Vent: to the people who owned our house before...

marlot

My parents moved into a house where the owner had left a dog!

He didn't turn up for a week, and feigned surprise when us children had 'adopted' the dog and talked my parents into keeping it

Pennywise

You really need to talk to the conveyancer about the answers they were given by the seller to the standard questionnaire - in fact ask for a copy of all the questionnaires. If the seller has lied about anything, you can claim compensation from them. But first, you need to know what questions were asked and what answers were given.

But, having said that, a lot of your points are pretty much standard that you can do nothing about. Only the conservatory is a potential problem. Things like hot water and central heating coming on together is probably just something you have to accept - that's how some systems work - did you specifically ask if it was the kind of system that allowed separate on/offs?

I think that buyers have to accept that there will be some problems and provide a relatively modest fund for repairs to cover it. You're only going to get any compensation if the seller has deliberately lied to a particular question. The conveyancer won't know all the ins' and outs of the property so won't know to ask any questions that aren't on the standard questionnaire - if you don't tell them there's a conservatory very close to the border, how would they know to ask about it?

skid112

We moved and they had left lots of junk in the loft. Alas for them they had left a forwarding address and didnt expect for a minute me to turn up with their belongings and leave them in their drive

ben_m_g

We brought an ex-council house that someone who thought they knew DIY had a field day. It all looked good but dated, the problems came when I tried to fix things.

U bend was fitted properly, it was there but not attached. If you turned the tap on too far it flooded the cabinet.

Skirting fixed with no nails, tacks and 4 inch nails that destroyed the wall taking out.

No self level in the living room, laminate was laid on a shovel full of cement and bowed into shape (he must have spent a year with springy floors.

Wiring a mess, the living room wires where loose, the light in the hall was wired from the plug socket.

Garden full of broken glass in the flowerbeds. And cigar butts littered the paved area.

Toilet and sink where fitted before the tiling, the tiles where actually over the base stuck down.

The tiles themselves has a mismatch of tile cement, no more nails and who knows what else.

paddyrg

Friend's place, upstairs en-suite flushed - into the garden (not septic tank, just into the garden!). There wasn't more than 18" cable between electrical junction boxes (the previous owner's son brought home 'scraps' from building site skips). There were over 600 hooks in every surface to hang knick-knacks. The asbestos sheeting in the garage was overlapped the wrong way, so actively funnelled the rain into the 'inspection pit' (which became an indoor pond).

Not much help to the OP, just want to reassure they're not the only ones to buy into a shoddy nightmare.

Pennywise

Not having a go at anyone in particular but more at homebuyers in general. It's one of the biggest purchases of your life, but most spend barely more than half an hour for a superficial look around. People probably spend longer choosing a gadget costing a fraction of the price.

My SIL just bought a house. She only viewed it once and by the sounds of it she spent that time talking to the seller who it turned out she used to go to school with. She chose this house over another because "it looked ready to move into" whereas another on the same street, £5k cheaper needed a new bathroom and kitchen. When she moved in, and actually looked at it properly, she realised it needed a new bathroom and kitchen!

When I bought my house, the viewer was clearly annoyed because I dared to actually spend my time looking around in detail at it rather than breezing through the rooms. On the second visit, I insisted they let me look in the loft and I opened every cupboard, turned on and off the heating, gas fire, fitted kitchen appliances etc. I looked in the garage, looked in the electric and gas cupboards, turned on and off a few light switches, etc. I can't understand why others don't do that too!

When it came to solicitors, I gave them a list of questions I wanted answers to and a list of documents I wanted to see, all regarding things that the solicitor simply wouldn't know about without viewing the house themselves (which they don't of course), such as planning permission and building regs documents for the conservatory, porches and loft conversion, Fensa certificates for the double glazing - the solicitor wouldn't have known there was a loft conversion so you can't rely on them to ask the right questions as they're not psychic.

Nick_C

Pennywise, I applaud your thoroughness. I have been trying to move since May last year, and am on my third purchaser. My solicitor has checked for planning permissions and building regs on garage conversions and conservatories without being told to, but these things were described in the Estate Agent's brochure.

Going back to my earlier point, I think its essential to ask if anything being sold within the house is not in working order or needs attention, but this doesn't seem to be a standard question.

breaking_free

Pennywise wrote: »

Not having a go at anyone in particular but more at homebuyers in general. It's one of the biggest purchases of your life, but most spend barely more than half an hour for a superficial look around. People probably spend longer choosing a gadget costing a fraction of the price.

^ This. I'm from NZ and genuinely can't understand why UK buyers think that it's bad manners to turn on taps and open cupboards and doors during the FIRST visit. If doors/windows/cupboards are badly fitted and the water pressure is crap I won't bother to waste anybody's time with a second visit.

My current flatmate looked at me aghast when I told her I'd turned on the shower in a place I viewed last week - "In front of the estate agent?" she said in disbelief.

When I'm shelling out big money for a purchase I will check everything I can and won't be put off by estate agents or vendors not wanting me to be intrusive.