Grahame wrote:Back in the 80s, when we were looking for a flat to buy in the West End, we had 3 or 4 mortgages refused in the Hillhead area because of the risk of subsidence from mining. However subsequently those flats have been sold - whether some work has been done to stabilise them or whether mortgage lenders just got less discriminating I don't know.
Dexter St. Clair wrote:If one could find the maps used by banks in the sixties to red line areas that mortgages were not to be made available to home buyers I think they would match former mining works.
There is the wonderful Coal Authority interactive map viewer available now if you need to check someplace. There goes your morning, Dex.
Many years ago, I worked with a solicitors firm who did conveyancing. They were asked to purchase a first floor flat in Hyndland. Part of the duties of the solicitor is also to act for the lender. On checking the title, it became clear that the first floor flat had no legal right to the land upon which the property was built. The effect is that in the event of catastrophic collapse, or required demolition and rebuild, the upper floors had no right to reinstatement. The sellers were asked to carry out corrective conveyancing, as the bank would not lend as the title currently stood, but they refused. Their argument was that this had clearly never been a problem for the past 100+ years that the property had been bought and sold over the years. Perhaps, but it still didn't make it right.
Presumably, they sellers managed to sell, either by them carrying out the corrective conveyancing, or by the next purchasers solicitors failing to spot the problem, or conveniently ignoring it.
I understand from a conveyancing pal of mine that the Scottish Parliament has now legislated to correct this problem (which was surprisingly common) throughout Scotland, so this won't manifest itself as a problem in the future, no matter what the title actually states.