed any concerns or mitigating measures that may need to be put in place to protect yourself as buyers, such as indemnity policies. If you failed to read it or didn't understand but went ahead anyway, then there may be an argument that you caused this yourself or at least contributed to it. Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that you would have been given an opportunity to review the materials and documentation so it begs the question as to whether you should have piped up if you spotted an issue (assuming you did not).

Indemnity policies are typically taken out where there are concerns the seller hasn't obtained the necessary permissions if alterations to the property have been carried out so if the local authority tells you to demolish the unauthorised alterations, you should be protected. I believe they also typically extend to successors of the property also. I'm not clear from your post whether the policies were in fact taken out prior to the exchange of contracts, and they would usually be a condition of exchange. If the solicitor or acting solicitor failed to obtain the indemnity policies following exchange and completion, you may have a case of negligence against the solicitor/law firm. The loss may only amount to the cost of purchasing the policies, assuming they can still be relied upon but I don't know what conditions are normally attached to policies and if they need to be taken out before completion in order to be effective, so that may be something you need to look into.

I suppose the million dollar question is, what are you seeking to achieve from all of this?

[AllyH25]

Hey Rob
Thank you for your response on my feed, its much appreciated.

I will have a look into the documentation sent through by our seller reference alterations etc. The seller has definitely tried to bodge up some areas to sell the property which we are slowly uncovering.
I guess we're at a bit of a loss in terms of our solicitor not fully informing us of the implications of having indemnities etc. These were asked for prior to exchange although we only ever saw draft copy of the indemnity for planning permission and never the finalised version before exchanging and only ever received a copy of the indemnity for building regs after exchange and completion. It seems these insurance policies barely cover anything and aren't worth the paper they are written on. I suppose my argument is, that as the buyers who have no idea about this sort thing and this should have been properly explained to us. We paid our solicitor a lot of money to advise us so we entered the purchase fully informed, I don't feel this happened.

I just dont see a way out of the situation thats not going to cost us a lot of money.


Kind regards.

[AllyH25]

Also, another quick question with regards to the report on title. Is this a pack of documents that we should have received, if it is, then we have never received it.

I have various emails with the odd document in relation to enquiries and responses, but we have never received a report on title and again, as this is something we didn't even realise we should have and we'd never been told.

[R0b]

The report on title is a report written by your solicitor after collecting all the relevant information, carrying out searches, inquiries to the seller about the property and other relevant documentation. The report will provide the collected documents and responses and provide you with a summary outlining any areas of concern and what might require further investigation.

A report on title is a fundamental part of the conveyancing process so if you are suggesting your solicitor never sent this to you, then that would be considered negligence and a breach of their duty of care. However, just because there is a breach it doesn't mean you are automatically entitled to compensation because, if the breach did not cause you to suffer loss or expense, then there is no recoverability. In other words, if they provided you with a report on title, you would not have suffered loss or expense because you would have pulled out of the sale or renegotiated based on any additional costs you will incur.

You may want to consult with a separate law firm about a potential claim for professional negligence (search for professional negligence firms) and depending on the value of the compensation, they may take it on a no win no fee basis or a damages based agreement which is essentially a percentage of your awarded or settled compensation given to the law firm.

Alternatively, if you had legal expenses insurance you might be able to go down that route, although coverage is typically limited to around £50k and sometimes as high as £100k for an increased premium.

It would be sensible to explore those options as soon as possible but none of them are viable, you could start a formal complaint and then if nothing is settled, take your case to the Legal Ombudsman for a resolution as it is free of charge. Your last and final option would then be legal proceedings if you did not accept the Ombudsman's decision.