The mighty Terriers .

[townfanjon]

A quick sample of LA websites say 'no charge', as does this Govt document in section 9 but there appear to be some loopholes for the council to recover 'costs', which I assume are what's being used to screw you:

https://assets.publishing.service.g...ent_data/file/414670/definitive-map-guide.pdf

Not a process I've ever had to use myself, thank goodness. You can sometimes negotiate discretionary charges down by saying you consider X to be reasonable cost-recovery for them and any more than Y and you'll be requiring a detailed breakdown of the 'costs' with evidence that they were incurred and will be appealing anything that looks unreasonable. Council workers hate appeals because of the disruption and extra work they have to do so will often look favourably a way to avoid them.

On the other hand, there is a point of view that says that if you have a legal problem preventing sale of your house, £7.5k to make it go away is annoying but not as bad as it could be. As soon as it's resolved, the house will presumably become a bit more valuable to a buyer, which is presumably why the council feel entitled to charge you for their 'costs'.

Good luck, anyway

Cheers for that Chuck , I have seen it but not gone through it page to page , yet but will do tonight.
The money is going to hurt but its more the time it takes , potentially I cant see it been done this year . We may have to rent home and move to the new place , dont really dont want to , but having two houses and still paying 2 of every bill , insurance, utilities, council tax etc etc is not funny .
The money its going to cost , the time its going to take I can just about stomach, what I cant is the fact the planners knew the path was there and passed it.
“Where theres blame theres a claim “

 

[Chuck]

“Where theres blame theres a claim “

To be honest, Hollywood movies are not the best source of legal advice. Nor is a plumbing forum on the internet, of course. But, FWIW, my opinion/advice is:

You won't get anywhere with a claim that thirty years ago it was the Planning Officer's job to protect your interests. Even if you had a valid claim in 1988, which I doubt, you're about twenty years too late to pursue it thanks to the Limitation Act (1980). So there's no point wasting time/energy crying over spilt milk.

Have you explored whether an 'indemnity Insurance policy' could be used to unblock the sale pending resolution of the ROW issue? Also discuss with your solicitor whether you should pay for the ROW to be fixed or whether you should just be ready to drop the sale price and let the new owner deal with it if they wish.

You've figured out how much not selling is costing you, including the opportunity-cost of the tied-up capital and the time and something for the mental energy and time you are wasting. Have you taken the next step and used the results of this calculation to adjust the sale price? It'll reduce the price below what other similar houses are on the market for, but that's the idea, not selling is costing you; treat this as a business transaction and look at the whole picture and what's needed to get the deal done.

Good luck.