In my last post I voiced my concerns over the alteration to this Listed Grade 2 property.
The vendor has replied to some of my questions but his answers were somewhat vague concerning the alterations of the interior fabric.
As I explained in my previous post any alterations without listed planning consent are not allowed and are illegal. In other words a criminal offence.
My enquiries have revealed there was no planning consent or application made. The vendor has stated that he was not responsible for the alterations and didn’t know the property was Grade 2 Listed. I find that reply incredulous and total nonsense. His solicitor would have conducted searches and alerted him to this prior to purchase.
I have a feeling this was why his response to my questioning was vague. The vendor is worried – no doubt about it.
There is another viewing this week and I have arranged for a surveyor colleague to go on my behalf. This is not a straight forward deal and I need to know what the problems are before viewing myself.
Assuming there have been alterations, and I suspect there have, any damage to the fabric will potentially have to be reinstated back to it’s original condition.
This could be very expensive and time consuming. That being the case the guide price would have to be substantially lowered to take this into account.
There is definetly more to this than meets the eye. The legal pack states there have been no alterations to the exterior or interior of the property. We know that’s untrue. We also know the property is Grade 2 Listed but this isn’t disclosed in the legal pack.
The thing is the auction house knows this but has not yet updated the legal pack. I’d be very surprised if they don’t because potentially a bidder who has not seen the property or read the legal pack could become the winning bidder but then discover that they have bought a listed building which was not disclosed in the legals.
Now I’m not a lawyer but this is clearly a breach of contract and the buyer would have the right to cancel the sale.
And if you’re thinking surely no one would be that daft you’re wrong. I’ve seen and heard it many times.
You’d be surprised at how many people go to the auction, get outbid and then buy another property blind because they got carried away.
That’s why I always like to have at least 3 properties that I want to bid for.
The auction is next week. I’ll update you soon.
Talk soon
Trevor
