No electric & gas certificates on house I'm buying

hessodreamy

I'm in the process of buying a house and the survey came back noting that there is no current electrical certificate, and that the most recent gas boiler service certificate was over a year old.

I'm a first-time buyer so I'm just wondering how best to proceed.

I've established from my oh-so-helpful solicitor that the vendor has no legal obligation to provide these things. Fine. So I was wondering whether I should prompt the vendor to do them, or whether I should carry them out, and if I should attempt to deduct the cost of the reports from the offer.

I guess I don't want to wait until I move in to get the electrics inspected, and then find out the it needs something major.

The gas I'm not overly concerned with, as it was apparently inspected this year, but the vendor couldn't find the certificate. At worst it's been 18 months.

So, as a first-timer, I'm a bit unsure as to the protocol. I don't want to ask anything unreasonable, but I was to get what I'm entitled to.

Any suggestions?

molerat

As you have found there is no requirement for them. If you want the electrics checking you will need to pay, the same as you are (or should be !) paying to check that the roof is sound and the walls are not falling down. The main reason that the lack of certificates is mentioned on the survey is so that the surveyor's backsides are covered if something goes wrong with those particular areas.

moneyistooshorttomention

A conscientious seller will have Electrical Certificates for any electrical work they have had done on the house since it came into their ownership. That might mean they have some Certificates/it might not.

But it certainly wont mean they would go out specially and get one for would-be buyers.

For instance, I handed my solicitor a certificate for when I had the house rewired when I first bought it (many moons ago) and one or two minor works certificates for stuff I had had done subsequently. There wasn't an up-to-date comprehensive all-encompassing Certificate and that's that and, if a buyer had wanted one, then they would have been out of luck end of....

G_M

You want to check the seller genuinely owns the property? Then pay a solicitor.

You want to check the property is in decent condition? Then pay a surveyor.

You want to check the electrics? Then pay an electrician.

You want to check the council is not planning a motorway nearby? Then pay for searches.

You want to check the gas? Then pay a gas engineer.

robatwork

G_M wrote: »

You want to check the seller genuinely owns the property? Then pay a solicitor.

You want to check the property is in decent condition? Then pay a surveyor.

You want to check the electrics? Then pay an electrician.

You want to check the council is not planning a motorway nearby? Then pay for searches.

You want to check the gas? Then pay a gas engineer.

All correct apart from #2.

Still 80% is a good score G_M!

OP there isn't a legal obligation on a house owner to have certified gas and electrics - the law is different for landlords. You may want to pay a specialist in both to inspect before you exchange if you have some doubts.

hessodreamy

OK I get that the vendor doesn't have an obligation to provide these things, and as such any request I make for them to get one (and pay for it) will probably fall on deaf ears.

So do you think it would be a good idea for me pay to to get the electrics checked before sale? It seems like a lot of the language around house buying rungs like 'the buyer MAY want to....', and you could end up paying for all sorts of things because solicitors and surveyors (not unreasonably) play it vague.

Newly_retired

How old is the property?
It is highly unlikely that a house of any age will conform to current regulations for electrics, as they change so often, unless it has recently had major work done.
That does not mean it is unsafe.
What does the survey say? The surveyor will not be an electrical specialist, so will want to cover himself by recommending you get a specialist report. That doesn't automatically mean there's anything to worry about.

hessodreamy

Newly_retired wrote: »

How old is the property?

1930s.

I'm off to look at the house again at the weekend and will have a look at the fusebox & meter just to check their age. I believe it's got circuit breakers rather than fuses, so that's a start! But apart from checking for general age and lack of scorch marks there's not a lot I'm qualified to to.

borkid

How long have the vendors owned the house? They might have had it rewired and done by a qualified electrician. If they've been there 20 or so years and not had it done then you are probably looking to have it rewired in the near future.One house we moved into, many years ago, we thought it had been rewired all new sockets etc but when the floorboards were lifted we discovered the very old wiring system.

The only way to know for sure though is to get an inspection done for yourself. Think though if the inspection came back saying you needed new wiring would you use this to ask for a reduction in price?

ging84

robatwork wrote: »

All correct apart from #2.

Who do you pay to check it's condition then?
someone who is going to do something other than survey the property?