Taylor Wimpey's Consent Fee for a conservatory and a porch

[BartyBoy]

We are looking for some advice please for a new-build home.

We bought a brand new house from Taylor Wimpey last year. We collected our keys in mid-September and  moved in at the beginning of November.

It is a detached 3 bedroom property with a detached garage. The property itself is not very big at all, but we spotted the potential of extending the property with a conservatory, a 2 storey extension and a front porch.

The development site is not huge, there are only 46 new houses here. The site started in Feb/Mar 2015. Our property was the 8th property completed in the site. After we moved in, we asked the sales guy when the whole site would be completed, he said it would be by March this year.

Then in January, we caught up with the sales guy again, we asked him for an update of the site completion, this time we were told there was a delay. Apparently the buyer who reserved the last plot has pulled out, the reason for that is because the last house was supposed to be completed in January, but it was behind the schedule (right now, it has still not been built yet!), so now the sales guy needed to find another buyer. In fact, he reckoned the last house might need to be passed to an estate agent instead.

About 3 weeks ago, we started to contact some local builders to get a quotation for a conservatory and a porch. On one Saturday morning, we bumped into the site manager, we had a quick chat about our new house. We told him we were planning to have a conservatory built very soon. The site manager told us we would need to contact Taylor Wimpey to discuss about our plan. So we wrote to Taylor Wimpey and explained what we were planning to do.

Taylor Wimpey replied saying we needed to go through 'their' legal procedure to apply for a consent. And the consent fee was £180.00. We were absolutely shocked. We asked Taylor Wimpey what this fee was exactly for, they replied to say it was for the technical department, but they are not building anything for us. It doesn't make sense at all, we think Taylor Wimpey is taking the 'p' here!

First of all, the property was sold to us more than 6 months ago, and it is a freehold. Why did Taylor Wimpey request us to pay for a consent for a conservatory and a porch?

Secondly, even if we decide to pay this £180.00 consent fee, we still need to pay our local council for a planning permission. Therefore, why do we need to pay twice here?

Thirdly, we were originally told the site would be completed by March this year, but it is still on-going now. When we talked to our next door neighbours, they reckoned the site will not be finished till the end of June.

If this consent fee occurs due to the site is still on-going, then I think Taylor Wimpey should waive this fee. It is not our fault the site did not get completed by March. And also, if the site is not going to be completed in the next 3, 6, or even 12 months, does that mean we are not going to have a conservatory and a porch this year (unless we pay the consent fee)?

We are simply not impressed with Taylor Wimpey suggesting us to pay a fee for adding a conservatory and a porch to a property which is not even owned by them.

We are very annoyed and frustrated with the situation, therefore we hope someone can give us some advice and suggestion here so that we can get around this £180.00 consent fee.

Many thanks in advance.

[New Home Expert]

It is quite common for house builders to add restrictive covenants in the Title deeds of the homes they sell.
These usually only last for a Restriction Period of say four or five years from the start of the development.
One such Covenant is usually the requirement of the homeowner to obtain the house builder's consent for any alteration or extension conservatory etc.

This is quite reasonable as an early buyer could get an extension built which detracts from the development and might put off prospective buyers of the other homes.

As with anything house builder, they won't want to lose out,  so will have probably stipulated the administration charge for their approval in the Title Deeds.

However, you will need to check your Title Deeds to find out when the "Restrictive Period" ends.
It is also fair and reasonable that, given the stage of the development, Taylor Wimpey waive the requirement to pre-approve your plans for your home.
It is not as if they need the money - In 2015 Taylor Wimpey made a pre tax profit of £604million, 20% on every home they sold!

I suggest you write and try and get this charge waived.

As for planning permission, the rules have recently changed and you may not need to make an application for a conservatory or porch.  The extension may be another matter.
Speak to your local planning department.

Be aware that altering the home is such a significant way may impact on the validity of aspects of your NHBC warranty.
Advice on choosing reliable contractors

 

[sunnyisin]

Hi,
We have a similar kind of issue.
We are buying a house which was built in 1973 by Taylor Woodrow Plc (now part for Taylor Wimpey).
On our deed it says that we have to take consent from Taylor Woodrow Plc for any alteration. When we went to there office they said, yes need to submit plans for consent even they are internal and we have to pay £150 Admin fee.

I have checked the deed couple of times but there is no mention of a fee. It has been that long and also that company itself do no exit anymore. Do we still have to take there consent.

Please advice, We are very much frustrated as we did not have any intention to call an architect and this will now add another cost (approx £600) to the £150.

Kind Regards
Sunny

[New Home Expert]

You did not read my previous reply!
The requirement would be for a limited period of time - the Restrictive Period.
I think 1973 is far enough away.
But get a solicitor to check the deeds for you just to be sure!
The CAB may be able to get you a free consultation.

In 1973, Taylor Woodrow was one of the largest most reputable construction companies in the World.
Now look at them, joined at the hip with Wimpey!