Estate agent witheld information

Maciek1984

Hi guys im hoping you can give a bit of advice to a FTB.

Ive been looking for a house to buy with my girlfriend (joint application) all credit ratings are fine (both 999) have a 18k deposit (ive been saving my pennies ha)

My partner recently fell in love with a house. Which we viewed, it had all been done out lovely all new kitchen, bathroom, lounge etc after a big discussion we put an offer in a few weeks ago which after a bit of bartering was accepted. Now after sorting out all the mortgage, insurance, life insurance etc Our solicitor told us (shes the g/fs best friend) that it is an airey house and every other person at her firm said dont touch it with a barge pole.

Now ive paid out £550 so far on solicitors, mortgage fee's Now nor me or our solicitor was told about the fact its an airey house. We had 4 viewings in which it could of been mentioned and wasnt. theres not and still isnt a mention of this on the website.

It has had all the brick put up around it but im sure this will still be classed as an airey house on paper (which is all that matters) along with all the attached stigmata that goes with it. The only mention of it was as i previously said in the paperwork that went to the solicitor 5 weeks after the offer being accpeted after which she called us straight away.

Surely the estate agent should have told me this as i wouldnt even have considered it, or atleast massivly reduced my offer. I havnt signed anything so im pulling out, but that £550 wasted all because they 'neglected' to mention this fact to me.

Is there anything i can do about this? In my opinion, which granted amounts to very little on this topic this cant be a legal thing to do?

Any and all advice welcome

evoke

The estate agent acts for the seller and his job is to sell the house, not provide a damning negative statement relating to the structure of the property!

If you don't want to buy it then pull out. If you do, reduce your offer by a huge amount.

DVardysShadow

Have a look at the concept of 'caveat emptor' - buyer beware. The EA may not have known. It is for exactly this kind of scenario that you need your surveyor and your solicitor, rather than buying on your own. If, by 'mortgage fees', you mean 'survey', then your money has been well spent and you should not resent it. It is entirely normal to spend money on buying a house and not go through with it.

Maciek1984

evoke wrote: »

The estate agent acts for the seller and his job is to sell the house, not provide a damning negative statement relating to the structure of the property!

If you don't want to buy it then pull out. If you do, reduce your offer by a huge amount.

By your logic i could sell my VXR for full price and not tell anyone that the engine is sitting in my garage and the turbo is in my other car.

Im pretty sure they cant just highlight the positive aspects of the house and not tell you about any of the defects or problems with it.

Milliewilly

Do you mean its an airey house that's been re-covered on the outside? They are pretty distinctive looking otherwise?

Sorry just re-read your post. Have the works been carried out to a satisfactory standard for mortgage?

Milliewilly

Maciek1984 wrote: »

By your logic i could sell my VXR for full price and not tell anyone that the engine is sitting in my garage and the turbo is in my other car.

Im pretty sure they cant just highlight the positive aspects of the house and not tell you about any of the defects or problems with it.

No they don't have to alert a buyer to problems its up to the buyer to satisfy themselves. Has your mortgage surveyor been?

evoke

You are assuming the EA knows. How would he know? And are you sure your gf's best friend solicitor really knows the construction of the property?

BitterAndTwisted

Yes, they can especially if it cannot be incontrovertibly proven that they knew in the first place. You don't know whether they knew or not so you're just a bit indignant that you feel you've "wasted" your money. You haven't. I suggest you consider that £500 as the best money you have ever spent. It's just saved you buckets of money and a lot of heartache.

DVardysShadow

Maciek1984 wrote: »

By your logic i could sell my VXR for full price and not tell anyone that the engine is sitting in my garage and the turbo is in my other car.

Im pretty sure they cant just highlight the positive aspects of the house and not tell you about any of the defects or problems with it.

In a private car sale, you could omit the engine from the sale, because 'caveat emptor' applies. [It is different for a car dealer].

The only obligation on an EA is not to misrepresent - ie no untruths. I am sure that many of them make it not their business to know about the negatives - which is fine, as long as no lies are told

Cissi

Maciek1984 wrote: »

By your logic i could sell my VXR for full price and not tell anyone that the engine is sitting in my garage and the turbo is in my other car.

Im pretty sure they cant just highlight the positive aspects of the house and not tell you about any of the defects or problems with it.

I'm not quite sure what is meant by an "airey" house here (and the "attached stigmata" only confuse me further - is the house mysteriously bleeding??? Has the Pope been informed?) but the car comparison doesn't work because

1) the estage agent isn't the vendor, they're only acting for the vendor and unless they themselves had carried out a survey, how would they know?

2) rightly or wrongly, in the UK "caveat emptor" (buyer beware) applies to house sales, and the buyer has to rely on their own survey. There is information which the vendor must supply (when asked, by the buyer's solicitor) and in this case it seems like they've done this, at which point your solicitor has advised you of the issues. This is perfectly normal procedure and unfortunately the vendor isn't liable for any costs that you have incurred. The vendors may well be shooting themselves in the foot if they're deliberately holding off on telling prospective purchasers key information, but unfortunately it's their right to do so.

DVardysShadow

Cissi wrote: »

2) rightly or wrongly, in the UK "caveat emptor" (buyer beware) applies to house sales, and the buyer has to rely on their own survey. There is information which the vendor must supply (when asked, by the buyer's solicitor) and in this case it seems like they've done this, at which point your solicitor has advised you of the issues. This is perfectly normal procedure and unfortunately the vendor isn't liable for any costs that you have incurred. The vendors may well be shooting themselves in the foot if they're deliberately holding off on telling prospective purchasers key information, but unfortunately it's their right to do so.

Exactly. And [nearly] everyone roundly condemned the HIP - which is the one thing we have seen which moves property away from caveat emptor.