Withheld Information from Seller?

[Mr Me]

Hi, I have a question for the forum please, based on what route to take legally, if there is one to take, for our recent purchase (within the last 12 months) the basics are:

• New build home bought from small private developer in the past 12 months
• Small private cul-de-sac with private road leading through, which is still owned by the developers
• The rear of 2 shops back onto the estate (where the front of the shops are on the main public road) who have rights of access to the estate to enable deliveries
• Our home is at the front of the estate which shares a refuse area for the shops so they can access the rear of their shops for deliveries and bin storage
• Our home is the only one that shares this area, the other houses are further down the estate and don't have need to access that small area at the rear of the shops, this is the entrance to our home and driveway
• The house is freehold but all roads in the estate are owned by the developers, including the area at the rear of the shops

Issues:

• The area is an ongoing nightmare, we are constantly blocked in by the deliveries each day, of which there are several every day except for Sunday
• The public will park in our estate and or block us in by parking in front of our driveway, to use the shops
• The public will use the front area of our house, which is the private road, to turn and there are many cars every hour doing this
• The area itself is rather unsafe due to the amount of traffic on the road, not heavy traffic but leaving the estate on foot is more dangerous than it needs to be. Not scary, just annoying levels
• The shops will have natural overspill from their large bins, which are collected weekly and can leave a mess in the area when picked up, this is directly in front of our house. Due to the way the road is pitched, the debris ends up on our property
• It is a butchers and bakers so occasionally the bins can smell pretty horrendous and can be smelled from our back garden, especially when the weather is hot
• The shops will empty cleaning buckets onto the road and into their own drains however the curvature of the area means a reasonable amount of overspill goes into our property, on our driveway every weekend when they clean
• The butchers have and will continue to park a refrigerated lorry directly at the back of their shop (and the front of our house) over Christmas, around 2 weeks prior, for extra storage. The generator runs many times per day from around 6am - 7pm, 7 days a week when needed (automatically comes on when the temperature exceeds x) which is extremely loud, rattles the house and causes chaos for deliveries as this lorry is parked where they would unload, meaning they park then directly in front of our home meaning it's impossible to leave by car and genuinely difficult or impossible to leave by foot sometimes depending on the size and parking location of the delivery lorry/truck

So far attempted:

• Raised a complaint verbally with the shops owners who do try to help, whilst being mindful of their own businesses naturally
• Raised a complaint with the developers, who own the road and refuse area. This has gone to director level after 2 escalations. Final response has been given by them, the issues have not been fixed.
• Asked for bin storage to help the look of the area (the bins are quite an eyesore)
• Asked for the drain to have a grate run off trench/gulley to protect our property from the shops cleaning buckets
• Asked for a bollard/gate to be installed to protect the estate and stop the public using our home as a parking lot
• Installed parking signs and attempted to have a parking company enforce parking fines for the public (this has not been successful and has been discontinued)
• Asked the developers to ensure the truck is not parked outside our home over Christmas this year (it was last year) who have tried to reason with the butchers however the butchers are likely to park it there anyway, they have done so for many years before the houses were built and the solicitor for the developers thinks there is little recourse to stop them or to claim compensation
• The butchers may have acquired rights to park due to the length of time they have done so, we could make a claim of private nuisance for an injunction but all of this is not going to stop the lorry being there this year
• We really need to sort these issues out so that we don't face issues selling. We have raised complaints and this will need to be disclosed to any potential buyer

So, none of this was disclosed to us in the sale or deeds. Obviously we were aware of the general logistics when purchasing and that the area is used for deliveries. The level of disruption is unacceptable, the effects on our property from the way the estate has been built and the way it is allowed to be used by the shops is unacceptable. The refrigerated lorry, whilst only there for 2 weeks a year, is genuinely horrendous and makes our home unlivable for the time it's there. Apparently they have organized a quieter lorry but it's still going to be audible from the house and it will still cause carnage with the deliveries and cause us to get blocked in.

Any thoughts will be hugely appreciate, we have exhausted avenues with the developers/owners of the road and the shops and after nearly a year of trying to fix it we now face seeking legal help with the situation. My first thoughts would be against the developers and or their conveyancers but no idea where to start.

[Mr Me]

Really glad I spend the time writing that out

[wales01man]

Really glad I spend the time writing that out

This may have been missed on here now you have come back you may get help have you consulted a solicitor?

[echat11]

Have you contacted the Council?

All Council's have planning policy on new builds, rural, urban etc. You can usually find this on the Council's website, you can check if the developers have adhered to the Council's planning policy regards new builds. It's normally a whole load of PDF's.

The Council gives the developers authority / permission to build.

Example - https://www.cheltenham.gov.uk/downlo...nd_development

[des8]

Council's environmental health section re 1) litter overspill from bins (might include hazardous waste
2) noise from refrigerated lorry 3) noxious smells from bins

Water authority re disposal of waste grey water down what sounds like storm drains and not sewers

Is your road an unadopted road but still a public highway?

[echat11]

Council's environmental health section re 1) litter overspill from bins (might include hazardous waste
2) noise from refrigerated lorry 3) noxious smells from bins

Water authority re disposal of waste grey water down what sounds like storm drains and not sewers

Is your road an unadopted road but still a public highway?

Good points.

[islandgirl]

Obviously there are problems such as bins and lorry etc which can be dealt with as suggested. However I do not see what legal action you could take against the developers? The shops were there when the property was purchased as were the other things which are causing a problem (for which you have my sympathy of course - it sounds horrible). I can see that the developer could help with a storage unit for the bins and re the parking but I do not see what legal action you could take about the general issues - for your sake I really hope I am wrong.

[echat11]

Could the developers foreseen any of the issues? Could they have mitigated the issues that have arisen?

[Mr Me]

Resurrecting this one:

Ongoing issues remain. The shop owns a pavement the length of their shop which goes down the first section of our private road. It seems that the developers, who still own the private road, have agreed with the shop that members of the public can park on the private road if they park 2 wheels on the curb and 2 wheels on the private road. We have parking restriction signs from UKPCM around the estate and they have been told by the road owner to not ticket that area. Potentially as a result of a solicitors letter from the shop.

The issues here are that it restricts access to the private road, makes it dangerous to enter and leave. It also then encourages the public to use the whole estate when the parking on the curb/private road is exhausted (can fit 3 cars on it). So far I have been blocked in or out of my driveway more times that I can count, had my property damaged from the public reversing into my fence, been threatened and abused by the public for asking them to move so we can enter/leave our home.

Thoughts are that the agreement between the shop and the road owner pre dates us buying the home, so should have been disclosed at point of sale. Also that the granting of public access to the private estate by the road owner devalues our home(s) and that public use of the private estate causes emotional distress, mental health decay and financial loss.

The two shops have right of way to deliver, this obviously isn't in question and was disclosed at point of sale and on the TR1. The public being effectively granted the area as a parking lot certainly was not. If they have now given the public right of way to an area of the estate, surely we are protected in some way legally from this?

[dslippy]

I fail to see why there should be any agreement for the use by the shop customers of the land in the way you describe.

[Mr Me]

One would assume they have by proxy changed the planning permissions by entering into an agreement with the shop to allow members of the public carte blanch access to park on the private estate. A road which they are paid to manage by the residents.

[dslippy]

An assumption too far.

[Mr Me]

Well, bearing in mind they've changed the rights access of the road, given the public access all whilst being paid to manage the road for the residents, I am quite perplexed. The only people that pay for the road is the residents, the shops nor the owners put a penny towards it. We are now in a situation where the road is getting excess use, 'dry' turning on block paving will damage the road quickly, which we will pay for. Residents have had their vehicles and indeed homes damaged from shop users. Not to mention the estate being a parking lot and quite dangerous to enter and leave. Quite stressful for us when we enter or leave thinking we are going to get into an argument with a member of the public for asking them to move and not block us in while they pop to the shops.

There must be some legal issue arising from this?!

[dslippy]

There are several issues arising but none from any assumed arrangement as to planning or otherwise.

None have obvious solutions.

[Mr Me]

Well we would rather not move. Stamp duty etc. would be much more efficient to argue and hire a barrister or solicitor, depending on the legal argument. Just can't see what the legal argument is here.