Seller lied about major works

Lizling

Still trying to buy a flat and now it's looking like it might fall through.

I've got a document from the sellers here where they have declared that there are no major works coming up or that need to be paid for. They also told me that when I asked about any upcoming work, while I was looking at the flat.

It's turned out that there is in fact close to £10,000 of work due to be billed and that their solicitor had been told about this in a letter dated to a few months ago. :mad::mad::mad: The vendors had been selling to another buyer in Spring, but that fell through, so all the details were in the lease documentation from that time.

I've already spent a load on surveys, solicitor's fees etc because we were supposed to be completing in a couple of weeks, so I'm pretty peed off about all this.

Anyone got any experience of this kind of thing happening? Any advice? Assuming we can't come to any sort of agreement and it all falls through, do you think it would be worth taking it to the small claims court to at least get my fees back?

Ivana_Tinkle

No direct experience, but very similar thing happened to a friend of a friend buying an ex-council flat, except in her case it was over £20k and her solicitor found out literally on the day she was expecting to exchange. She absolutely hit the roof and said if they didn't drop the price by £20k it was all off and she was going to take them to small claims for all her costs (there was a clear paper trail showing they'd lied). I think they agreed to drop the price by the whole amount in the end. (If it wasn't the full amount, it was very close.) They had to. It's not as if another buyer was going to just absorb £20k of costs - it was about 10% of the value of the flat and would make the overall price far, far above market value. Good luck!

princeofpounds

No experience, but your first stop is the solicitor who handled the transaction for you initially. They can go through the SPIF with you and any further evidence.

If they lied on the SPIF and you have proof then you have a pretty good claim against them. It won't be a small claims job. Your solicitor can probably try to get you a settlement, and failing that you can sue.

Fire_Fox

Speak to your conveyancer about what action you can take, it's a serious matter to lie in legal documents.

Lizling

I did ask my conveyancer but she didn't really have any suggestions. Perhaps I'll ask again when she's had some more time to think about it.

Edit: I suppose there is the possibility that the seller didn't know because her solicitor hadn't done his job and passed on all the documents, but that seems a really long shot.

propertyman

You got little advice because you have a conveyancer, not a solicitor.

And....

while the buyer may have lied, they may not have known about the cost to come, while the conveyancer did know, it is in the documentation.

Surely in their report to you prior to exchanging, the Conveyancer brought that £10K to your attention......?

I think you need paid for advice.....

Lizling

propertyman wrote: »

You got little advice because you have a conveyancer, not a solicitor.

It is actually a solicitor I've got. Sorry, I wasn't clear there.

propertyman wrote: »

Surely in their report to you prior to exchanging, the Conveyancer brought that £10K to your attention......?

We haven't exchanged yet.

Fire_Fox

Lizling wrote: »

I did ask my conveyancer but she didn't really have any suggestions. Perhaps I'll ask again when she's had some more time to think about it.

Edit: I suppose there is the possibility that the seller didn't know because her solicitor hadn't done his job and passed on all the documents, but that seems a really long shot.

Have you seen these documents, do you know what these major works entail and what stage the proposals are at? In England and Wales freeholders formally consult with leaseholders, it is relatively unlikely the freeholder had an idea of costs since the Spring but has not started consultation, ie. the leaseholder was unaware.

propertyman

Lizling wrote: »

It is actually a solicitor I've got. Sorry, I wasn't clear there.
We haven't exchanged yet.

Aah if you haven't exchanged then there is nothing you can do about it bar reduce the price. :mad:

Caveat emptor I am afraid.

Everybody Lies

Lizling

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Have you seen these documents, do you know what these major works entail and what stage the proposals are at? In England and Wales freeholders formally consult with leaseholders, it is relatively unlikely the freeholder had an idea of costs since the Spring but has not started consultation, ie. the leaseholder was unaware.

It's for new windows and roof refurbishment and is listed by the council as being 'on programme, brief prepared.' Not sure if that means it's been consulted on or not. There's also development under the Hidden Homes scheme planned for the block at some point, although the seller has said on the SPIF that she's not aware of any planned changes or development of the area. I'm not particularly bothered about that though because leaseholders don't pay for it.

I've got copies of the leasehold documents explaining it, but no copy of the letter the seller would have received from her solicitor.

Fire_Fox

Be very wary of ex-council leasehold, they are permitted to do improvements which can run to tens of thousands per unit and it is very difficult to lodge objections or put forward your own contractor. Private leasehold are usually only permitted to do repairs and maintenance. The leaseholders might not know, local authorities plan years ahead and are very slow to act, they may well not have started the consultation process. You need to establish if the seller's conveyancer communicated this to their client, they may not have - you asked the questions most of which are boring stuff about service charges and ground rent, they may not have expected any surprise responses.