Selling your house - would you inform buyers of a serious issue that could be hidden?

lessonlearned

Yes I most definitely would inform the purchaser - in fact I did so when I sold my last house.

House went on market at the end of September 2012. The following week I noticed that there were surveyors in the field at the back of my house. I knew the name of the development company so I contacted them. They had been sitting on the land for the last 20 years and had just been waiting for a change in planning laws - which of course is what has happened with the release of green belt land.

Our local council were dead set against any further development but they were powerless to fight what is a central government edict.

I told all viewers right out that although no formal plans had been lodged it was only a matter of time and that a formal planning application would be made, most likely in the near future and that it would be successful. My purchasers said thank you for being so honest but they still wanted the house even if planning permission were to be granted.

We legally completed on 14th Dec 2012, the planning app went in the first week of January and was granted, just as I had anticipated.

I did not have to divulge what I knew. There had been no formal planning application to show up on the local searches and no-one would have been any the wiser. However I felt that it was wrong to deceive my prospective purchasers.

As it was I sold my house in 3 weeks flat (when the market was still quite slow) and was happy with the selling price. My purchasers keep in touch and they tell me they are very happy in their new home.

SAS - I'm really quite gobsmacked that the issue of the stream did not come to light in either the survey or when you came to buy buildings insurance.

I have bought two houses in the last year and in both instances the insurance companies were aware of nearby water courses, requested more information and thus alerted me to any potential issues. The close proximity of water courses were also flagged up on the enviromental searches.

(This enabled me to do my own further research and make informed decisions).

Even if you use a search engine for your insurance quote a stream under your house should have come up with a red flag and a request from your insurer for further information. This alone would have alerted you.

I feel sure that you have a case here for lack of due diligence on the part of both your surveyor and your insurers. You and your solicitor should also have noticed any remarks on the Enviromental searches.

Definitely get an independent expert in to advise you.

Halle 71 - It should be possible to get retrospective building consents. You will have to pay and you will have to allow the Building Control Officer to do a thorough inspection. Unfortunately you will have to allow them to "knock the house about a bit" i.e. they will have to uncover any lintels, rsj's etc, check out the drainage etc.

My sister has exactly this same issue at the moment. She is currently in the process of getting retrospective building regs for a kitchen extension that was constructed in 2003, so definitely prior to 2006.

Both of these cases do highlight that old adage "Caveat Emptor".

The purchaser must perform their own "due diligence" and double check everything they can.

Sadly some vendors are economical with the truth, some tell outright porkies, some lie by omission or withhold pertinent information. Sadly not all solicitors and surveyors are on the ball.

SAS & Halle - hope you both get these issues sorted out.

Running_Horse

A decent surveyor would spot it immediately, which begs the question, why didn't yours when you bought? Instead of suing the previous owners, I would be contemplating legal action against the surveyor who failed to spot something so obvious and basic.

You did have a survey, didn't you? A homebuyers report doesn't count.

LandyAndy

Running_Horse wrote: »

A decent surveyor would spot it immediately, which begs the question, why didn't yours when you bought? Instead of suing the previous owners, I would be contemplating legal action against the surveyor who failed to spot something so obvious and basic.

You did have a survey, didn't you? A homebuyers report doesn't count.

Why write that when you know the answer?

Homebuyers report.
I know i know. We should've gone for structural & maybe (or maybe not) that would've picked it up. It's done now though.

Davesnave

Forget that, i want my house sold. Keep quiet!

Running_Horse wrote: »

You did have a survey, didn't you? .

You have read all of this thread, haven't you?

Putting this through the courts could take years, with no certainty of outcome, especially if it's £££ you're after. Winning is one thing and receiving recompense is another.

How much do you value your life and mental-well being? Can you even put a price on these things?

Personally, I wouldn't waste money on legals. I'd spend my energies and available cash on solving the problem. or moving on from it, depending upon which is likely most expensive

No one here can tell you what your moral duty is as regards re-advertising the house. Say you sold it on without revealing the problem; would you really be free from worry then?

captainhindsight_2

Forget that, i want my house sold. Keep quiet!

Personally I'd just not tell them, IMO its up to them to find out any problems. If they find out you can just say you didnt know and offer to resolve the problem and if they dont its not your problem any more and you've saved a few £000

I'm sure the people you bought it off knew about it and you bought it without knowing... any legal action takes forever and will cost you.

And you'd have to prove it.

It is pretty difficult to prove that the previous owner knew about the problem, and it be pretty difficult to prove that you knew about it (unless they got access to your MSE account of course...lol.)

The solicitor is running a business and probably knows this...

I have bought properties where I have found problems with them and just though my mistake i'll learn from it and i've sold properties with problems and not cared because I believe Buyer Beware.

The reality is, if you say something you could be stuck with it for a long time IMO.

moneyistooshorttomention

Yes i'd inform them, i'm a little angel.

Actually, one of my concerns as well would be how to insure a house that close to a stream that it was literally sitting on it. My mind was really boggling with how it would be possible to answer "Is there a watercourse within 200 metres?" with "Errr...yep....there's one not even 1 inch away".

LessonLearned
I've seen a building that had a stream underneath it sold before now. The developer that bought it demolished it and only then found out about the stream underneath it. I'm told they were one very unhappy bunny and the whole development took months longer than they had anticipated it would.

The thing was that friends of mine live very nearby and they hadn't the foggiest idea about it either and I don't think anyone did and hence an insurance company would probably not have noticed either. Now thinking "Darn, I used to visit with the owner of one of the houses built on that site and didn't think to ask them ever whether they were aware of it or no". From looking at the redeveloped site, no-one would have the faintest idea either. Having said that, I never saw any evidence of damp in that house, but OP's is a very different kettle of fish.

Bliss77

Yes i'd inform them, i'm a little angel.

I would expect this to come up as part of the survey and probably the searches too - one of our searches was a flood search that included how close the property was to water.

I really think you would be found out if you didnt say anything - which would leave your buyers questioning if they really want to go ahead given you have been dishonest.

This isnt just a minor decorative issue - it should have been picked up when you bought the house and remember how you felt when you found out...

moneyistooshorttomention

Yes i'd inform them, i'm a little angel.

True. Not just minor as stated.

Errrm...none of us can tell since we aren't in your position. I tend to think that, with such a bad situation, I'd probably have to tell and resign myself to the fact that I might well have to change my mind about moving.

I guess the thing is what sort of level of price did you pay for the house? If you paid what seemed to be an absolute bargain price and were wondering why ...then you have just found out...and the other side of that coin would be to sell the house on at an absolutely bargain price.

If you paid a standard sort of price that didn't take that into account, then I cant quite see how you can move (unless you are prepared to sell the house at a bargain price, even though you didn't get it that way, and take a heavy loss).

onlyroz

How much would it cost to properly fix the issue?

Running_Horse

LandyAndy wrote: »

Why write that when you know the answer?

Why did they start a whole discussion implying the previous owners are at fault, when the fault is clearly theirs for not having a proper survey?

Unless they can find another mug too dim to spend a few hundred protecting an investment worth tens of thousands, then the question is irrelevant. The surveyor will spot it, and their purchasers will run a mile.