Buying a Distressed Property at Auction - VAT and planning issues

Hi,

Not sure if I am posting in the correct forum but am considering buying a distressed property at auction and it is at 1st fix stage and it is not confirmed that VAT has been paid. Have asked solicitor about it and he said not his area of expertise and would have to ask an accountant, although there are conditions about it in the contract. Yet I have been advised by someone else that if I am paying the solicitor he should be checking this out. Also have found out that not all the planning documents are with the contract but he seems to think it is up to me to check this out????
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Gatekeeper said:

Hi,
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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Run.

you can look up the plans on the local authority website and print them off -this is assuming that the planning drawings were used as working drawings to build the house.... check that the drawing match what is built to date, as if they are not in substantial compliance you would need a revised planning application to regularise the house before certs of compliance and final draw down of funds (if applicable) can be made.....

what vat exactly do you mean??

was it a self build or was there a builder involved? if there was maybe you could contact them for a chat???

Is this an Allsop auction ?

If so is it Allsop's solicitor who is suggesting you check out these issues yourself ?

Most people would simply run, so this means that it might be a good opportunity.

You will need a builder or surveyor or architect to do a detailed survey. That should cover the planning issues.

If you are happy to continue at that stage, you will need to check out the VAT. If your own solicitor doesn't check it out for you, change solicitor.

If it's an Allsops auction, check if these guys are still doing a title survey cheaply for Allsops clients

http://dillonsolicitors.blogspot.ie/2011/06/dont-go-to-allsop-space-auction-until.html



Brendan

Gatekeeper said:

Also have found out that not all the planning documents are with the contract but he seems to think it is up to me to check this out.

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I imagine he is correct. That's because this is not a normal sale. And in a normal sale your solicitor could request the necessary documents. But in this case he can not. So you should ask Allsop, or the solicitor on record for the receiver, it's probably listed on the prospectus somewhere, I'm nearly sure I've seen it in the description of the properties.

Re the VAT, well that's a tax matter, not sure if solicitor's are supposed to know about that, but you would think if he didn't know he could ask a colleague, it must be a straight forward thing, have you checked out revenue.ie for the answer, or call the relevant department in revenue (and get the answer in writing).

Any chance you could tell us how much your solicitor is charging for checking the title?