Selling with rats

The_White_Horse

charge extra for the rats. may reduce their stamp duty.

poppysarah

I thought this was going to be a thread about dodgy estate agents...


but no. Don't mention it. If you blocked up *all* the holes you should be keeping them out.

stig1979

We were on the receiving end of this.

We had a good solicitor, paid £600 for a decent survey. The house was rat infested. Took over 6 months to get rid of them, we were homeless. Cost thousands. It took nearly two years to prove surveyor missed it - we won our case last week.

Lobbying for change in law so vendors are forced to disclose.

So get that house sold, if not already. Because if I get my way, this loophole won't be open much longer.

And for those of you who shrug, "they didn't ask, I didn't tell", may you sleep well.

stig1979

PS Environmental Health gave me entire history of my property, including all the calls logged from previous owner. So be very very careful.

Emy1501

stig1979 wrote: »

We were on the receiving end of this.

We had a good solicitor, paid £600 for a decent survey. The house was rat infested. Took over 6 months to get rid of them, we were homeless. Cost thousands. It took nearly two years to prove surveyor missed it - we won our case last week.

Lobbying for change in law so vendors are forced to disclose.

So get that house sold, if not already. Because if I get my way, this loophole won't be open much longer.

And for those of you who shrug, "they didn't ask, I didn't tell", may you sleep well.

I think your being a naive, every house I have bought has had something wrong which the seller has hidden in a sense. Last one had a leaking toilet which the vendor admitted they knew about but did not have time to fix:)

Houses are sold as seen in reality. Buyers via solicitors can ask any question they want so a simple question of does or has the house ever had rats or mice would solve the problem. Also a decent surveyor would pick the problem up. No sensible seller would volunteer this info unless asked

Hillbilly1

I think the difference here is with the rats the house was not habitable. At the most basic you are selling a place to live!

pimento

We had three cats and still had mice.

dizziblonde

pimento wrote: »

We had three cats and still had mice.

I have a cat who'd escort them in and show them where the cheese was kept.

paddyrg

Are they definitely rats? Have you seen them? Mice sound a lot bigger than they are when they're in the walls, etc!

Can you get/rent/borrow a cat? Some cats are better mousers than others so check its history first! If a good mouser/ratter can hear mice, it will be absolutely single-minded about catching them until it has done so.

thegirlintheattic

Don't use a cat if you bait - you can poison the cat!

I'd go with only declare if there is a specific question. Pretty much everyone will have had a rat/mouse problem at somepoint - as long as there isn't an active infestation I wouldn't worry.