Just bought a house and things broken!

Bexm

Hello!

I was wondering if anyone can tell me what our rights are..

We have just bought our first house from what seemed like 2 very respectable people.
Unfortunately when we actually moved in we found the oven wasn't working, one of the wall heaters is dodgy and the toilet flush was broken!

I spoke to our solicitor and they said we'd have to prove they weren't working on the day of completion... which is impossible..

Does anyone know any more about this or have any advice.. as we are totally skint now as we have just bought the house, and can't afford to fix or replace anything!!

Thanks

Bex

lynzpower

Sorry, but you dont have a leg to stand on.

I have heard of people going into properties between exchange & competion to check things like this but its rather uncommon

while you were buying the property, did you test the oven, wall heater, toilet flush?

Caveat emptor im afriad

silvercar

I think the law is slightly different in Scotland, but south of the border it is buyer beware.

Check your fixture and fitting details for the oven - is it totally broken or just certain parts. You might have a case if they said oven included and it is completely broken.

Wall heaters and toilet are something that may have been spotted in a structural survey, but even that may have missed minor things.

Biffa

Sorry but the only thing I can suggest is to look on freecycle and try to pick up an oven off there.

Melissa177

I have a free oven if you would like it! It's quite basic, but I'm happy to give it away as I have a new one coming in a couple of weeks.

Vickicb

I know how you feel - EVERYTHING has broken in our house since we moved in!

Firstly the oven grill and one ring didn't work, and then the door came off in my hand. Didn't want a big expense so got a one for £90 off ebay.

The boiler broke down and cost a £150 call out from British Gas. Turns out it was a bit of trapped air.

One drawer front in the kitchen has just fallen off.

The conervatory is leaking, probably because the gutters were blocked until OH investigated yesterday.

We realised the bath drains directly into the gutter around the conservatory and the sink water goes straight out onto the flat garage roof! OH having to do some outdoor plumbing this week.

We stripped wallpaper off a wall, the plaster came off and we found a whole DOOR buried in the wall (!!!) which we had to remove and therefore have both sides of the wall plastered.

A pane of glass in the conservatory needs replacing as it's gone all misty.

The fence on the side that we own came down in high winds a few weeks after we moved in.

We took down the old shed that spoils our view of the garden from the house intending to grass the area and found there is a filled in air-raid shelter underneath it.

Our washing machine AND dishwasher packed up in the move and flooded the kitchen.

And all this is on top of the work we knew we had to do to the house, complete re-furb including bathroom (now done), kitchen (making do for now), garden (currently a jungle!), double glazing, guttering, etc. Moving house is a nightmare and a big step into the unknown with no redress unless you buy a new-build. I just laugh it off now when something breaks, it's becoming ridiculous!

Eyesparky

It can be very frustrating but it is one of the joys of house buying. Be glad that it is only the toilet flush. When I moved into my house, apart from leaving a lot of rubbish, the vendors left me a toilet that was not connected to the soil pipe with toilet rolls on the floor to soak up the waste ... really unpleasant.

pickles110564

Vickicb wrote: »

The boiler broke down and cost a £150 call out from British Gas. Turns out it was a bit of trapped air.

You should have taken out one of there cheap contract deals first!
One drawer front in the kitchen has just fallen off.

The conervatory is leaking, probably because the gutters were blocked until OH investigated yesterday.

We realised the bath drains directly into the gutter around the conservatory and the sink water goes straight out onto the flat garage roof! OH having to do some outdoor plumbing this week.

What type of survey did you have done? Should have been picked up

We stripped wallpaper off a wall, the plaster came off and we found a whole DOOR buried in the wall (!!!) which we had to remove and therefore have both sides of the wall plastered.

A pane of glass in the conservatory needs replacing as it's gone all misty.

The fence on the side that we own came down in high winds a few weeks after we moved in.

We took down the old shed that spoils our view of the garden from the house intending to grass the area and found there is a filled in air-raid shelter underneath it.


And all this is on top of the work we knew we had to do to the house, complete re-furb including bathroom (now done), kitchen (making do for now), garden (currently a jungle!), double glazing, guttering, etc. Moving house is a nightmare and a big step into the unknown with no redress unless you buy a new-build. I just laugh it off now when something breaks, it's becoming ridiculous![/QUOTE

When you made your offer you would have factored in all these problems and would have reflected this in your purchase price.
From reading your post you must have picked this up for a bargain? Otherwise you would not have bought it.

advent1122

Bexm wrote: »

Unfortunately when we actually moved in we found the oven wasn't working, one of the wall heaters is dodgy and the toilet flush was broken!

I think you have got off quite lightly.

plane_boy2000

Not really the end of the world - buying a used house is no different from buying anything else second hand - sometime syou do well sometimes you dont. Your EA's details will have had some kind of caveat on them about items not being tested etc, so unless they expressly told you that the oven was fine then you have no case.

egrid1

I seem to remember that when we bought our house (some years ago now), the seller had to complete a form our solicitor sent, confirming what fixtures were being taken / left, and that ajor items such as the boiler were working. I dont know if this is standard practice - check with your solicitor.