Conveyancing solicitor's negligence advice about planning permission
January 01, 2005
Mr and Mrs S instructed Curwens Solicitors to do the conveyancing on the purchase of their first home in January 2005. Following completion of the purchase Mr and Mrs S were contacted by the Local Authority’s planning department who informed them that prior to their ownership of the property, their garden had been extended onto green belt land without planning permission. Mr and Mrs S applied for retrospective planning permission but their application was unsuccessful.
Mr and Mrs S approached us to investigate a claim against their former solicitors in relation to the advice given to them during the conveyancing process. We made a claim on the basis that the checks undertaken throughout the conveyancing process were inadequate and that the Claimants were not properly advised about the status of the rear part of the garden. This meant that the property was worth less than the price they paid for it. We successfully recovered damages and costs on behalf of Mr and Mrs S to reflect the expense to which they had been put to rectify the problem and the effect on the value of their property.
Mr and Mrs S v Curwens