Selling House on Private Road

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Owning a freehold or leasehold house or flat that’s situated on a private road, also known as an unadopted road, can have a number of advantages including greater privacy. But it can also come with some disadvantages such as issues over your right of way. This guide shows how to overcome potential hurdles with selling and hopefully get a fair and speedy offer from a buyer.

1. When are properties deemed to be on private roads?
2. The benefits of owning a home on a private road
3. Disadvantages when selling house on private roads
4. Establishing a right of way for your house or flat
5. Should you get an indemnity policy for your right of way?
6. Your options for selling a property on a private road
7. Frequently asked questions about selling homes on private roads

When are properties deemed to be on private roads?

Private roads, which are also referred to as unadopted roads, are defined in a law known as The Highways Act 1980, and they are streets that are not maintained at the public’s expense – compared to public roads that the local authority will typically have responsibility for keeping in good condition.
You’ll often find private roads leading to freehold or leasehold properties in rural areas of the UK, and on housing estates, but they can be located almost anywhere. Instead of the local authority having the duty to keep the roads in decent shape, the requirement for maintaining private roads falls on the owners of homes that front on to the private road.
As later sections of this guide explain, if you’re trying to sell a home on a private road, you’ll find that there are certain beneficial elements of this type of property, but there are also some negative aspects that could make it harder to generate interest from potential buyers.

The benefits of owning a home on a private road

There are estimated to be at least 40,000 unadopted roads throughout England and Wales, according to Sabre, a website that provides information on streets in the UK and Ireland.
Many of these private roads are connected to houses or sometimes even blocks of flats, and there are certain benefits associated with owning this type of home compared to one that’s located on a public road. Understanding these advantages can be useful when trying to sell your home, because you can focus on promoting these perks when talking to buyers.
One of the top advantages of owning a home on a private road is that you’ll enjoy much greater privacy compared to houses or flats that are located on busy public roads. Some prospective buyers will place a priority on getting as much privacy as possible, so they are likely to look very favourably on your home because only people living off the private road will be able to use it.
Private roads also have much less traffic than stress in villages, cities and anywhere else, because the only vehicles that should be on the unadopted road will be those owned by the residents of the homes, and any service vehicles such as deliveries or repair companies. Reduced traffic typically makes for a quieter surrounding, which many buyers are seeking.
Some buyers also look for homes on private roads because they believe these properties to have greater security than flats or houses on public roads. That’s because any unusual vehicles using the private road will be easier to spot, potentially discouraging burglars.

Disadvantages when selling house on private roads

When you’re trying to sell a property – whether that’s to raise funds for retirement, needing to move overseas, dealing with a financial problem or any other scenario – it’s equally important to known all of the potential negative aspects of your home that might concern buyers.
One of the biggest problems associated with owning a property on a private road is the costs associated with the homeowner’s duty to contribute toward upkeep of the road. Depending on the condition of the road and how often it’s used, repair costs could quickly add up.
Another worry for some buyers will be about their potential legal liability in the event that someone has an accident or injury on the private road, as the website Home Buying Tips explains. For example, someone could fall if they’re using the road and it is badly maintained and full of holes, and then try to sue the homeowners responsible for upkeep of the road for damages due to their injury.
If you’re living on a housing estate then it’s likely that the company which built the properties will already have an insurance policy in place to cover such costs if this situation arises. But if you are living in a single detached house off a private road, you’ll have to consider whether it’s worth purchasing an insurance policy before you attempt to seek a buyer for the property.
In situations where several homes all use the same private road, there’s also the potential for disputes between the owners about which type of road repairs to pursue, and whether to do the work. Some potential buyers might find that potential fight to be more stress than they’re willing to take on, particularly if your neighbours have a history of creating conflict on this issue.

Establishing a right of way for your house or flat

If your home is located off a private road and you must use that road in order to access the property, it’s vital that you establish your right of way for using the road. Potential buyers will likely lose interest in your home if there will be problems in the future with being able to access it.
The conveyancing process, which is the preparation of legal documents for the sale of a home, will uncover whether or not you have a right of way to use the private road. You must be upfront and honest with potential buyers about any access problems that exist, because concealing issues like this could open you up to litigation from whoever purchases your property and then discovers that the right of way is contested or there are related boundary disputes.
If there is no formal statement that you have the legal right to use the private road to access your property, you might want to consider making a sworn statutory declaration in which you will assert that you have used the unadopted road for at least 20 years. But this might not be possible if you have not lived at your property for that amount of time.

Should you get an indemnity policy for your right of way?

One question you’ll have to resolve before selling is whether you want to purchase an indemnity policy for your right of way, as the solicitors’ firm Coodes notes.
This type of policy can be a viable solution in those situations where it’s not possible to make a statutory declaration that establishes your legal right to use the unadopted road. The policy would insure you against the costs of fighting any challenge to your ongoing use of the private road, and it’s possible to transfer the insurance policy to whoever buys your home.
But there are typically a few conditions that must be met before you can apply for this type of insurance, which is known as an absence of easement indemnity policy.
For example, the property you own must be a single, completely built home that you’re selling, and the current residential use of the building cannot change – so redeveloping it as commercial property would not be permissible. The private road must also have been in use for at least eight months and without any challenges to your use of the road during that time.

Your options for selling a property on a private road

An important step in the process of selling your home on a private road is making a decision on the approach you would like to use to find a buyer, and your choices include selling to a quick home buyer, selling via an auction, selling with an estate agent or selling on your own.
You will discover that there are certain benefits linked with some of the methods, for example you could complete the sale of your home in just a few short weeks when selling to a quick buyer. Other choices have some notable disadvantages, including the need to pay auctioneers or estate agents commission that will be subtracted immediately from your sale proceeds.
Make a note of your most important priorities with the sale of your house or flat, including how long you can wait to sell, your preferred sale price, and whether you are willing to pay a third party any commission for the sale. Then browse the details of the four strategies below and this should help you to identify the method that best pairs with your unique wants and needs.

Selling to a quick home buyer

Quick home buyers are companies such as LDN Properties that have the financial ability to make an immediate purchase of a freehold or leasehold flat, so they do not need to get approved initially for a mortgage that would help cover the cost of buying your property. This speeds up the process, so that they can usually finalise the purchase of a home in a handful of weeks, and this includes paying owners the sale proceeds and the exchange of contracts.
These companies also won’t look at your property as less desirable just because it’s on a private road, because they have plenty of experience with buying almost any type of home that exists, and the shape, size, location, age or condition of the house or flat will not be a concern.
For example, LDN Properties has been buying homes throughout the UK since 2003, and some of its purchases have included houses on unadopted roads, flats with short leases, uninsurable properties, houses that are vandalised, properties where the owner cannot find important documents such as the title deeds, eco homes, flats that have elevated levels of asbestos, properties with low Energy Performance Certificate ratings, homes near traffic lights, and many other scenarios.
And the honest no-fee quick buyers will never charge you any commission for selling your property, so you are guaranteed to receive the full sale proceeds and keep your costs down. By contrast, selling through an auction or with an estate agent are two alternative options that will require you to pay fees, and these will be subtracted right away from the sale proceeds.
Quick buyers provide a stress-free, streamlined and zero-hassle way to sell your property on a private road, starting when you call them to ask for a free quote. You should receive this tentative offer within the first hour of talking with the quick buyer, but there will not be any pressure to make an immediate decision as you will have at least a week to think about it.
If you then decide to accept the initial offer, a representative from the quick buying company will visit your home in order to inspect the interior and exterior before making a final offer. This is the only such viewing you will have to go through, compared to possibly having to host dozens or more viewings should you attempt to sell your home using the other options in this section.
Assuming you accept the final offer, the quick buyer will then move rapidly to work with your solicitor or other legal representative to complete all of the required legal documents necessary to finalise the sale. The entire process should only take a few short weeks, and this includes the time that it takes for exchanging contracts and ensuring you’re paid the sale proceeds.

Selling via an auction

When you auction your home, you will initially be asked to select a reserve price, and this is the lowest price at which you can accept selling your home on a private road. The auctioneer will include this price in the listing, which will also features photographs of the inside and outside of the property and a description of its main elements, such as how many bathrooms it has.
The auctioneer will then advertise this listing for several weeks or longer, to generate interest from potential buyers. And then they will host the auction itself where people will be able to place price bids on your home. Ideally, several people will be interested in buying your home and they’ll raise the final sale price by continuing to try and outbid each other. The top price bid at the time the auction ends is then deemed to be the winner and new owner of your home.
Note that even just a single bid at the reserve price is considered a binding legal agreement that you’ll sell your home to the winning high bidder, and they could ultimately sue you to enforce the sale in the event that you try to back out of it once the auction has been completed.
That’s why you must select a reserve price that is calculated to generate a profit from the sale even after you have paid the auctioneer their fees. Typically, auction houses will charge commission based on the property’s final sale price, and this will increase your selling costs because the fee will be subtracted immediately from the eventual sale proceeds.
Some auctioneers may be open to either lowering their commission rate or having the winning high bidder pay some of your expenses, so inquire about whether this is a possibility.
Auctioning can be a slow way to sell a property, because there will be a delay of many weeks or longer between when you decide to list your home in the auction and when the auction occurs. If your property does sell, the winning high bidder then usually has 28 days to sign all of their mandatory legal documents and complete their other steps to make the purchase final.
You can ask individual auctioneers whether they might be open to setting a shorter deadline for the buyer to finish these tasks, but beware that some companies may allow even more time.

Selling with an estate agent

A third method for selling your house or flat on a private road is using an estate agent, who will do the majority of the work in finding a buyer – this includes creating and advertising a listing, scheduling viewings and hearing offers from people who are serious about buying your home.
For doing all of this work, the typical estate agent will require that you pay them commission. This will increase the costs of selling your home because the commission will be subtracted from the eventual sale proceeds as soon as contracts have been exchanged.
Selling this way can take a very long time, and you should be prepared to wait for more than a year before a sale is completed. Also, someone can make an offer to buy your home and then withdraw it without any penalty right up to just before the exchange of contracts. Should that happen, you will have to start again with trying to find a buyer, delaying the process further.
You might also find that some estate agents have no knowledge of how to advertise a home located on an unadopted road, which suggests that they will find it hard to generate any interest in your property from potential buyers. Always ask individual estate agents about their past success in selling homes like yours, and only choose a company with that experience.

Selling on your own

Finally, you could consider selling your home on a private road without any help, which would put the burden on you to create a listing, advertise it, schedule viewings and field offers. This is a massive amount of work and it can quickly take up a lot of your time and be very stressful.
It’s also often a slow way to sell a property, and you should anticipate waiting for many months or even more than an entire year before you are able to get a genuine offer. And just as potential buyers can withdraw offers up until contracts are exchanged, the same can happen when you’re selling on your own, which would add much more time to the process if it occurs.
The clearest benefit of selling without any assistance is that you will not be required to pay potentially expensive commission to a third party, such as an estate agent or auctioneer. But the costs involved with advertising your home could quickly eliminate this advantage.
If you’re determined to avoid paying any fees when selling your home, an alternative solution is to sell your property to a quick buyer such as LDN Properties. The honest quick buyers tend to be no-fee companies, which means they never charges homeowners any commission when purchasing their properties. But they have the additional perk of being able to complete the process of buying most homes within weeks rather than months, so you would not only get a zero-fee sale but you would also secure a buyer on the quickest timeline possible.

Top queries and answers about selling a house on a private road

Homeowners thinking of selling their home quickly typically can have some questions that need answering, ranging from the amount of repair works needed before selling through to selling a house without viewings. Here are some of the top questions we’re asked about selling a house on a private road: