Adoption of Highway on new development

[starlitegaize]

Hi everyone,

I am new to "New Build" ownership, and bought a "Charles Church" property 4 years ago.
The development is now "completed", yet the roads have still not been adopted - the proposed bus service that was to run through the development hasn't appeared.
Any ideas as to how long a council takes to adopt the highways? And when we can expect the road to be finished?
I think this comes under the property misrepresentation act 1991 as "Proximity to any services, places, facilities or amenities".
If anyone has similar experiences I would be really grateful to know about them.

[nem39esis]

All depends on a few factors really, is the developopment truly complete? Mines a new build and after 3 years theyve only now finished the road recently and ours isnt adopted yet. They may still be selling properties on the development or they simply havent asked the council to adopt the road yet. Best bet is to ring your local planning office and ask if theyve had a submission if not contact the developer and ask. If its not going to be adopted it usually means theyres something wrong witht he road or drainage below it which id want to know about, also its a bit of misselling too by the developer

[NewHomeExpert]

Builders can take forever to finish adoptable roads. Once all the homes are sold and occupied the development gets forgotten for other priorites like next month's figures!

The only solace you have is the knowledge that all house buiklders need to place abond with the Local Authority. This is usually provided bythe NHBC. When the house builder exceeds his bond allocation he cannot enter into any new Section 38 agreements.

This normally then gets things moving and any backlog is soon cleared!

It took them 2 years to hand over our roads to the council and the Chairman could give a toss when I complained!

[Snaggedout]

You need to establish where the delay in adoption is. Local authorities aren't usually in a rush to adopt because they then become responsible for maintenance. If your development has multiple developers adoption of roads and sewers can be complicated if the developers are building at different rates.

Bonds that are lodged by developers with local authorities for roads and sewers are what as known as on-demand bonds. In other words if the local authority wants to adopt and the developer won't or can't complete the roads (for example if they have gone out of business) LAs can simply demand the bondsman pays up.

Also, whilst NHBC provides bonds free initially to developers it wallops them with overrun charges if the bond is not released by the LA in the time originally scheduled for adoption. The overrun fees escalate over time so developers are incentivised to get roads and sewers adopted.

The adoption of private and public (main) sewers on new developments is changing in April (assuming all goes to plan). In simple terms as soon as the first connected home is capable of discharging into the main sewer it has to be adopted within 12 months by the Water Company without any excuse.

[NewHomeExpert]

Thanks Snaggedout
I didn't know that the NHBC used "overun charges" that escalate overtime.

It makes it even more of a mystery why it takes housebuilders so long to get roads adopted.

I have built several developments for most major house builders and the estate roads were adopted before I finally left the site!
Perhaps I was just more organised and motivated to complete the job properly!

Whilst I agree LA may want to leave adoption until the last development on a large site is finished, most LA's will adopt when they are happy the road meets the standards required.

The builders are still liable for any defects for two years after LA adoption anyway.