Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2017 | Page 129

Legal
Buying a property:
look before you leap!
By Terence Willey of Terence Willey & Co
It never ceases to amaze me just
how many people will purchase
properties at auction without
so much as a glance. This
type of impulsive purchase
without a viewing is often
highlighted on the television
programme “Homes Under
the Hammer”.
Unlike a sale under private treaty when
purchasing a property at auction contracts are
deemed to be exchanged the minute the hammer
falls in your favour. It is essential therefore that you
undertake a thorough personal inspection of the
property and, where necessary, employ a Chartered
Surveyor on your behalf, as well as carefully looking
through the “Property Pack” that may be provided
either by the estate agent or auction house.
Over the years I have seen so many people
undertake scant inspections of properties, whether
purchasing at auction or privately, and omitting to
thoroughly investigate the extent of boundaries,
future maintenance issues and even issues that may
be prevailing with surrounding land property and
neighbours.
Past nuisance issues with neighbours are not always
apparent or disclosed, but these could prove enough
to deter you from buying a particular property. I recall
an incident with a client who was not made aware of
issues in the past concerning a neighbour undertaking
car repair and maintenance work from his property
next door, and whilst this happened infrequently, my
clients certainly found themselves with a noise and
nuisance issue from time to time which, had they
known of in advance, might have stopped them from
purchasing their intended property.
Whilst legal remedy may be open to an individual
in respect of clear nuisance and noise issues from
a neighbour, these tend to be far from
clear-cut, and can prove somewhat
stressful without
any assurance
of success at the
end of the day.
Boundaries
need to be
clearly defined and
often they are
not. Fences are
often hidden by
overgrowing shrubs
and hedges, and original
fencing is often overtaken by such overgrowth.
The Isle of Wight became subject to compulsory
registration on each conveyance in 1986, effectively
meaning that any properties transferred prior to
this date were not bound to be registered. They
were either brought into registration by a voluntary
application, which was only permitted in more
recent times, or simply left unregistered, relying on
definitions to plans in old deeds and often bearing no
significance to the reality on site.
If in doubt, then call immediately for a copy of the
land Registry Filed Plan of the property during your
initial inspections so any variances can be quickly
addressed.
Ironically, there can never be a natural assumption
that the Land Registry plan is correct as this
purely reflects past approved applications and
occasionally without the Registry’s knowledge issues
such as boundary encroachment occur. It is very
advisable to ensure that any boundary deficiencies
or variances are satisfactorily resolved prior to
committing to a purchase.
A house purchase is perhaps one of the most
important transactions that an individual will
undertake in their life and therefore every care should
be exercised throughout the purchasing process.
Needless to say; otherwise the outcome could prove
significantly more costly than you had bargained for.
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