Purchased House, Had previous damp, was told it had been sorted but has not? Wat2do?

G_M

kinger251285 wrote: »

The sellers have told the estate agents, you never actally talk to the sellers when buying a property, its estate agents and solicitors.

Therefore if we make a claim against the estate agents then surely in turn they will take this up with the sellers??

You are clutching at straws.

Of course you can 'talk to the sellers'. (though an oral statement would still have little value. A letter would though).

Estate agents are not surveyors, nor are they solicitors - they do not give legal, or structural promises. That's why you instruct a surveyor and/or a solicitor.

You only have the EA's word that the seller told them this.

You have NOTHING from the seller.

Now, if your solicitor had requested, and received, from the seller's solicitor, a written statement that the damp had been caused by missing roof tiles, the tiles had been replaced, and the damp rectified - THEN you might have a case.

Werdnal

IF, you had a full structural survey and the surveyor missed something obvious, which may now cost you big money to put right, then you may be able to sue the surveyor for not picking it up.

Someone I knew bought a bungallow years ago, with FSS, which included the garage (they specifically requested this as he keeps a classic car and needed somewhere secure to store it). They had concerns as the ground sloped steeply behind the garage and the other houses are a lower level. Surveyor cleared the garage 100% sound - then a few months later, cracks appeared and the rear wall of the garage looked to be slipping down the slope. Another surveyor concluded that the ground had been "made-up" and was now subsiding, some cracks showed evidence of being previously filled/pointed badly and painted over prior to the sale. They suspected the original surveyor had not even bothered to check the garage properly, so they sued and put the damages they won towards the cost of rebuilding the garage. Not saying you would have case, but it is possible - however you would have to get some professional advice on whether the problem causing the "new" damp pre-existed your survey/purchase of the property, and depending on the repair costs (couple of broken tiles less than £100 including labour), makes the cost and effort of a possible court case worthwhile.

If you didn't have a survey, and are relying on some heresay passed on by the vendor's EA, then you have nothing to substantiate your claim and its not worth pursuing.

Fire_Fox

If you knew there was water ingress you should have specifically had this looked at by your own trades, and/ or formally asked the sellers (via your solicitor and theirs) for written assurances and invoices of the repair works. It's common knowledge that estate agents work for the vendor not the buyer, have been known to lie or mislead, they have no building or surveying qualifications, that verbal contracts and assurances are not worth the paper they are written on.

The only person you might have a claim against is your surveyor, depending on the level of survey you paid for and the precise nature of the problem.