buyer wont accept offered indemity on conservatory

Furts

Slight departure here but...

In recent times the Water Boards have been required to adopt many drains that were previously private. These are known as lateral drains, in their terminology. This has rather obscured what used to be a straightforward "who owns what."

The upside is some home owners have had their responsibilities diminished. (For example, think of Victorian back to back drains).

The downside is the Water Boards have taken on a huge amount of extra responsibility, but over old drains , or unknown quality and workmanship.

Somebody is financing this risk...and this is now lumped onto all our water bills!

hcb42

how does the surveyors valuation fit in line with the proposed selling price? If it is on the money I wouldn't reduce anyway, certainly not for the trivial issues mentioned.

clarabelle41

Thank you all for your helpful comments.

a)The property isn't currently on the market.
b)The surveyor did not make any valuations from what I have seen. Do they do this with full structural surveys?
c)The intended extension is to be a side extension I believe so doubtful if they intend to remove the rear conservatory. But of course I'm not privy to their real plans. The conservatory, built in 2000, did not have PP or BR. The supplier did advise separating doors between house/conservatory, but we declined.
d) House is semi-det, the manhole under issue is close to our soil stack though. Neighbours bathroom etc is on opposite side of their house so perhaps drains into their own? I have no idea if sewer is public or private. How can I find out? I have emailed my solicitor today though. But what difference does this make?
e) 2 proposed indemnity policies have now been offered & rejected by their solicitor. They feel the policy does not offer sufficient financial protection as the "inspection chamber" is covered. Is that the same as a manhole? Is so this was actually relocated outside & their surveyor saw this for himself. Yes, the access is narrow, but it's access no less.
f) from what I have seen there were no comments made about valuation. Do structural surveys give this?

My solicitor is at her wits end because she has said that policies do not cover "structural defects". But I've told her there are no known/apparent defects! She doubts they will find a policy to cover what they want...

Help!!

unrecordings

I've had a similar thing recently with my buyer - they're gazundering you and trying to morally justify it to themselves.

In my case it was the electrics.

After going through the arguments, you just need to be cold hearted about it: Do you need the sale to go through, can you take the reduction in price, would it cost you more to fight this.

Good luck

clarabelle41

Yes I would like it to proceed, but I don't HAVE to move, we just want a change of area after 15 years. Honestly, I could reduce at most £2K but my onward purchase badly needs an extension as the kitchen is tiny, no room for the washing machine & very limited workspace & units & 2k off this one is 2k less to spend on the next. I don't see what more I can offer them, my solicitor can't find a indemnity their solicitor is happy with so there seems no way past this issue....

I could/should just stay put and extend my own house!!

tom9980

clarabelle41 wrote: »

e) 2 proposed indemnity policies have now been offered & rejected by their solicitor. They feel the policy does not offer sufficient financial protection as the "inspection chamber" is covered. Is that the same as a manhole? Is so this was actually relocated outside & their surveyor saw this for himself. Yes, the access is narrow, but it's access no less.

YES the manhole is the inspection chamber, its really not that uncommon to have drains and sewers under houses. Its also likely that the water company would simply reroute it if it ever failed rather than dig up the conservatory.

sunshinetours

If you are genuinely not too concerned about losing buyer then get your solicitor to say you have offered all you can and give them 48 hours to proceed with this otherwise house is remarketed and follow through with it

Good luck and yes quite possibly the MSE solution is to extend your own house if it can be

clarabelle41

sunshinetours wrote: »

If you are genuinely not too concerned about losing buyer then get your solicitor to say you have offered all you can and give them 48 hours to proceed with this otherwise house is remarketed and follow through with it

Good luck and yes quite possibly the MSE solution is to extend your own house if it can be

Yes I think that's what we will end up doing because our own onward purchase is precarious & want completion by 24 Jan latest or they will withdraw & stay put according to their selling agent. So we all loose out I guess. However, my EA told me I will have this issue with any purchaser! Have to say I haven't found them very constructive so far.

sunshinetours

Do check your EA agreement as if your agent has provided you with a proceedable buyer they may want their fees even if you pull out

clarabelle41

sunshinetours wrote: »

Do check your EA agreement as if your agent has provided you with a proceedable buyer they may want their fees even if you pull out

Ok, but we are out of contract period. Signed up end of July for 12 weeks. Could they still hold us to it? This buyer didn't appear til November.