Previous owner left v. dangerous boiler...

togarama

Finally completed on a repo purchase earlier this week and everything is looking good. But we uncovered one major prob with the boiler which made me think it was a pretty good thing that the previous owner was repossessed, particularly because he was renting the place out.

After the electricity was reconnected, we got a Gas Safe Registered engineer to come and check / sort out the water (system totally emptied), gas and combi boiler (which looked a bit odd, even to non-experts).

When he took a look at the boiler in a bathroom cupboard on the top floor, he was pretty shocked and pointed out that the outlet pipe / flue was completely disconnected from the boiler and the boiler fumes would have just been filling the cupoard and leaking into the room. There was no indication either in terms of the boiler's condition or the household paperwork in a drawer in the kitchen that the boiler had ever been serviced or inspected. The engineer looked through the papers with us, saying that if he found that anyone had previously certified the system as safe he would feel obliged to report them.

The caretaker told us that the previous owner had let the 2 bed flat to 4 students who presumably never checked up on things like a gas safety certificate.

So, either the previous owner carelessly exposed his young tenants to carbon monoxide poisoning, or kindly left it like that for the next buyer.

Lovely, huh?

The rest of the flat looks fine but I'm going to get the wiring checked too.....

sunnysea83

Did you not get any thing checked before you bought?

togarama

Yes, we had a survey done.

Unfortunately, because the gas, electricity and water are all disconnected in a repossession, the surveyer just noted that these could not be tested during the survey.

I don't have a problem with the fact that we weren't warned. We got a good price, surveyors aren't boiler engineers and we expected to have some nasties to fix in a repo flat.

I'm just shocked that it seems likely that the previous owner had a death-trap boiler in the main bedroom but never bothered to check / fix before letting it out.

bmunky7

Shocking, shows the value of finding a good landlord!

poppysarah

An example of when getting a man in is a good idea!

Fire_Fox

togarama wrote: »

Yes, we had a survey done.

Unfortunately, because the gas, electricity and water are all disconnected in a repossession, the surveyer just noted that these could not be tested during the survey.

I don't have a problem with the fact that we weren't warned. We got a good price, surveyors aren't boiler engineers and we expected to have some nasties to fix in a repo flat.

I'm just shocked that it seems likely that the previous owner had a death-trap boiler in the main bedroom but never bothered to check / fix before letting it out.

If you had a full structural survey and the surveyor could not test the gas or electrics it's common for him to recommend you get a second inspection done by another professional. Did he and did you?

togarama

Yes, the surveyor noted that the gas / electricity should be tested by a qualified professional. We decided not to pursue this in advance of purchase since even needing to install a new boiler would not have put us off, I didn't feel that there was scope for negotiating an even lower price than the one we were already getting, and the clock was ticking. We knew the risks of finding something like this and were financially prepared for it. We've deliberately left a two week gap before moving in to allow for necessary inspections and works.

My point is more that the previous owner was utterly irresponsible for having a boiler in this state in his property, especially since he let it out.

Fire_Fox

If this is a rant, it should have been posted on the appropriate board.

togarama

OK - sorry if this is in the wrong place. Take me to the rant board!

clockworks_2

that's shocking, well done you for getting someone round to check it before firing it up.

Just went to view a repo house with a friend of mine who's looking at buying.

The owner, nicked every single light fitting incl those in the garage. He snipped all the wires for aerial and telephone.

Not just a simple snip, but actually cut out a meter of cable between wall and the point just to be spiteful.

Hopejack

Shocking! Do you think it could have actually been the landlord that did the damage to the system - with it being a repo? As others have said, ex owners who are repossessed can do awful things to properties.

I would ensure you check and double check everything before you move in! :rolleyes:

Didn't someone on here say that as soon as they started up their heating, the radiators started leaking water - all of them!!! Something to do with the valve being disconnected but it didn't appear so from the naked eye....