is my property defective?

Emma_Dilemma

I could really use some help on this.
3 years ago I purchased my first floor maisonette under the right to buy scheme from local council. The conveyancing went fine and I got a mortgage without problem. I did use a sub prime lender as I was was borrowing more than the right to buy discounted price and initially this posed a risk due to the councils right to claim back the discount should i default. But aside from this, no problems.
Now, 3 yrs later, my fixed term has ended and the councils charge has been removed from the land registry so I approached a high street lender (halifax) and this is where the trouble has started.
They sent out a surveyor to value my property and when he arrived he said my property was concrete and did I have a certificate for repair works carried out. I was confused, I didnt know what he was talking about to be honest. He said that if my property was of certain unrepaired concrete construction then it is unmortgageable and I shouldnt have a mortgage in the first place. I gave him the contact details of the leaseholder unit from my landlord local council so he could check it out.
2 days ago I recieved a call from the Halifax mortgage advisor and was told that following the surveyors report they were unable to proceed with my application for mortgae transfer. She said the surveyor was told by the council that my property is a wates prc home and although it has been cosmetically altered with insulation and brick facia it has not been structurally remedied. The surveyor asked them why I wasnt aware of this and was told that I was aware as I was notified of the structural defect when I recieved my right to buy. this is not the case, I was not aware.
I have contacted the council and they didnt shed much light just said that if I want to persue this then I need to get a solicitor to contact them. Surely I have a right to know the condition of my home without paying a solicitor?
I have found my original right to buy section 125 offer, this does not mention any structural defect and infact has a line put through the part to say what structural repairs are required.
Further research on my part reveals that apparently these Wates homes are on the defective dwelling list and by law i should have been notified of this during my right to buy.
Can anyone tell me what my rights are? All I have to go on is a declined mortgage application, and a verbal conversation to a surveyor. No one will tell me anything and Im really stressed, and I dont want to go to a solicitor as I cant really afford it.
Any help welcome.

Thrugelmir

As its the summer holidays. The board is quiet. So worth bumping it up to the top every so often. As you need specialist advice on this matter.

PS.

Post this thread on the House Buying Board as well.

lindens

Did you get a survey done when you bought the house? That should have identified the problem.Even a homebuyers report i would have thought.
What you are being told is correct, you won't get a mortgage if they have not been rebuilt.
Mine was rebuilt by Wimpey and i had to get proof of this before mybank would lend me any money.

Emma_Dilemma

I did not have an independant survey done on the property, as following a discussion with the conveyancing solicitor it was agreed that it propably wasnt necessary as I had already been living in my flat for 5 years with no identifiable problems, that the right to buy did not indicate any structural problems and the valuation report was fine also - which is another matter of interest as the surveyor stated that the flat is of brick construction, and not considered defective under the housing act 1985 (but I have since found out that it is), and also the searches were all fine.
I have spoken to a housing law solicitor since and they indicated that a home buyers report would probably not have found the problem either due to the fact that the flat has been externally cladded with brick facia and is not easily recognisable as a PRC property.
I have even had my property on the market for a few months now, (it is viewable on right move) and the estate agent who valued it did not identify the problem of it being non standard, and also HIP came back with nothing, which is another strange thing as the energy performance rating seems quite good, as what I have learned is that these properties are poorly insulated!
The surveyor who came out recently suggest that I may need to take legal action against the council if they are not willing to acknowledge the situation, as from his experience I have been mis-sold the property as they were legally obliged to report the fault to me before my purchase, and that the valuation should have reflected the defect and been more generous.

opinions4u

Ok, first of all I don't know what the legal position is for the council as a seller of such a property. If you have access to a free legal helpline (e.g. via a home insurance policy or a trade union perhaps) this may be a starting place, althernatively some high street solicitors locally may offer a free half hour - worth ringing round. But ultimately I think you are likely to need to employ (and pay for) a solicitor to pursue this for you. Not sure whether you would find a no win / no fee option for this.

From a mortgage lender's point of view, it is more than possible for one lender to consider a property as suitable mortgage security and for another not to. So you almost certainly have no case against the valuer who represented your current lender.

While the majority of properties purchased with a mortgage use valuation only, and most of the rest a homebuyers report, what you may be a victim of here is a decision by yourself not to pay for a full structural survey.

As I suggested in my first paragraph, start off with the free legal advice to see if the council had any liability as a seller.

Emma_Dilemma

I have spoken to a solicitor over the phone who told me that from what she can gather, if my section 125 notice states that there is no structural defect, then the council have been negligent on there part by law, as apparently the housing act 1985 states that the landlord ie. local authority has a duty by law to inform me that the property I am purchasing is strucutrally defective in respect of the defective dwellings act due to future problems associated with such properties. And that it is on this basis I would have a case against them, but the costs of persuing the claim could run into thousands. This is why I was wondering if there was a simpler alternative. The surveyor who informed me of the defect, also said that the original valuer is negligent as he stated that my property is of standard construction. And that the original market value given by the council which my discount was based on is way overvalued considering the major defect, which leaves me wondering if there was some oversight somewhere on the councils part?

silvercar

write to the council and ask them to put it in writing the exact construction of your property. At the moment you have your conveyancing and HIP telling you it is OK and a mortgage valuer telling you it is not. I wouldn't know who to believe as both can and do make mistakes.

dopester

Is there any useful info in this document you can feed on, to help decide if you can pursue any sort of action?

http://www.voa.gov.uk/instructions/chapters/right_to_buy/right_to_buy_manual-03.htm

I can't vouch for how up-to-date it is.

Emma_Dilemma

small ray of hope! been to CAB today and apparently I can claim against the original surveyor who misidentified the construction of my home (even though instrucuted by mortage people he has a duty of care to me as I have suffered a loss) and thus greatly overestimated its market value, I have spoken to the surveying company who said they are going to look into it when they recieve my written complaint. fingers crossed! still need to persue the council though...

silvercar

You still need to find out if there isn't an error in what they have told you, it could still be that your construction is OK.

nzmegs

Don't forget that your original conveyancing solicitor told you not to bother getting a structural survey. This "advice" has turned out to have cost you money. you may have some comeback with them as well. Do you have it in writing?