178 lines
5.7 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
178 lines
5.7 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
property
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mypropertynightmare
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3324440
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-----
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# My property nightmare: serious subsidence
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Mary Wilson 12:01AM BST 05 May 2004
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[Comments][1]
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**How to deal with tricky situations. This week, a last-minute subsidence
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problem compounds issues with solicitors. Mary Wilson reports**
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Tom and Julia King were hoping to move into a three-bedroom flat in north-west
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London. As the exchange date drew near, however, a serious subsidence problem
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emerged, which the vendor had not disclosed, writes Mary Wilson.
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"We had decided to move from our two-bedroom flat in Kensal Rise because we
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wanted more space and a garden," says Tom. "We found the most beautiful,
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three-bedroom, garden flat, in a converted, detached, Victorian house in
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Mapesbury, between West Hampstead and Kilburn. We put in an offer last June,
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just below the asking price, which was accepted."
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Tom felt confident that the deal would go through, as he works in the business
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- in the marketing department of FPDSavills - and he knew the agent who was
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selling the property. The vendor was moving out of the country, so there were
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no complications caused by him having to find another property in Britain.
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"He did want us to exchange within 21 days, which might have been difficult.
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But we already had a mortgage offer and solicitors lined up, so we felt this
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was achievable. As it happened, it took six months before we could exchange
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and just before we did, we discovered there was a problem," he says.
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During those six months, Tom realised that he had made a big mistake in his
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choice of solicitor. "I had been recommended a firm of solicitors by my
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mortgage broker, but I discovered it was like a huge warehouse, with few
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trained solicitors and the rest were only solicitor's clerks. They were
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useless, but it seemed too late to change them."
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When the Initial Enquiries form was sent back to his solicitor, the last two
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questions - "Has there been past subsidence and is there anything that might
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affect a future sale" - were left unanswered.
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"By this time, the vendor had moved abroad. My solicitor was absolutely
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hopeless and the managing agency was obstructive. The only way it would agree
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to answer any more questions was for me to pay the agent £300. Then, in
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October, the agent's surveyor told me the property was going to be
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underpinned."
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It transpired that there had been subsidence some years back, which had been
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remedied and had now recurred . "As the vendor owned part of the freehold,
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there was no way he did not know about it," says Tom.
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The other mistake Tom made was not to go for a full structural survey, but
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only a "Home View" survey, which didn't pick up the problem, because it wasn't
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visually obvious. The mortgage company said it would not lend the Kings money
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on the property and they eventually withdrew from the sale in November, after
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paying about £3,000 in lawyer's and surveyor's fees.
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"We understand now why we were put under such enormous pressure to exchange in
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21 days. When we told the vendor we wanted to take a wall down, he said he
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would exchange only if we did not go ahead with the work, because it would
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upset the other flat-owners. Of course, what he was really worried about were
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the structural problems," says Tom.
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* Russell Conway, of the solicitors Oliver Fisher (020 7937 4515;
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[www.oliverfisher.co.uk][2]), comments:
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"It is always prudent to instruct a local solicitor with knowledge of an area.
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As it happens, I live just by Mapesbury and a good many properties happen to
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suffer from subsidence, as a result of the local geology. A solicitor who is
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not from the area is unlikely to know this. Certainly, a good local solicitor
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would have advised a full structural survey at the beginning of the
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transaction and pushed for replies to preliminary enquiries, rather than have
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them delivered a few days before exchange.
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"Speed is everything in domestic conveyancing. You need a lawyer who is on top
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of their game and who makes things happen, rather than reacts to others. There
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is sometimes a cost to this and the cheapest quote is rarely the best.
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And beware vendors in a hurry. If you detect undue haste, be sure there is a
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probable reason. Don't be bullied or allow your solicitor to be bullied. The
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average house purchase takes three to four months and if someone insists on a
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much shorter time frame they might well be trying to hide something."
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* Names have been changed. Send your property stories to House & Home, The
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Sunday Telegraph, 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5DT, or email
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[houseandhome@telegraph.co.uk][3]
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* Share: [Share][4] [ ][6] [ ][7]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/mypropertynightmare/3324440/My-property-
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nightmare-serious-subsidence.html
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Telegraph
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## [My Property Nightmare][9]
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* ### [Property »][10]
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In property
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[![][17]][18]
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### [All Saints Eastbourne][18]
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### [The Daily Telegraph Guide to Equity Release][20]
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[X][4] Share & bookmark
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[What are these?][5]
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Share:
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* [Tweet][8]
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* Advertisement
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![][21]
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