Hi,
I am looking at purchasing a house however my con has advised there is an and the current owne
Property Purchase - Easement
Comments
Nah, I would never do that to someone! :)
Op, real life example. Stormwater got blocked, Council guys came to clean pit at corner of my property, realised previous owner or the one before had concreted 5X5Metres over pit, put lots of dirt on top and grown a tree & lawn cover, I estimate sometime in the 80s, cannot fathom why. It turned out to be my responsibility to remove all that concrete covering the pit (I decided to get rid of the full 25msq) and tree, labourer & plumber took several days and a few $$$ grand to fully resolve.
Some insight to assist with your dilemma, if or when it happens, expensive & stressful to solve.
Thanks for the input, we decided against purchasing the property because of this :).
@godofpizza: We just couldn’t be bothered having a potential issue hanging over our head. It was a cheaper option and not in a suburb which we were 100% about.
@godofpizza: Disagree here. All older places will have something suboptimal about them. some concrete over an easement is one of the simplest/cheapest things to fix.
Imagine if your "perfect house" subsequently has asbestos, or leaking roof, or needs restumping, or termites, or has cracks in walls. All of these things will cost more to rectify than some concrete on an easement.
The Council would not care, easements are normally to guarantee access to services.
The appropriate gas/water company is likely to be the concerned party here.
That's the council's job
They still won’t care.
If you become the owner, you may be up for the cost of removal of the concrete placed on the easement, with no recourse as your conveyancer has advised you of the issue.
It may never be an issue, but are you prepared to take that gamble?
Correct - If you are keen on the property then I would point this out and subtract the cost of removal from the purchase price (whether you remove it or not is up to you).
Yes, that’s what I was thinking but with the market so hot I am sure this won’t even matter to some people.
Then you have to decide whether you want to risk losing the property over the price of the removal of the concrete.
then u be a sour lemon n dob the other person in when u miss out xD
Relatively common as back in the day the only way to get at underground pipes was to dig from above.
Now days if they need to do work they generally do directional boring or reline the existing pipes without disrupting the surface. The chances you ever need to remove it are very very slim.
Load up google maps and compare the easements on the neighbours properties to identify if building over easements is common in the street. the more infrastructure on the easements of neighbours the less likely they are to dig it up (though legally they can).
Also ultimately how unhappy would you be if the concrete needed to be dug up? I can understand being upset if it was a pool or garage or extension that risked demolition, but a simple concrete slab couldn't cost more than a few thousand in the extremely unlikely event it did need to be removed.
Thanks for the reply. True :) I would prefer there to be no concrete anyway.
What's the easement for?
If it's stormwater (a vast majority are) clarify who benefits from the easement (Council or private)? Council may have tougher requirements for works near easements and this may impose on development potential. They are also more likely to go in and augment / repair the service (dig up your yard). If the concrete is simply slab on ground, Council will usually rip it up but may not replace it. If it is substantially more, the obligation may be placed on you to remove it.
The other factor to consider, drainage easements are usually aligned with the lay of the land (a valley) so you should check if the property is flood effected. This will effect you more than the presence of an easement.
Check where the easement is. If it is along the boundary that will not greatly effect potential development on the land as you will have to comply with planning setback controls in any case.
It depends where on the property. A tiny easement in your front yard isn't a big deal. If it goes straight down the middle it might be more of an issue.
How big is the block? Big difference if it's a tiny inner city block vs a semi rural area.
If it's sewer or stormwater then if there is an issue with the pipes the concrete WILL be dug up, no ifs or buts as this is what en easement is for. If you are okay with this then no problem otherwise don't buy it.
You can get title insurance which will cover you for costs if you are ever forced to remove this. It's like a $500 one off premium. Some people call it 'junk insurance' but they do actually pay out - it's just so unlikely to happen that most people will pay the premium and never end up using it.
Dob them in to council.