Problems with the house after we've moved in & sellers won't acknowledge them

ILW

Tancred wrote: »

Indeed. I am due to move into a newly purchased house soon and if anything like this happens I will start world war 3! :mad:

If in England tends to be caveat emptor.

GlynD

witchy1066 wrote: »

this is so true ^^^ but sellers on this forum have complained about buyers and house viewings (how many is acceptable) , and what is acceptable to inspect , some would consider opening the oven a step to far ,
so what is a prospective buyer to do ?

As I said above: there is a certain expectation under Scots Law. Report the faults to the conveyancing solicitor and take advice from there. Usually that is just a matter of them contacting the vendor's solicitor and asking for the faults to be put right. It's not caveat emptor in Scotland; the vendor has a responsibility to ensure everything is working within reasonable expectation. Therefore if an oven door is not secure it is the vendor's responsibility to fix it as long as it is reported within 5 days. The same goes for the absence of window keys etc etc.

googler

GlynD wrote: »

There is a certain expectation under Scottish Law that some things will function as you would expect. If they don't then the buyer can expect them to be put right by the seller.

However, the 'law' as it applies to the OP's purchase is broadly defined in the missives which were exchanged between the buying and selling solicitors, and these should specify which 'things' should function.

googler

GlynD wrote: »

As I said above: there is a certain expectation under Scots Law.

It's not caveat emptor in Scotland; the vendor has a responsibility to ensure everything is working within reasonable expectation. Therefore if an oven door is not secure it is the vendor's responsibility to fix it as long as it is reported within 5 days. The same goes for the absence of window keys etc etc.

I think we disagree on the 'everything' that you say, and the 'terms within the missives' that I say.

What's your source for the 'everything' under Scots law ?

GlynD

googler wrote: »

However, the 'law' as it applies to the OP's purchase is broadly defined in the missives which were exchanged between the buying and selling solicitors, and these should specify which 'things' should function.

I'm not absolutely sure that's the case but what I am sure of is that is something is "installed" inside the property such as cooking facilities, plumbing etc then it falls into the category of "reasonable expectation". If a toilet then doesn't work as a reasonable person would expect it to you can expect redress. The same goes for cookers, fireplaces, boilers windows etc etc. It can drift into grey areas such as: when the chimney was last swept or the boiler last serviced or if the water flow in the bathrooms is less than expected (outwith the vendor's control). Much of it is common sense which in most cases corresponds to Scottish Common Law.

In other words: if you were to go to the Sheriff and ask him to award compensation on the grounds that the cooker wasn't working or insecure in some way he would use common sense to decide that a reasonable person would expect these things to be working without inspecting them.

GlynD

googler wrote: »

I think we disagree on the 'everything' that you say, and the 'terms within the missives' that I say.

What's your source for the 'everything' under Scots law ?

Experience and common sense. I've bought and sold four properties in Scotland. I was almost the victim of fraud in respect of this "reasonable expectation" when someone tried to get the price of a new boiler out of me.

kitkatmarsbar

Jeezoh some people can be rude in their reply! Only wanting advice folks not a telling off as some people are putting across but thanks to the others who have been nice in their advice.

Yes some are minor and we can fix ourselves. my main concerns are that we cant open 60 percent of our windows, the garage doors and the oven. I do find that opening a glass oven door and nearly smashing it over my little ones head when it came off as it was so heavy is a horrible problem!

I certainly do expect my garage doors to open to park my cars in it with the price I paid for the house. These are just manual doors and not electrics ones. They seem to open only a fraction and my hubby said there seems to be a cable that has snapped on the inside. He's no expert on fixing garage doors so we will have to get someone in to do it.

Only a small amount of windows open and rest are lock...hmm horrible problem to me if I can't air out my house! I don't know why on earth they took all the keys from the windows and didn't leave a single one.

I've spent enough purchasing the house and didn't expect to shell out anymore to get fix/get a new oven, garage doors and windows.

kitkatmarsbar

I will continue discussing this will my solicitor and go from there.

Was just seeing if anyone else had been in this position before

GlynD

kitkatmarsbar wrote: »

I will continue discussing this will my solicitor and go from there.

Was just seeing if anyone else had been in this position before

Yes I have been. In one case I spotted the problem in advance and my solicitor kept a retention. Once the problem was fixed the remainder of the money was returned to the vendor. He came round to the property to demand his money back but was told where to get off.

In the second case the buyer of my last property in Scotland contacted his solicitor who contacted mine with a complaint that the boiler didn't work and needed repair. I was surprised because it was only 5 years old but he told me it was an inherent fault with that type of boiler. I agreed £750 to repair it but made a condition that I wanted a professional report including the serial number of the boiler so that I could attempt to mitigate my loss from the manufacturer. When his fitter came on the phone to demand his payment I asked where the report was. He got any angry with me so I spoke to our buyer who then confessed that we couldn't have the serial number because the old boiler had been removed as he wanted one which fitted in the loft and that his attempt to make me pay was simply him trying to cut down his costs. Obviously he got nothing.

artbaron

GlynD wrote: »

There is a certain expectation under Scottish Law that some things will function as you would expect. If they don't then the buyer can expect them to be put right by the seller.

I know, but in the time it takes to make a long forum post they could have already repaired half of the issues.