Buying house where wall removed with no paperwork/regs

winnallreed

Hi,

We are currently at the end of the process of moving house but our solictors have pointed out that a wall was removed between the kitchen and dining room and there is no paperwork/certificates for it.

The seller doesnt know if it is load bearing or whether an RSJ was put in - she said it was done in 2006 by a family friend. She has offered a indemnity for the lack of regs but we are worried about not knowing what work was done.

We are not sure what to do? The solicitors said to get someone to look at it to check the work but who would do this? Are we being overly particular about work that was done 10 years ago?

Please help!!

gettingtheresometime

I think I'd be looking for a structural engineer to have a look at it; it's all very well the seller having an indemnity but will that make you feel better if the house become a pile of rubble

G_M

An indemniy policy will pay out if the local authority forces you to replace the wall - which they can only do within 12 months of the work being completed.

It will not pay out if the floor above collapses because no rsj was used.

But after 10 years I'd expect there to be signs of a problem if a problem existed - or signs of a cover-up like fresh plaster or wallpaper covering the cracks.......

AnotherJoe

Id still spend a few hundred to get it professionally checked despite the small damage that will be caused and I'd have the vendor reduce their price by that much since they created the problem.

winnallreed

We have had a quote from a local structural engineer for £200 to review the work completed and I have asked the seller to pay for this. Waiting to hear back from them now. We had to pay well over the asking price to get the house so I feel asking for this is fair. Will let you know how we get on!

jimbog

Just a thought - if there's an RSJ there then, being steel, a cheapo metal detector should detect it.

Update: just went downstairs could detect mine easily with this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Powerfix-Multi-Purpose-Detector-for-Metal-and-Electric-Cables-Finder-/322218740518?hash=item4b05bbcb26:g:vXwAAOSw5cNYGGjM

AlexMac

The £200's a worthwhile investment, assuming you clarify that you can claim on the surveyor's professional indemnity in the (infinitessimal) chance that it collapses or moves.

Yours was exactly the position the seller of our current house was in when they bought ten years before they sold on to us. They comissioned a survey, which covered them, but was not transferrable, as the surveyor was only accountable to the client. So if you do likewise, and irrespective of who pays, make sure you commission the work.

In our case, and after a chat by phone with the original surveyor (who was still on the same phone as on the survey report in the bundle of papers from the vendor's solicitor) we (and our build bro-in-law) took the view that as it hadn't moved in 10 years, there was no issue- as proves the case, 5 years on...

When you sell on, X years hence, what will your buyer think? Probaly the same?

Thrugelmir

winnallreed wrote: »

she said it was done in 2006 by a family friend.

Is there anything to support this assertion.