416 thoughts on “My Seller Lied To Me! When Is It Property Misrepresentation?”
I bought a house with a large garden last year. I’m thinking of building a garden room against the rear boundary but realised that my boundary was much further back (circa 6m) than those of the adjoining gardens. I checked the title deeds and it looks like all the gardens should extend the same distance back from the house. The rear part of the garden is fenced, whereas the rest is hedged. I am worried that the ‘extra’ 6m of land does not belong to me but has been sold as part of the property. What should I do?
Thank you for your comment, Marcus. What you can and can’t do generally depends on how long the physical boundary has been there.
It may be the case that the physical boundary has been there long enough that you have a “claim” for what is called adverse possession. Whilst a simplified explanation of this, it broadly allows someone which has occupied land themselves (or following on from previous owners) and to the exclusion of all others (usually with a physical fence, for example) for long enough to claim that land as their own (normally 10 years). Whilst we cannot give legal advice in this forum, to be successful in such an application would necessary mean not “acknowledging the title” to the land. This means that you should not really be discussing the matter with the actual owner and acknowledging that it does not belong to you. It would be important to find out if your predecessors had done this.
In terms of misrepresentation, it would be necessary to establish what you paid for the “extra” bit of land in the sale price. It would also be necessary to prove that you were actively led to believe (in writing) that this part of the garden belonged to the property. However, what your loss is will likely depend on your ability to claim adverse possession. If you have an infallible claim to the land, then your loss is likely to be the cost of applying to become the “owner” of it. If you do not have such a claim, then your loss might be the value of that bit of land. We would point out, however, that the inspection of the land is normally the buyer’s responsibility and it would be unusual for a seller to actively “mislead” a buyer into a transaction. This is because Land Registry plans are normally provided during the conveyancing process and the terms of the contract would normally be such that the risk is on the buyer to inspect the property and nothing further is said by the seller on the subject.
We hope this if of some general assistance. Do feel free to get in touch if you would like to discuss the matter further.
I have been approached by the council for a breach of planning permission during the development of the house.
Whilst I have been investigating the legitimacy of the council’s argument, it has become apparent that it is highly likely that the seller completed the development of the property not in line with the planning permission granted.
As my home was new a TA8 was filled out and I have a copy from my solicitor. Within the TA8 the seller has said that there are NO issues about planning permission which is a lie – the TA8 was filled out long after the development had finished and near to the time of exchange/completion.
Should it be found that the seller never sought planning permission / amended planning permission for the final layout of the land, do I have a case of any sort to hold them responsible and claim damages or any other costs that I may receive?
This is unlikely to be a case of misrepresentation unless the sellers were in dispute with these individuals. Whether or not it is something that would need to be declared on a property information form is highly debatable but on the basis that in one case, an historic murder taking place was not declared and this was held not to amount to a misrepresentation, then we would be hesitant to suggest you have a claim here.
As for obtaining information from the police or council, unfortunately this is not something that we could advise upon. In the circumstances, it would seem that your best course of action would be to report the matter to the police or council yourself.
This is not as straightforward as might be the case with other misrepresentation claims.
There is case law to suggest that until a formal notice is received from the council, there is no obligation on a seller to disclose potential planning issues. In this case we refer to, a large development was proposed nearby and the seller had even attended council meetings regarding the matter. However, this was at a time where several sites were being considered by the council and at the time the property was sold, no formal planning notice had been served on the seller to notify them of the nearby development, even though there was a possibility of this occurring. The Court held that failing to mention the prospect of a development nearby did not amount to a misrepresentation, as the seller had not been formally notified of the council’s subsequent decision.
The position here is not completely analogous to this situation and will turn heavily on what you were told at the time and what the council had in fact said. This would require a little investigation before we would be able to provide you with some more conclusive advice.
Please do feel free to get in touch. We would be more than happy to have an informal chat with you and explore what scope there is for a claim and the evidence required to pursue it.
Hello I am looking for some general advice please. We bought a house 1 month ago and have quickly noticed a problem with a property on the street. They are smoking drugs and we can smell this in our garden. Speaking to others on the street it seems to be a well known problem and they advised that the previous owners knew. This was never declared on the SPIF. Is there any way to find out of they reported this to the police or council? I have tried to call the local police but they just refer me to the local crime map. Thanks in advance
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I bought a house with a large garden last year. I’m thinking of building a garden room against the rear boundary but realised that my boundary was much further back (circa 6m) than those of the adjoining gardens. I checked the title deeds and it looks like all the gardens should extend the same distance back from the house. The rear part of the garden is fenced, whereas the rest is hedged. I am worried that the ‘extra’ 6m of land does not belong to me but has been sold as part of the property. What should I do?
Thank you for your comment, Marcus. What you can and can’t do generally depends on how long the physical boundary has been there.
It may be the case that the physical boundary has been there long enough that you have a “claim” for what is called adverse possession. Whilst a simplified explanation of this, it broadly allows someone which has occupied land themselves (or following on from previous owners) and to the exclusion of all others (usually with a physical fence, for example) for long enough to claim that land as their own (normally 10 years). Whilst we cannot give legal advice in this forum, to be successful in such an application would necessary mean not “acknowledging the title” to the land. This means that you should not really be discussing the matter with the actual owner and acknowledging that it does not belong to you. It would be important to find out if your predecessors had done this.
In terms of misrepresentation, it would be necessary to establish what you paid for the “extra” bit of land in the sale price. It would also be necessary to prove that you were actively led to believe (in writing) that this part of the garden belonged to the property. However, what your loss is will likely depend on your ability to claim adverse possession. If you have an infallible claim to the land, then your loss is likely to be the cost of applying to become the “owner” of it. If you do not have such a claim, then your loss might be the value of that bit of land. We would point out, however, that the inspection of the land is normally the buyer’s responsibility and it would be unusual for a seller to actively “mislead” a buyer into a transaction. This is because Land Registry plans are normally provided during the conveyancing process and the terms of the contract would normally be such that the risk is on the buyer to inspect the property and nothing further is said by the seller on the subject.
We hope this if of some general assistance. Do feel free to get in touch if you would like to discuss the matter further.
Hello, I purchased a property in 2017.
I have been approached by the council for a breach of planning permission during the development of the house.
Whilst I have been investigating the legitimacy of the council’s argument, it has become apparent that it is highly likely that the seller completed the development of the property not in line with the planning permission granted.
As my home was new a TA8 was filled out and I have a copy from my solicitor. Within the TA8 the seller has said that there are NO issues about planning permission which is a lie – the TA8 was filled out long after the development had finished and near to the time of exchange/completion.
Should it be found that the seller never sought planning permission / amended planning permission for the final layout of the land, do I have a case of any sort to hold them responsible and claim damages or any other costs that I may receive?
Many thanks in advance.
Hi Hannah,
This is unlikely to be a case of misrepresentation unless the sellers were in dispute with these individuals. Whether or not it is something that would need to be declared on a property information form is highly debatable but on the basis that in one case, an historic murder taking place was not declared and this was held not to amount to a misrepresentation, then we would be hesitant to suggest you have a claim here.
As for obtaining information from the police or council, unfortunately this is not something that we could advise upon. In the circumstances, it would seem that your best course of action would be to report the matter to the police or council yourself.
This is not as straightforward as might be the case with other misrepresentation claims.
There is case law to suggest that until a formal notice is received from the council, there is no obligation on a seller to disclose potential planning issues. In this case we refer to, a large development was proposed nearby and the seller had even attended council meetings regarding the matter. However, this was at a time where several sites were being considered by the council and at the time the property was sold, no formal planning notice had been served on the seller to notify them of the nearby development, even though there was a possibility of this occurring. The Court held that failing to mention the prospect of a development nearby did not amount to a misrepresentation, as the seller had not been formally notified of the council’s subsequent decision.
The position here is not completely analogous to this situation and will turn heavily on what you were told at the time and what the council had in fact said. This would require a little investigation before we would be able to provide you with some more conclusive advice.
Please do feel free to get in touch. We would be more than happy to have an informal chat with you and explore what scope there is for a claim and the evidence required to pursue it.
Hello
I am looking for some general advice please. We bought a house 1 month ago and have quickly noticed a problem with a property on the street. They are smoking drugs and we can smell this in our garden. Speaking to others on the street it seems to be a well known problem and they advised that the previous owners knew. This was never declared on the SPIF. Is there any way to find out of they reported this to the police or council? I have tried to call the local police but they just refer me to the local crime map. Thanks in advance