Buying a Repossessed House

EitherWalnut

Hi folks,

Have just bought a repossession and will get the keys tomorrow. As is the norm with repossessed property, all of the utilities have been cut off, and I have no idea who I should contact to get them reconnected. Obviously the electric is the big one I'd like to sort first. Has anyone any ideas?

Advice from anyone that's ever bought a repo on this or any other matter will be gratefully received!

Thanks in advance.

:wave:

donnac2558

Wouldn't it be the same no matter what property you moved into? You contact the supplier you want and get a contract with them

BG009

Where did you buy it from? I am looking to buy a repo if possible.

saverbuyer

donnac2558 wrote: »

Wouldn't it be the same no matter what property you moved into? You contact the supplier you want and get a contract with them

It's not exactly the same.


The water, gas and electricity will all have been turned off.


If gas, I'd get a gas safe person in to check the supply.


The water can be turned on at the stopcock. The system will have to be filled again (unless it's a gas combi)


The electricity is probably off at the meter. (easy to turn on)


BT might charge a reconnection fee.

EitherWalnut

Thanks for the replies folks.

Electric is now on and a new account set up. Water on at stopcock so have a flushing toilet!

Heating is oil so got that checked out by engineer and he got boiler going, but two of my radiators aren't heating up. The inlet pipe for one of them is warm at best, and there's no heat anywhere on the other. The engineer did bleed them all, but maybe they need bled again because system was drained?

eastlady

Why didn't you check that the radiators were heating properly while the plumber was there?

saverbuyer

nicmalauren wrote: »

Thanks for the replies folks.

Electric is now on and a new account set up. Water on at stopcock so have a flushing toilet!

Heating is oil so got that checked out by engineer and he got boiler going, but two of my radiators aren't heating up. The inlet pipe for one of them is warm at best, and there's no heat anywhere on the other. The engineer did bleed them all, but maybe they need bled again because system was drained?

The system probably needs balanced. You can do it yourself easily enough or you can get the plumber out to do it for you.


Google "radiator balancing".

Mistral001

The two radiators that are not working probably need to be bled again. Some trapped air has probably made its way to those radiators after they were bled before, so it is probably not because the plumber did not bleed them properly. It is very easy to do and you can get a key for bleeding from any hardware shop and even most pound shops. You will find a video on how to do it on Youtube, no doubt.

EitherWalnut

So after a bit of radiator balancing (thanks saverbuyer) and another visit from the boiler-man, we have established that I can have either the radiators on upstairs, or downstairs - but not both together. Reckon the boiler needs a new pump as current one isn't working properly and therefore can't get flow through the whole system at once.

Had oil tank filled yesterday, and noticed last night that some wee b*****d had drilled a hole through both the cap and the lip of the tank to siphon it off. I actually cannot believe that someone would go to all that effort! Any tips?! (I'm thinking switch to gas at this rate!)

saverbuyer

nicmalauren wrote: »

So after a bit of radiator balancing (thanks saverbuyer) and another visit from the boiler-man, we have established that I can have either the radiators on upstairs, or downstairs - but not both together. Reckon the boiler needs a new pump as current one isn't working properly and therefore can't get flow through the whole system at once.

Had oil tank filled yesterday, and noticed last night that some wee b*****d had drilled a hole through both the cap and the lip of the tank to siphon it off. I actually cannot believe that someone would go to all that effort! Any tips?! (I'm thinking switch to gas at this rate!)

If you can, switch to gas. Best investment you'll ever make.


Sound like the system needs a bit spent on it so might be better to upgrade now. Get a combi fitted for around 2k or get a new system boiler for 1.5k or so.


So did someone siphon the tank already?

CEON44

If you can, switch to gas. Best investment you'll ever make.

Not the case. Best investment at the minute has to be free boiler and fuel, correct?? Well thats what you get if you go the biomass route. There are a couple of threads on it here and its really strange that more people arent going for it. You do need to pay out money upfront but it is returned to you by grants over a 7 year period. Ive done it and it really can work for you. You can buy boiler for maybe minimum 3K but better to go with better make. In my case I paid £8k for bolier, buffer, flue etc etc plus fitting. After commissioning I got £2.500 back immediately plus I now get £2.200 back per year for 7 years. So over this period I will get back enough to cover the cost of installation plus enough to buy the wood pellets. After 7 years if its not then competitive I just rip it out and replace with whatever best option is then. Wont have cost me a penny.