Action if house being bought has no gas or elec certificate

ericonabike

After a bit of a search I'm in the process of buying a house. It is tenanted, but the tenant will be gone as condition of purchase [vacant possession]. However, the Homebuyers Survey has flagged up electrical and gas safety as 'red isues' since there are no gas or electric safety certs. The EA is double-checking, but I had assumed these would be in place as a legal requirement if a property is tenanted.

If there are no certs in place, my thinking at present is to request the vendor gets the systems checked and provides me with the certs. If not, then to reduce my offer. By how much I'm unsure - it's currently at £90K for the [terraced] house.

Any thoughts or relevant experiences?

Fire_Fox

Don't get the vendor to do anything, they have a vested interest in making you believe the electrics and central heating are in full working order. A gas safety certificate simply proves the gas is safe not that it is in full working order. You should get an independent professional to check everything out as recommended in the homebuyer's report: you are spending tens of thousands of pounds, take your surveyor's advice!

Owain_Moneysaver

If the property wasn't tenanted, it would be quite unlikely there'd be any certificates anyway, so you're not actually losing anything.

Does the survey actually say the gas and electrics are dangerous or is it the surveyor covering his derriere?

G_M

Surveyors are not electricians, nor are they heating engineers, so they almost never check these aspects of a property, instead recommending you get an independant check. Unless they have specified specific concerns this is pretty standard.

If the house is teneted, it should have a gas safety certificate, though as said above this just says it is safe, not that it works, or how old it is or whether it is likely to fail in the next 12 months. Electricty certificates are not a requirement for rental properties.

If you have concerns, rely on your own specialist report.

ericonabike

Thanks for the responses - I can see the merits of getting independent electrical and gas checks, but had hoped I might at least get some kind of written assurance from the vendor as the property is tenanted. The surveyor is, I think, pointing to a lack of evidence that all is well, rather than suggesting that anything is not well. It's a decent house at a fair price as long as the electrics and gas are at least in average condition and safe. Any ideas on the cost of getting an electrician and gas fitter to give it the once over?

Owain_Moneysaver

Gas £60-100 for a 'landlord's safety check (meter and one boiler). More in London, probably.

Electrician would be rather more for a full Periodic Inspection Report (because houses usually have lots of electrical points, and they all have to be checked in case some numpty's been fiddling in there)