Seller/agent omitted important information about the house. Should we sue them?

moneyistooshorttomention

ed110220 wrote: »

Makes me think of the story my grandmother used to tell of buying a house in South Africa in which the estate agent drove her there by a carefully chosen longer route which ensured that the chimneys and cooling towers of a nearby power station stayed hidden by trees and other houses.

At the end of the day the estate agent cannot be expected to list all the potential negatives of a home they're trying to sell. An airport just like a power station with 100m tall chimneys isn't exactly a secret... And yes she did know of the existence of the power station beforehand!

Ed

That reminded me of one particular house that I went to view here. The EA gave me directions to find it - and I went the route they said. However, it became apparent subsequently that the "real route" (ie the shortest one) to it went past various unpleasant places. Hence I realised why the EA had specified the "wrong route" to it.

EA's do try to catch out non-local buyers. Local buyers will be much more aware of potential pitfalls - and I'm sure EA's keep their eyes open for non-locals deliberately for the worst houses.

Then there was the house that I hadn't got on my viewing list - but the EA persuaded me to have a viewing of it. One quick look revealed high risk of flooding/absolute certainty of insurance companies kicking up about providing insurance for it/about half a dozen potential boundary disputes all "primed" and ready to go as soon as the very elderly next door neighbour got replaced by A.N. Other neighbour and part of the garden was ready to go "on a slide" into the house itself. Funnily enough, that house is still up for sale a good 2 years (at least) after it went on the market.

estherta

Dan-Dan wrote: »

I am no fan of estate agents , but you have to be on wind up with this one?

Unlikley i know but some people might LIKE living near a motorway or airport ?!

Surely you dont really believe it isnt your responsibility to check out the local infrastructure before spending thousands of pounds?!

Ok, I am not sure if you read the thread properly. We did check!, we knew there was an airport in a nearby area, a rail not too far either, a lake, ect ect. I am not talking about pretty planes in the sky, i am talking about planes just above the garden, flying so close and making such noise you have to stop talking until they pass.....Tell me how can you check the house is straight underneath the flight path , unless you see it or as it has been mentioned here, you ask the direct question.

The owners only lived 2 years here.... I wonder why. Forgive me to be suspicious that I may have been ripped off.
Now, you must be joking when you say it is possible people like to live right next to noisy motorways or airports, right? I would have thought they live there because it is cheaper and end up getting used to it, in most cases.

Dan-Dan

My point is , you have implied the EA is responsible for advising you of `busy motorways and airports`

skintpaul

Does OP have link to house advert?

Would think any sane person would search the area on google maps, at least!

silvercar

Yes, we knew it was an airport nearby (it's a private one, so no as bad as if it was Heathrow) but no, it didn't cross our mind the flight path would be just above our garden. We wish so hard we would have checked....We didn't see any plane any of the time we came to see the house.

One would hope that if it had been Heathrow you would have had a vague idea without the estate agent having to point it out to you!

kingstreet

As aircraft have to take off and land into the wind, you may find this a problem only when the wind is in the wrong direction!

booksurr

estherta wrote: »

Ok, I am not sure if you read the thread properly. We did check!, we knew there was an airport in a nearby area, a rail not too far either, a lake, ect ect. I am not talking about pretty planes in the sky, i am talking about planes just above the garden, flying so close and making such noise you have to stop talking until they pass.....Tell me how can you check the house is straight underneath the flight path , unless you see it or as it has been mentioned here, you ask the direct question.

The owners only lived 2 years here.... I wonder why. Forgive me to be suspicious that I may have been ripped off.
Now, you must be joking when you say it is possible people like to live right next to noisy motorways or airports, right? I would have thought they live there because it is cheaper and end up getting used to it, in most cases.

so you continue to seek to blame others for your own failings

My first property was near Heathrow because it was cheap. Based on what you said above you and I had identical start points: We both knew that was an airport in the vicinity and therefore potential to be affected by flights. Unlike you I....
a) asked the vendors to explain what happened during the day and night
b) asked a random neighbour to check if vendor was lying
c) sat in my car for 15 - 30 minutes on 3 occasions to check out the area: x2 evening & x 1 weekend
d) looked at a map to orientate the property with the direction of the runways
e0 and the bit you may not have been able to do so easily compared to Heathrow: looked at the public info on flight paths and airport operation times

stop blaming others for your own lack of research

antrobus

estherta wrote: »

...We had mixed responses, a solicitor told us it had only to be disclosed if the owners were bothered by it (go and find proof of that) and other solicitor said it definitely had to be disclosed by the owner and we have also read since 2013 by law estate agents must disclose anything that could have an impact on the buyers decision to make an offer or buy the property and I am sure that included noisy motorway and airports...

I am inclined to cite Sykes v Taylor-Rose [2004] EWCA 299, where it was held that a vendor was under no duty to disclose the fact that a murder had been committed at the house.

Davesnave

Your original post asked if you should sure the vendors/agent for non-disclosure of something that was freely observable. The advice given has, unanimously, been unfavourable towards this.

It's rare that there is such a level of agreement here.

Enough said.

DaftyDuck

Most local airfields have something LIKE THIS that shows when they are active, and rather detailed flight plans.

This is a teeny tiny airfield..... and, as we regulars know on here, teeny tiny things cause no problems to anyone!

I have this on my computer's favourites, 'cos I was considering... just considering, a house in Old Buckenham in the last few months...