Who is responsible for advising purchasers that a road is private/unadopted?
Posted: July 11th, 2018, 5:33 pm
When my late husband and I bought the house I live in, 10 years ago, we were not advised that the lane was a private/unadopted road. It is entered by two slip roads forming a triangle with the main road round a small island of scrub. At that time there were no signs showing the name of the lane and I got the council to instal some. I also got them to cut the verge opposite my house, which was a building site where construction had ground to a halt due to a dispute over the building line and breach of covenants and the sloping verge was turning into a forest.
Since then, I have had potholes repaired, as have had other residents, one of which had deteriorated badly following this year's snow and rain, though it is not long since it was repaired. When I tried to report it online a couple of weeks ago, I received a message saying the council is not responsible for this road and when I checked on a new list they have produced showing which roads it is responsible for, it says this is a private road, which is news to me. Our solicitor did not mention it to us when doing the conveyancing. I asked the council who owns the road and the reply from the person who had answered the telephone was "good question". The matter has been referred to a technician to sort out. The Land Registry now tells me that it is unregistered and they do not know who owns it. It is made up as far as the last house with its entrance from the lane; after that, although there are a few more houses, their entrances are elsewhere and at this point the lane is not made up and is a bridlepath. There seems to be some argument as to whether the whole lane is a bridlepath, in which case we would presumably be breaking the law as there is a notice at the entrance saying it is illegal to drive a motor vehicle down a bridlepath. That would presumably include the council's refuse vehicles, ambulances, etc. etc. as well as our own cars.
Is it not the solicitor's responsibility to do a search on the road and advise the potential purchaser accordingly? There is no residents association for all those living in the road and no sinking fund for repairs. I have no idea who is responsible for funding repairs or whose responsibility it is to maintain the verges though I do keep my own weed free and planted, despite the fact that lorries run over them from time to time. That (remembering all the contentious meetings when I owned a leasehold flat) would have been enough to put me off buying had I been made aware that it was a private and unadopted road.
Another question is whether the fact that they have done work on the road and verge in the past sets any precedent which should be adhered to. All in all, very unsatisfactory and worrying because I might have to move before long and it could well put off buyers. Something else to waste a lot of my time over and there are already insufficient hours in the day.
Since then, I have had potholes repaired, as have had other residents, one of which had deteriorated badly following this year's snow and rain, though it is not long since it was repaired. When I tried to report it online a couple of weeks ago, I received a message saying the council is not responsible for this road and when I checked on a new list they have produced showing which roads it is responsible for, it says this is a private road, which is news to me. Our solicitor did not mention it to us when doing the conveyancing. I asked the council who owns the road and the reply from the person who had answered the telephone was "good question". The matter has been referred to a technician to sort out. The Land Registry now tells me that it is unregistered and they do not know who owns it. It is made up as far as the last house with its entrance from the lane; after that, although there are a few more houses, their entrances are elsewhere and at this point the lane is not made up and is a bridlepath. There seems to be some argument as to whether the whole lane is a bridlepath, in which case we would presumably be breaking the law as there is a notice at the entrance saying it is illegal to drive a motor vehicle down a bridlepath. That would presumably include the council's refuse vehicles, ambulances, etc. etc. as well as our own cars.
Is it not the solicitor's responsibility to do a search on the road and advise the potential purchaser accordingly? There is no residents association for all those living in the road and no sinking fund for repairs. I have no idea who is responsible for funding repairs or whose responsibility it is to maintain the verges though I do keep my own weed free and planted, despite the fact that lorries run over them from time to time. That (remembering all the contentious meetings when I owned a leasehold flat) would have been enough to put me off buying had I been made aware that it was a private and unadopted road.
Another question is whether the fact that they have done work on the road and verge in the past sets any precedent which should be adhered to. All in all, very unsatisfactory and worrying because I might have to move before long and it could well put off buyers. Something else to waste a lot of my time over and there are already insufficient hours in the day.