Should I insist on utilities being switched on before exchange?

Sunita007

We've made an offer on a detached property(probate) which has been empty for the last 2 years. The gas, electric, water have been switched off, the estate agent turns around on the last minute and tells us that he can't provide gas /electric safety certificates and that the house is to be purchased as seen. We are very confused and honestly do not know what to do. Is it a normal practice to buy unseen? Do advise.

Alter_ego

Gas/Electric safety certificates are not required for private houses. You are thinking of rentals.

scaredlady

I cannot see how they could be turned on prior to exchange.
Who would be responsible for any usage before exchange has taken place. What would have if for some reason exchange did not take place.
You say the place is empty. When you have exchanged, take meter readings, contact the suppliers and arrange for everything to be in your name ,from there on in.

G_M

The isurance probobly requires the power to be off ad/or water to be drained down as it's an unoccupied property.

the same happens with repo sales.

You can ask for utilities, but that means the seller has to

* set up new contracts, and
* change the insurance (which may not be possible

As Alter ego says, sellers/owner occupiers raraly have certificates anyway.

You must decide if you are willing to risk the boiler not working/ electrics being ancient etc (put a sum aside just in case) or want to walk away.

G_M

scaredlady wrote: »

I cannot see how they could be turned on prior to exchange.
Who would be responsible for any usage before exchange has taken place. What would have if for some reason exchange did not take place.
You say the place is empty. When you have exchanged, take meter readings, contact the suppliers and arrange for everything to be in your name ,from there on in.

Strange!

Why would you take on liability for someone else's utilities?

Wait for Completion.

Miss_Samantha

Sunita has a point.
If the utilities are turned off then it is quite difficult to test anything.

If the seller refuses to turn them on she could still try to arrange for visual inspections.
She can also decide to revise her offer based on the perceived extra risk, or withdraw.

davidmcn

scaredlady wrote: »

I cannot see how they could be turned on prior to exchange.
Who would be responsible for any usage before exchange has taken place. What would have if for some reason exchange did not take place.

Who do you think is currently liable for everything else to do with the house? The utility bills are the executors' responsibility from the date of death to whenever the sale completes. If and when they turn them off is up to them. It's by no means universal for empty properties to have utilities turned off, but understandable, particularly during winter (as said, likely to be an insurance requirement).

I think the OP will have to accept the risk of there being faults - but given they seem to have been expecting clear safety certificates, I presume the systems aren't obviously ancient / faulty.

Sunita007

Thankyou for your replies. Keeping in mind, some of the points mentioned above, we have asked for a reduction in the price to the tune of £5000 to £7000. However, the agents are adamant there will be no reduction in the price. I do think they were obligated to tell us before we had the surveys done, applied for mortgage, paid solicitor fees etc.
would anyone know of an indemnity clause that could be incorporated into the contact that will allow for the seller covering part of the cost, if we were to run into a huge expense and needed a new boiler, reworking etc.

theartfullodger

Offer to pay the seller's extra costs (after seeing invoices) for re-establishing utilities. Up to a maximum of £woteva

Shouldn't be more than a few hundred quid.

If sellers still refuse, walk away, there is a problem they know about.

I've bought a property at auction with utilities disconnected: It worked out but..
a) I knew and was prepared to take a gamble...
b) I could pay top-end-likely-costs if there was a problem.
(As it happened I'd never even looked inside the place before going to auction & buying: Do not do this at home, children....)


With buying a selling property, it's a bit like getting married: You won't know until 2 or 3 years in if it was a good idea or not.

If you're not prepared to gamble a few hundred quid then buying property is probably not for you (e.g. if Brexit chances prices drop significantly, way, way over the few hundred quid: Plus the loss due to drop in sterling). Pause for enraged brexiters to present the alternative view..

If you don't like my example then simply accept there are many other scenarios where property prices can drop:

Cheers all!

G_M

Sunita007 wrote: »

Thankyou for your replies. Keeping in mind, some of the points mentioned above, we have asked for a reduction in the price to the tune of £5000 to £7000. However, the agents are adamant there will be no reduction in the price. I do think they were obligated to tell us before we had the surveys done, applied for mortgage, paid solicitor fees etc.
would anyone know of an indemnity clause that could be incorporated into the contact that will allow for the seller covering part of the cost, if we were to run into a huge expense and needed a new boiler, reworking etc.

Wow! £5K - £7K!? I know what I'd say if I were the Executer! Especially if I believed there was nothing wrong with the boiler etc.

And surely you viewed this property before making an offer? You cannot have missed the fact that the lights did not switch on? The heating was off? Or that the property was not lived in (even if it is still furnished)?

You may be lucky of course. The seller might agree to a price reduction. Or to re-connect the utilities. But don't hold your breath....

davidmcn

Sunita007 wrote: »

would anyone know of an indemnity clause that could be incorporated into the contact that will allow for the seller covering part of the cost, if we were to run into a huge expense and needed a new boiler, reworking etc.

No, that isn't going to happen.

And how on earth did you arrive at £5-7,000? The risk of there being significant problems is pretty small, and even a replacement boiler wouldn't cost that much anyway.