We acted for a property developer on the purchase of three neighboring parcels of land that our client identified as having development potential. We advised in detail on the terms of the contract and advised our developer client as to the enquiries it should make prior to entering into the contracts.
After entering the contracts our client then discovered a flood zoning problem which would significantly adversely impact on the commerciality of their development. This issue was not disclosed in the contract due to an error by the local council in the certificates it issued.
Our client did not want to proceed with the purchase of any of the three properties, but to fail to do so would have been a breach of contract, resulting in the loss of significant deposits already paid.
We entered into interdependent negotiations over a period of two months with all three vendors, raising various technical issues and untested areas of law. We were able to secure a result where our client was released by the respective vendors from all three contracts. Our client was extremely pleased with the result.