Water leak at house we're buying

uptomyeyeballs

We've recently exchanged contracts, but not yet completed, on a house and have been trying to agree a completion date. The vendor has continued to push the date back (to 24th June) and we weren't sure why, as we'd been ready to go since the back end of May. After a phone call to the vendor's estate agent, they told me that the house had been standing empty, and the water had been switched off by the local water company (Northumbrian Water) and the vendor didn't have an appointment to get it switched back on until 20th (the vendor lives in Birmigham).

I rang Northumbrian Water, who told me that the water was switched off because there was a big leak on the house side of the meter and water was draining away somewhere. They couldn't tell me where the leak was because they'd never investigated it. There was no evidence of any leak inside the house, so it looks like it's outside, but it could be anywhere on the property. The vendor hasn't disclosed this information to anyone (his agent didn't know), but obviously he knew about the leak as he'd been negotiating with Northumbrian Water about it.

Is he still liable to get it fixed even though we've exchanged contracts?

Better_Days

Just to check have you definitely exchanged contracts without agreeing a completion date?

Have you arranged to insure the property between exchange and completion?

You need advice from your solicitor regarding the leak - who is responsible will depend on the contract that you will have signed.

I take it there is nothing on the property info form about the leak - in which case again your solicitor will be able advise. Do you know when the vendor first became aware of the leak?

Rotten situation - this is potentially expensive to sort out although it may depend on the procedures of the particular water company.

AlexMac

Your solicitor will advise, but we insisted two probs were fixed by the vendor; a minor leak before exchange and a hole on 'our' bit of the private road which appeared after exchange; our lawyers advice was that the faults after exchange were the vendors problem , but as the leak was 'concealed' by the turn-off its arguable that the vendor deliberately concealed it!

But either way- argue, as it could be an expensive fix, and involve excavation if it really is on your land on a dedicated as opprosed to a shared pipe.

We had a further minor undetected leak after moving in and our 1st metered water bill was £600 for 18 months! mended it for £50 and its now £250 a year!

So tell solicitor to get a grip!

DaftyDuck

Given that a completion date has yet to be confirmed, I strongly suspect you may have signed contracts ready to exchange, but not yet exchanged. So, get onto your solicitor PDQ tomorrow morning, and let him know this may be a problem. The leak may well be outside the property, but if the water is off, it may well not show even if it is inside the property.

Some water Co's will fix a leak outside a property, others won't. Northumbria will fix some... THIS PDF downloadable from them explains what they will & won't do.

Take a copy of this to your solicitor, and make sure that the vendors will cover any additional costs you incur, not covered by Northumbrian Water, in fixing the leak. Or, at least be prepared for the costs you might incur.

Well done for being a proactive buyer and following up matters like this. You may well save yourself a thousand quid by doing so. Wish more did this ....

uptomyeyeballs

I think you're right, documents signed but not yet exchanged. I'll wait to see what my solicitor advises. Have already passed on the info. Vendor's agent also rang Northumbrian Water and came back with a story of no leak, just a precaution as house had been standing empty for a while. This will be interesting from here I think ;-)

uptomyeyeballs

Vendor's solicitor now says the vendor is out of the country until 23rd June, so can't complete until 26th June at the earliest. No mention of any water leak. We've responded by saying we'll delay completion until we have evidence that the water leak has been fixed.

DaftyDuck

The leak - or agreement to fix the leak - should be in place at exchange.

Chasing the vendor to pay for remedial work after completion is a losing battle. The point of exchange is the point at which the condition of the house is effectively fixed.

uptomyeyeballs

DaftyDuck wrote: »

The leak - or agreement to fix the leak - should be in place at exchange.

Chasing the vendor to pay for remedial work after completion is a losing battle. The point of exchange is the point at which the condition of the house is effectively fixed.

Yes, I understand that. We won't exchange (or complete) without that agreement. We've made that clear to his solicitor.