FTB paid for homebuyers, got a valuation and only realised when problems started

timehastoldme

Hi all,

My apologies if this is long winded, just wondering if anyone can offer advice.

We bought a house over Christmas, we were FTB and operating under a tight schedule because we had been given notice in our rental. We were no chain, with a MIP and paid for the homebuyers through the MP. We had a letter from Country Wide with a two page document attached that lead us to believe everything was hunky dory, scanned it in and sent it to our solicitors.

Took forever to actually get into the house because house buying is a pain. We've been here seven months, it's a scruffy little ex rental and we'd saved to get some big jobs done this summer, new log burner installed and a new floor in one of the rooms.

Log burner man noticed a lean on one of the chimneys - we are end terrace so hadn't given it much thought - survey hadn't thrown up an issue. We'd spotted it would need repointing anyway so thought we'd get some advice from a roof man.

Roof man noticed not only was pretty much all the mortar missing, and the chimney leaning, but the chimney had been modified, shortened, with it's overhanging top piece removed completely. This was causing another problem which we were only just gathering the extent of. When it rains, water runs straight down the side of the chimney and into the brickwork on the end of the house. We knew there was a little damp patch and bubbled plaster in one room, with the recent heavy rain we've been getting some really wet walls.

He recommends a complete rebuild at a cost of £3,000. We'd been convinced it wouldn't come to that because surely if there was that big and obvious a problem, the homebuyers would have picked it up?

We checked the report, only to realised after googling a bit to see what a homebuyers should include, that we don't have a homebuyers, we have a basic valuation survey, that we paid several hundred pounds for.

Maybe we should have known, but we were green and under pressure to move and assumed (I know!) that the professionals knew what they were doing and would point out any errors.

I'm not sure we would have bought this house had we known. The plaster work upstairs is getting worse, and I don't think we can do the chimney any time soon, even scaling back all our plans for the summer very very dramatically.

Do you think we have any avenue for complaint? Is there much point?

Many thanks in advance

vw100

Since you only had a basic valuation - this is just so your lender (mortgage provider) can get a figure to work out if the property is worth the money you are asking for. So if you are borrowing say 150k, is the house worth at least 150k should the worse happen. A basic valuation is just there to serve that purpose really nothing more and is not a structural survey where faults or remedial work needed would be picked up.

ACG

Did the amount you pay reflect that you were paying for a homebuyers report or full survey?
Basic valuations can cost £2-300 or even more for certain priced properties.

You need to determine what you have paid for to work out where the problem lies. Did you ask for it and it was never instructed (in which case it could be the lenders fault), did you ask for it, pay for it but the wrong survey was carried out? (in which case it could be the surveyors fault).

timehastoldme

We asked for and paid for the home buyers, double checked and in the mortgage offer the amount paid for corresponds to a homebuyers report for a house of this value.

I guess we will be contacting the MP and the surveyor to see what happened!

Many thanks.

haras_nosirrah

Which lender and what price of property?
How much was the survey?

I work for countrywide so can tell you if the amount you paid corresponds to a basic or homebuyer

princeofpounds

I work for countrywide

Shhh... otherwise the mob will come out with torches and pitchforks ;-)

timehastoldme

First direct, £130,000 and £390!

timehastoldme

princeofpounds wrote: »

Shhh... otherwise the mob will come out with torches and pitchforks ;-)

We've only got a flashlight and a Dutch hoe, and they're all the way on the shed so they're safe for now

firebird082

timehastoldme wrote: »

First direct, £130,000 and £390!

Eeep, we got our valuation free with Nationwide, and paid an extra £200 for a homebuyers (and we really *did* get a homebuyers. From Countrywide).

On the other hand, you really didn't think twice about a 2 page report?! We are FTB on a tight time schedule as well, yet I've scrutinised every piece of paper that has come through my hands (to the detriment of my mental health I might add, but can't really help that!!). I can't help thinking that I would have been suspicious that it was so short, but perhaps that is hindsight talking.

I hope you manage to get some sort of comeback regardless - it's a nasty position you're in now.

pinkteapot

You should certainly be able to get a refund of the extra you paid over the valuation cost for the Homebuyers, but I don't think you'll be able to claim against them for the consequential losses of the problems with the house. They'll say you should have told them at the time that the Homebuyers hadn't been done...

haras_nosirrah

Countrywide mortgage services can't deal with first direct so you must have gone direct to lender rather than using a broker. I work for the brokers so wouldn't have a clue how much first direct charge

Did first direct instruct the homebuyer? I thought you had instructed via countrywide mortgage services

This is an issue to pick up via the bank as they instruct the valuations/ homebuyer