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With properties in the UK, an easement is a legal right that a homeowner has to access land by their house or flat that they do not own, such as a private road to get in and out of their property. This guide explains why not having proof of this right, known as an absence of easement, can complicate efforts to sell your home, but it also provides tips on options to find a buyer.
- What exactly is an absence of easement at a property?
- Disclosing the absence of easement at your home to potential buyers
- Why it can be harder to sell a house or flat with an absence of easement
- Should you get an absence of easement indemnity policy before selling?
- Deciding how to sell your property with an absence of easement
- Selling a home with an absence of easement: Top queries and answers
What exactly is an absence of easement at a property?
Before knowing whether or not you have an absence of easement at a home you’re trying to sell, it’s crucial to explain exactly what an easement is – in simple terms, it’s a right that you have to use some land by your property that does not legally belong to you.
One common situation where this can occur is if your home is situated on a private road, as Coodes Solicitors explains. You might need to use the road or a similar point of access that requires crossing land that is owned by someone else, and this is an easement.
Easements can also apply for construction work or renovations at a property, for example if you need to extend cable or piping from your home across the land that you don’t own.
An absence of easement refers to situations where you do not have any documentation or other explicit evidence of any legal right to access the land that someone else owns. Unfortunately, this situation can often make it much more complicated to sell any type of property because it raises questions of legal liability, full enjoyment of your home and other factors.
Some examples of absence of easements at a home include:
- No right to cross land in order to access your back garden
- No right to have any vehicles access your property, limiting access to foot only
- No right to repair or otherwise maintain pipes connected to your home
- No right to access the land as needed for construction work at your home
This guide explains the various barriers you might face with trying to sell this type of property, whatever your reason for seeking a buyer, for example needing to downsize to a smaller home, coping with financial difficulties, moving elsewhere in the UK or any other scenario. You’ll also get advice on steps that you can take that might still result in you receiving a swift and competitive offer.
Disclosing the absence of easement at your home to potential buyers
Because the absence of an easement can make selling a property more difficult, as explained in further detail in this guide’s next section, you might be wondering whether it’s possible to simply not disclose this fact to any prospective buyers when trying to sell the home.
Solicitors working on behalf of a prospective buyer will have many questions that they want to ask about the absence of easement, as noted by law firm Wollens.
One way that they can try to find out about this situation is through the TA6, also known as the Property Information Form. This is essentially a questionnaire for sellers that asks about many different aspects of a property, including any structural defaults, legal disputes, planning permission and other topics – and that covers an absence of easement.
It’s your duty by law to answer all the questions on a TA6, as well as other queries that solicitors or buyers themselves might have, truthfully and in complete detail. You must not withhold any information about the absence of easement from a buyer, even if you have concerns that telling them about this scenario could mean that they lose interest in purchasing the home.
That’s because you could face a lawsuit in the event that you don’t share the details of the absence of an easement with someone that goes on to buy your home, and then discovers the problem once they have moved in. They would then have the right to file a lawsuit against you for withholding the information, and if they succeed then you will face significant penalties.
Why it can be harder to sell a house or flat with an absence of easement
Whether your absence of easement is due to private road access, disputes over certain other usage of land or anything else, this situation often creates barriers with trying to sell a home.
One problem that you might encounter is that prospective buyers will have concerns that they will be denied access to the land at issue once they own your property. Even if you have managed to use the land without an easement, someone that is interested in your home could fear that this access will be restricted in the future. And the potential stress involved with trying to overcome that kind of problem could cause them to no longer want to buy your house.
Another hurdle to selling this type of property is that potential buyers could worry about costly and lengthy legal fights that might occur. They might think that once they move into your home, the person owning the land at issue may try to sue them, claiming unlawful access. Again, even the threat of this outcome can be enough to be a dealbreaker for certain buyers.
Yet another problem that you may experience is that buyers will be unsure about their possible liability for repair or other upkeep of the point of access on the other owner’s land.
Don’t be concerned that the absence of easement will make selling your home impossible, because there are a few different solutions available. One option is to purchase an indemnity insurance policy, as Guaranteed Conveyancing Solutions’ website notes, and elaborated on in the next section.
Another strategy can be contacting a quick home buying company such as LDN Properties that has purchased properties with an absence of easement in the past. These businesses can usually complete the process of buying a home in a few weeks, and you won’t pay any fees.
Should you get an absence of easement indemnity policy before selling?
If your property has an absence of easement and you’re worried about this making it hard to find a buyer, one step that you may want to consider is purchasing an indemnity policy.
In broad terms, an indemnity policy insurance policy would provide you – and possibly the future owner of your home – legal protection and coverage for costs that might arise should the owner of the access land at issue try to seek compensation for alleged prohibited use of their land. This could extend to the future owner of your home if you can transfer the policy to them.
But note that obtaining such a policy will require that you pay for it, and getting insurance can sometimes also be a slow process, so this might not be a viable option for those homeowners who are trying to sell their property as fast as they can and with no extra expenses.
A further limitation can occur if a legal fight has already started over the absence of easement, in which case an indemnity policy may still be achievable but the process will likely be much more complicated and cost far more than a policy where no dispute has yet started.
Remember also that an indemnity insurance policy is not total protection against any problems with the absence of easement because there are some situations that are not covered, as insurance company One Broker says. For example, insurance wouldn’t cover you blocking someone else’s use of the land at issue, nor would it cover repair work costs.
If you do not have the money, time or energy to pursue an indemnity policy for your absence of easement, it will still be possible to sell your home. For example, one solution can be getting in touch with LDN Properties or another quick buyer that has previously purchased plenty of homes without an easement. You would not only get to enjoy a speedy sale that is completed within a handful of weeks, but you will also avoid having to pay any commission.
Deciding how to sell your property with an absence of easement
When you are certain that it’s time to sell your home that has an absence of easement, you will need to make the important decision of selecting how you would like to search for a buyer.
The four usual choices for selling this or any other type of home are getting in touch with a quick buyer, selling at an auction, selling via an estate agent or selling without any assistance. You will find that there are clear benefits and drawbacks with all of the options based on important factors such as whether they charge any fees, how long they take and more.
A useful step to take can be noting down your main priorities with selling, including your goal sale price, whether you are willing to pay commission on the sale, and how speedily you want to find a buyer. Comparing all of these goals against the specific information about all four strategies below should help with identifying the choice that best matches your needs.
Selling to a quick property buyer
One way to sell a home without an easement is by contacting a quick home buyer like LDN Properties, because these companies are well known for making fast and fair offers to purchase practically any type of freehold or leasehold home – including those considered to be “problem” properties because of various issues, for example the absence of easement.
As well as buying properties with an absence of easement, LDN Properties has purchased and made offers for many other homes including houses on contaminated land, properties in a conversation area, flats with solar panels, homes that have a septic tank, houses with an infestation, properties with an absent freeholder, flats with cladding, homes that have high levels of radon, houses with Japanese knotweed, derelict properties and a number of other scenarios.
A further advantage of selling to an honest quick buyer is that they will not charge the seller any commission, which means that you can count on getting the full sale proceeds. That contrasts with selling via an auction or with an estate agent, which are two options that charge fees that will add to your overall expenses because they will be subtracted from the sale proceeds.
And as the name implies, a quick buyer is a very fast way to sell your property, as it should only take a handful of weeks to complete the entire process, and that includes exchanging contracts and paying you the proceeds. So, if one of your top priorities with the sale of your house or flat is finding a buyer as fast as feasible, contacting a quick buyer can be a great decision.
Selling at a property auction
Property auctions are a gamble because it’s never clear how much you’ll be able to get for your home. And you might get no bids on the property, which means that it does not sell. This would delay your selling timeline even more as you’d have to start over with seeking a buyer.
Or you may get just a single bid at the reserve price – this is the lowest price that you can accept your home selling. Ensure that you choose a reserve price that should produce a profit even after deducting the auctioneer’s fees, otherwise you run the risk of either selling at a loss or only just breaking even by selling at a price close to what you paid for the property.
To help with calculating a reserve price, bear in mind that many auctioneers charge commission at about 2.5 percent of a home’s sale price. This fee is taken out of the proceeds right away, which will add to your cost. You may be able to have an auctioneer lower the fee or have the buyer pay a share of your expenses, so it’s worth inquiring about these possibilities.
The fee pays for the auctioneer’s work in finding a buyer, which starts by putting together a listing that features photographs of the interior and exterior of your home and includes a description of its main features. They will advertise this listing to generate interest from buyers ahead of the auction, and they’ll host the auction and oversee the completion of a sale.
Selling through an auction is not the fastest way to find a buyer, as there is a lot of waiting involved. You will have many weeks or months of inaction between the day on which you decide to sell this way and the day on which the auction happens. And if your home does sell, the top bidder has about a month to sign all the legal papers and otherwise complete the sale.
Some auctioneers could be open to reducing the amount of time they give the buyer to finish these tasks, so it’s worth asking about this. But just beware that other auctioneers may give the buyer even more than a month, which would extend your sale schedule much further.
Selling your property via an estate agent
If you don’t want to put much work into selling your home with an absence of easement, using an estate agent could be one solution. They will handle all the main tasks of selling, such as creating and advertising a listing, scheduling viewings for people to get to see the inside and outside of your home, hearing offers and hopefully getting one to the exchange of contract.
For putting in all of this effort, the typical estate agent will charge you commission if they succeed in selling your property. This is often set within a range from 1.15 percent to 1.40 percent of your home’s final sale price, and the charge will cause your overall expenses to rise significantly because it will be subtracted immediately from the eventual sale proceeds.
This can often also be a lengthy process for selling a home, and you should not be surprised if it takes more than a full year before you are able to get an offer to contracts being exchanged.
Even if you get a legitimate offer, the buyer could later cancel it and prompt the sale to fall apart. This would require you to begin again with trying to find a buyer, possibly adding many more months to your selling timeline. And if you have not exchanged contracts then there is nothing you can do to penalise the person that rescinded their offer at the last minute.
Selling your property privately
The other way that you could attempt to sell your home is doing so privately without any help, which puts the onus on you to handle all the steps needed to find a buyer – and this can be a lot of work.
You will first need to create a listing and advertise it, and then schedule viewings and finally hear offers from buyers, with the aim of getting one to the exchange of contracts. This is a large amount of work that will take up a lot of your time and can be very stressful, and without any prior experience with selling properties it may take more than a year to sell your home.
This is why selling on your own is usually only suggested for people that have past experience with managing to sell a home without an easement, or for those who have a family member or friend with relevant experience that is willing to help with the selling process for free.
You should know that even if someone makes an offer to buy your house, they could later change their mind and rescind it, causing the sale to collapse. They can do this and not pay any penalties so long as you have not yet exchanged contracts. And it will delay your selling timeline much further because you will need to start over with looking for another buyer.
One of the sole benefits of selling without any assistance is not having to pay any commission to an auctioneer or an estate agent for finding a buyer. But it’s often the case that this saving ends up being cancelled out by the funds you’ll spend on steps like advertising your listing.
Instead, think about selling your home to a quick buyer such as LDN Properties. These companies are known for making competitive and rapid offers to buy almost any house or flat, including those with an absence of easement. You would get to enjoy the same zero-fee sale as selling on your own, but the sale would be completed within a matter of weeks.
Selling a home with an absence of easement: Top queries and answers
LDN Properties has purchased many houses with an absence of easement since launching in 2003, and below we’re providing our answers to frequent questions from sellers on this issue.
Your top questions when selling house with absence of easement
An easement refers to a legal right that you as a homeowner have to access land that you don’t own by your property, such as using a private access road. An absence of easement means that there is no documented legal proof that shows you have this right of access, and this situation can often make it more challenging to find a buyer for your property.
You must honestly and fully disclose the absence of easement at your property during what’s known as the conveyancing process, when a prospective buyer’s solicitor will aim to collect as much information as possible about the home and any issues it might have. Failing to disclose the absence of easement could lead to you being sued for penalties at a later date.
Prospective buyers and their solicitors or other legal representatives will have a number of questions and concerns about the absence of easement at your property that might discourage a sale. For example, buyers might worry that they’ll be blocked from accessing the land at issue, and solicitors could fear that a buyer will face legal challenges and costs for using the land.
One step you can take is to purchase an indemnity insurance policy that could help protect you and the next owner of your home against any legal costs associated with defending the ongoing use of the land at issue. Alternatively, you could consider selling your home to a quick buyer like LDN Properties that has plenty of experience with buying houses with an absence of easement.
You can choose from selling through an estate agent, selling at a property auction, selling without any help from either of these third parties, or selling to a quick buyer such as LDN Properties. Each of these methods have their own advantages and disadvantages based on time taken, costs and more that you should learn about before making a decision.
The speediest way to sell any type of home is usually with a quick buyer like LDN Properties because the entire process should only take a handful of weeks, and that includes the exchange of contracts and paying you the proceeds. The other options of selling with an estate agent, selling at an auction or selling without any help can all take at least several months.
You will need to pay commission to an auctioneer or an estate agent if you choose to sell your property using their services, and this charge will increase your total expenses because it will be taken out of the eventual sale proceeds. But you won’t need to pay any fees if you opt to sell your home on your own or if you sell to an honest no-fee quick buyer such as LDN Properties.
