Deposit gone on holiday
Q. We paid a £15,000 deposit to a firm that specialises in overseas developments, but the property has not been built and the money seems hard to locate. The company says it passed the money to the developers, but surely they are responsible for a refund?
A. You need specialist legal help when buying property overseas – preferably a firm of solicitors with contacts in the country where you are making your purchase. You should try to find such a firm urgently at this stage. We have a foreign property team which may be able to help. It’s likely that the “specialist” firm is acting as an agent for the developers in return for commission. Hopefully the developers are reputable and you have a contract with them which will compensate you in the event of delay. Take any paperwork you have to the solicitors.

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Adding on to next door
Q. My neighbours have put in an application for a two-storey extension. What are my rights concerning the noise, the dirt and any access they may try to get to my property?
A. If the extension is coming up to the boundary, or the foundations are within three metres and go deeper than your own property your neighbour should serve a notice on you under the Party Wall etc Act before work starts. Under the Act you must, when necessary, allow workmen or an architect for example on to your property as long as you have been given written notice, usually 14 days in advance. This is rarely necessary, but if you object to any of your neighbour’s proposals you should appoint a surveyor to act as mediator. You should also consider serving an obstruction notice on your neighbour, preventing the extension gaining a right to light which could thwart any plans you may have for a similar extension in future. Similarly if the extension looks as though it will put you in the shade you should see a solicitor.

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Backing up
Q. I’m getting raw sewage in my garden. My solicitor advised me before I bought the property that the drain running through my garden is shared with some adjoining properties. He said there was a “grouped drainage agreement”. What can I do?
A. There is likely to be a copy of the agreement your solicitor told you about with your title deeds. The fact that there is one of these agreements is good news, in that it would seem to suggest that your property was built before 1st October 1937. For properties built before this date which share drainage facilities (sometimes called a “combined drain”) responsibility for maintaining the combined drain, even if it is on private land, will rest with the water utility company to whom you pay your water rates. You should therefore get on to the water company and ask them, in view of the health hazard caused by the sewage, to attend at your property for the purpose of sorting out the problem as a priority job. If your house was built before 1937 you can expect the utility company to carry out the work at their expense.

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In search of uncle’s estate
Q. My uncle died 18 months ago, leaving my mother and one surviving brother. I’ve tried to find out if he left a will, but the Probate Registry says it never went to probate. Is there any way I can find out for my mother whether there was a will and whether my uncle left any property?
A. Did your uncle own a house, and did he appear to have anything to leave? If he did then I suggest you contact your surviving uncle, since this is the person likely to have wound up his affairs. If the deceased uncle left only small sums (under £5,000) the banks will probably have released any monies without requiring evidence of probate. If he didn’t leave a will your mother will be entitled to a share of anything he left. I’m assuming someone has been to his house and taken over his affairs. If necessary, and in the absence of a will and executors, you could apply to the Probate Registry to take on this role.

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What a shower
Q. I moved into a newly-built house six months ago. I paid £1,750 extra for an en-suite bathroom but the work is unsatisfactory: half a wall is missing, there's no shower door, they've put in chrome shower taps and gold sink taps and so on. What do you recommend I do?
A. You don't say what their response has been to your complaints so far, but in the first instance make sure you contact the right people and compile a list of remedial work you want carried out. Presumably you have a plan which shows what you were promised for your money. Keep copies of all correspondence and give them, say, three weeks in which to complete the work. If you have an NHBC warranty you should contact them. If all else fails you can threaten to get another tradesman in to finish the job and sue the building firm for what it costs you.