Nightmare - My first property

xael

TestTestTestTest

franklee

Do you have any legal cover with your insurance, maybe with your contents insurance or perhaps through work etc.

Lord_Baltimore

What an horrendous disappointment - you have my utmost sympathy.

To cut a long story short, you've been sold a pup which was poorly designed and which was misrepresented to you during purchase.

The legal route is the only course for resolution. I would put my energy into getting a solicitor briefed.

As a hopeful and free starter, I would write to the builder and the seller and advise that you are about to imminently instruct a solicitor to pursue your case and that you will seek recompense of your costs as part of the ensuing action. Offer ONE chance for them to find a solution out of court.

Of course, you have to bear in mind that your legal action may not be successful (buyer beware and all that) and may therefore be expensive for you.

In the meantime can you do anything inside the apartment to sound proof the lift shaft?

xael

Franklee, unfortunately I don't have legal cover through insurance or work. I did investigate after the event insurance but couldn't find someone offering it and was told that it was very expensive. The only thing my work offers is 30 minute advice with a solicitor but after the 30 minutes that's it.

Lord Baltimore, there isn't a great deal I can do within the apartment as the builder has tried quite a lot. Even to the degree where they ripped out my entire bathroom and put a gap between the shaft and apartment and added an extra layer of wall (reducing my living space). Even with this I didn't notice anything :-(

Lord_Baltimore

Can you raise it as an environmental health/noise issue with your local Council? I would rattle every possible cage no matter how improbable the assistance might be. Your circs would drive me nuts; I would probably have sabotaged the lift by now.

Perhaps you could sell being honest about the issue to potential buyers? Noise seems to affect younger people less and they may not be so concerned about the lift. I know as I get older, I hear things that never used to bother me.

princeofpounds

Solicitor solicitor solicitor.

One with both NHBC and property misrepresentation litigation experience.

This could be a big case I'm afraid.

xael

I also tried raising it as environmental/health issue but the government department didn't seem to really care as it was not a living entity and was an inanimate object. :-(

Thanks for the advice, I was afraid my only course of action was to engage a solicitor.

Would it be worth speaking to the seller to work something out? I am a bit loathe to speak to him as I'm sure I won't get anything of value out of him.

Lord_Baltimore

You're not an inanimate object though!

The Developer has to answer for the poor design. Ask your MP to help. Kick, punch, scream until somebody listens.

And that includes speaking to the seller. Tell him he misrepresented the place to you but that you don't want to have to pursue him in the courts because this will cost him more. It's worth a try.

Send letters and emails to everyone involved; be persistent. Grind them down before that place ruins your health.

Good luck.

Hoploz

Lord_Baltimore wrote: »

You're not an inanimate object though!

The Developer has to answer for the poor design. Ask your MP to help. Kick, punch, scream until somebody listens.

And that includes speaking to the seller. Tell him he misrepresented the place to you but that you don't want to have to pursue him in the courts because this will cost him more. It's worth a try.

Send letters and emails to everyone involved; be persistent. Grind them down before that place ruins your health.

Good luck.

The trouble is, I can't see what the solution is. The seller clearly knew about the problem and failed to disclose it. What redress would you like to achieve? Even if he bunged a couple of grand to xael the problem would still exist.

Sorry but I can't see a way out.

Turning the clock back is not an option, but other than that, what would you actually like to happen xael?

Slinky

Are the other flats in the building also suffering with similar issues? Can you enlist the help of others who are affected to put in some sort of group claim and thereby spread the cost of the litigation?

xael

I haven't tried contacting my local MP but will definitely give that a go, thanks!

I was under the impression that it was illegal if the seller knows of a structural defect that will affect the price of the property or the decision to purchase the property. I haven't really thought about what sort figure I would require for compensation but certainly I will have trouble selling the property at it's true value without the issue. So I guess the difference of the property price would be a good estimate.

The flat on the other side of the lifts has the issue but because they are renters they haven't really chased the issue (they have raised it as an issue with the owner - I may pursue this).