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Recently purchased a property, vendors supplied a residential council tax bill as proof of use. We've now found out the property is still registered as C1, not C3. There was a withdrawn change of use planning application on the search. Solicitor said they would check the status and ask for proof of change of use from the vendor, but didn't. Just took the vendors word and the residential council tax bill. Do we have a claim for negligence. To make matters worse local plan forbids change of use on this type of C1 property. Any help gratefully received. We think we have significant financial losses.
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How long has the use been going on (that you can prove) -
C1 use over 20 years, but ceased trading in 2022. Vendor wrote to council said ceased trading, they wrote to VO and residential bill issued. No checks on planning classification.Comment
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Change of use application was withdrawn because council told vendor it was likely to fail through lack of evidence. So vendor fully aware. We only found this out 5 months after completion.Comment
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Interesting - evidence of what? If it had only been done for a very short time what were they trying to prove?Comment
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Vendor had to prove that the business wasn't financially viable to gain change of use, but it was financially viable, they wanted to retire, which under the local plan, is not a reason for change of use.Comment
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Ah OK thank you makes sense now.Comment
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You should look carefully at everything the sellers said in the Property Information Forms/replies to enquiries. Did they make any clear misrepresentations?Lawyer (solicitor) - retired from practice, now supervising solicitor in a university law clinic. I do not advise by private message.
Litigants in Person should download and read this: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/..._in_Person.pdfComment
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They declared a withdrawn planning application, but not the reason for the withdrawal. Every time the solicitor asked for proof of change of use, their solicitor referred to the residential council tax bill, claiming that was change of use. We believe our solicitor should have challenged the council tax bill as insufficient evidence. Had we have known that the property was still C1 we would have withdrawn from the purchase.Comment
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Do you have legal expenses insurance cover? Maybe with a home policy.Lawyer (solicitor) - retired from practice, now supervising solicitor in a university law clinic. I do not advise by private message.
Litigants in Person should download and read this: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/..._in_Person.pdfComment
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No, unfortunately not. We've checked.Comment
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