Answering questions preownership

Benson

Is it a legal Requirement to answer questions about your house pre ownership?

Our buyers solicitor is adamant that she wants us to confirm something that we would have no knowledge about happening before we owned our property that the survey would cover anyway.

But our solicitor states that we physically cannot answer this as we didn't know about anything with our property before ownership and we should not be asked about things pre ownership.

This is the only thing holding up exchange which should have happened last week, we are due to move this week!

Any advice of where i can look for information?

Gwhiz

Listen to your solicitor.

maninthestreet

Your solicitor should know the answer to whether this is a legal requirment or not. What, exactly, is the buyer's solicitor asking for?

Benson

I am more than happy with my solicitor, she has been fantastic all the way through and says it is not a legal requirement to be answering (and should not have been asked this)
But my buyers solicitor refuses to budge until its answered. The whole chain could collapse because of this and im getting so frustrated (as is my solicitor).

She wants to know about any possible subsidence "Ever"

The buyer has had a homebuyers survey which ive been advised should cover such issues.

pinkteapot

Could you ask your solicitor if you could respond "We have had no subsidence during the time we have owned the house. We are not aware of any prior subsidence problems." Or something like that; which answers the question but makes it clear the answer is only 'as far as we know' and not definitive.

But as others have said, your solicitor is the one to follow with this sort of thing.

CloudCuckooLand

Is there a whiff of subsidence somewhere - next door, in the street - that would make them particularly cautious over this issue?

While there may be no legal obligation/responsibility, was there anything notified to you (perhaps verbally) by the previous sellers, to indicate a concern. Perhaps, the buyers have spoken to neighbours and have an uncorroborated belief that there was an issue there, "once upon a time"..?

I'd have thought the property information form was the place for such questions, in a "are you aware of..." sort of fashion, but googling a couple of example SPIFs shows that it is not covered.

To take the unqualified opinion of a lay-person seems insane. If worried they should do a fuller survey.

If worded correctly, they'd struggle to hold you liable, anyway.

A cash buyer, going by your previous threads...sounds like a chancer, trying to make you feel grateful for holding the chain together then they drop the offer price..?

hermanmunster_3

often have questions like this . have just answered "not while we owned the property and not disclosed to us when we purchased"

Benson

My buyer has said to me she knows there is nothing untowards but her solicitor refuses to move until answered as its legally required.

My Solicitor has responded saying we have no knowledge of any subsidence at the property etc which she seems to have accepted. We genuinely have no knowledge of anything and the survey showed nothing so fingers crossed its an end to it.

DVardysShadow

hermanmunster wrote: »

often have questions like this . have just answered "not while we owned the property and not disclosed to us when we purchased"

This is the strongest terms in which the answer can be given. If it is not good enough, then that must be the end of it to detriment of buyer and seller.

I am interested in who the buyer's solicitor is - it sounds like one of these dismal 'on-line' outfits, where the idiot asking the question knows very little about conveyancing and the supervising solicitor is completely uninvolved in the question. I would suggest to get the agent involved - if they demonstrate that they understand the issues. The seller's solicitor may happily write letters defending a position till the cows come home, but the Agent may be better able to get the letters under the nose of the right person and get the guard dog stood down.

Niv

'To the best of my knowledge there has been none' Simples, unless you do know there has been some and it can be proved (i.e you comissoned a report)

mufi

Niv wrote: »

'To the best of my knowledge there has been none'

This kind of vague assurance can come back and bite you as it can imply that you have checked as thoroughly as you can and not found anything. If, in the event of a problem, it can be proved that you did no checks it could be used against you.

Listen to your solicitor.