Property Litigation - taking our surveyor to court

complicated25

Dear all,


My partner and I are desperately in need of advice. We bought an old 1850's cottage in May this year. We paid full whack for a full structural survey to ensure that we were fully aware of any issues an old house may have. We read the survey carefully and with no major concerns or issues raised, we went ahead with the purchase.


Two weeks into living in the property, the dining room ceiling collapsed (missing me by inches as I work from home). We were aware of weakened plaster as this had come up in the survey and happily went about getting a builder in to fix the problem - thinking a quick job, re-plaster the wall. Several builders later, we learnt that no, it was not a cosmetic problem but we had major structural problems - we were told that there is substantial movement in the bedroom above which is causing the plastering to crack and call below. We were told that the movement was not normal and should have been in the survey (none of this was mentioned). We were then advised to strengthen or replace the joists. Building work started, and we then found out that there are other structural problems - again ones that are visible (a dud wall that could be seen from the larder under the stairs). All the work has meant 5-6 months in, we cannot live in the property and in effect, we have a shell of a house. This has caused a lot of stress and a lot of money as we are now in a rental and as I work from home, I have had to find alternative workspace.


We notified our solicitors straight away - who were rubbish and took weeks to reply. At the early stages, we were still blissfully unaware of the extent of the damage. They wanted large sums of money in order to simply let us know if we had a case and we decided to let it go at that time. We then contacted the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors who have equally not been responsive. We have now sent a formal complaint to the surveyors and that is being processed. However after further bad news today, we really want to take this to court! We are shocked that none of these issues were raised and that it is so difficult to hold the surveyor to account. Luckily we have some spare funds to go towards the house but god knows what a less fortunate family would have done!


We would like to know of any good property litigation lawyers or hear from people who have been in similar positions and how they went forward (noting a cash flow problem with paying out so much for the house). We are now getting another Structural Surveyor in (hopefully a good one though our mortgage provider) and this report will be useful if this goes to court.


Furthermore, are the previous owners responsible? It is quite clear that these issues have been there for awhile and they must have been know. We were sold a house we have now been told is unsafe to live in. Can they be held to account as well?


Any advice appreciated!

kingstreet

First port of call should have been a complaint to the survey firm, not the solicitor.

It is their responsibility to investigate their surveyor's actions and determine if he was at fault. Once that has been done, compensation should be offered/agreed, based on what you want them to do to correct the matter.

Litigation should only follow once you have exhausted the surveyor's complaints and compensation procedures.

lincroft1710

The previous owners cannot be pursued for any damages or compensation, houses in England are bought on the "caveat emptor" basis.

antrobus

complicated25 wrote: »

.....Furthermore, are the previous owners responsible? It is quite clear that these issues have been there for awhile and they must have been know. We were sold a house we have now been told is unsafe to live in. Can they be held to account as well?...

Only if you can prove that they deliberately lied to you about the condition of the property. So you would have to prove that the sellers had knowledge of the defects that you have outlined above, and failed to disclose that knowledge when asked a specific question.

Tough ask really. It's easier to sue the surveyors if you think you have a case. They are easier to find and have insurance, for one thing.

McMeekin v Long [2003] All ER (D) 124, a seller had to pay £67,500 in damages to a buyer for misrepresentation. The sellers had said on the Seller’s Property Information Form that they did not know about any disputes and had not received any complaints.

http://www.practicalconveyancing.co.uk/content/view/7836/0/

davidmcn

complicated25 wrote: »

We are now getting another Structural Surveyor in (hopefully a good one though our mortgage provider) and this report will be useful if this goes to court.

In case you haven't already asked, you'll probably need to instruct them (or another expert) specifically to report on what your original surveyor ought to have spotted, rather than just what you need to do now to fix the problems.

lincroft1710

OP - you claim that the previous owners must have known about the problem. You lived in the property for 2 weeks and were unaware of any problem until the ceiling collapsed, so why should the previous owners have known of any problem?

complicated25

A few months down the line, and having more information to hand, I agree that the surveyor should be told first. However there is very little information out there on the process so contacting our solicitor for advice was our first point of call. I spoke to several people (including other law firms, citizen's advice bureau etc.) who said all contact should be done via our solicitor so there is some contradiction in the information out there.


The surveyor has been told now and our complaint is going through. Equally it is a difficult one, we need to get building work moving so we can live in the property and whilst the surveyor is reviewing our case (and in case we are not satisfied with the response) we need to have back up which we can only really pursue with our solicitor (which also takes time to get moving) and to get another surveyor in to comment on the missed issues.


Thank you for all your comments. We will wait for the surveyor's response and continue our discussions with our solicitor who has suggested a structural surveyor does indeed come in and pick out the issues that were missed. I think taking the previous owners to court is indeed a difficult one and a battle which I think we will not pursue.

eddddy

Hi complicated25

Perhaps the most efficient order to do things is:

1) Complain to your original surveyors and get their response. It may be:
. a) They accept full liability
. b) They only accept partial liability because...
. c) They do not accept any liability because...

2) If the answer is b or c, instruct new structural surveyors and tell them what the original surveyors response was.


That way the new surveyors can determine whether the problems should have been spotted during the original survey, and challenge the original surveyors responses - all at the same time.

(You need to be careful about starting building work too quickly. Your dispute may centre around what evidence was visible or not visible on the day of the survey. If you repair/rebuild that evidence will be lost.)

mufi

Slightly off piste, but do you have legal cover on your house insurance? May well cover legal litigation bills.

esmerelda98

You should consider approaching the Ombudsman Service (Property) if you are not happy with the way your complaint is dealt with by the surveying company. Check whether your company comes under their remit as it would be a lot cheaper (?free) than litigation, but they will probably refuse to consider cases where court action has already been commenced (not sure on this).

camptownraces

Complicated25: your original post said that the surveyor alerted you to weak plaster in his report. I dare say that he gave the usual caveats about being unable to move furniture, lift floor coverings or get access to the loft. Can you confirm this?

Presumably the fallen ceiling was lath and plaster - can you confirm this?

What precisely did surveyor's report say with respect to "weak plaster" and what did he recommend you do about it?

All the other issues you've mentioned can't have come from surveyors - so they must have originated from various builders you got in?

With all due respect, the time to call the surveyor back was months ago when the ceiling had collapsed and a builder said structural weakness. Structural weakness must be assessed by a professional structural engineer or a surveyor, not a jobbing builder whose background may be in plumbing or carpentry. It's good that you are now getting another Structural Survey done.

As eddddy said, proceeding rapidly with building work is going to cover up evidence of what could have been spotted during the survey.

Sadly for you, and from the information you've given, I'm far from sure you're going to get far with placing all the blame on the original surveyor. Their get-out clauses are usually all encompassing.