Money Moral Dilemma: Should we reveal hidden problems with our house?

Davesnave

REJP wrote: »

I was brought up to be honest and not lie. I have tried to live that way even though it has sometimes cost me promotion at work, but I can live with my conscience clear.
Caveat Emptor is a warning, not a cop out for not telling the truth.

Failing to volunteer information isn't lying.

Giving false information on Form TA6 is lying.

Fujiko

maisie_cat wrote: »

It's a difficult one, we bought from a retired builder who will have known the problems but didn't declare. WE accepted caveat emptor an we had a full structural and the surveyor claimed there was dry rot, the dry rot company said not. But all the joists were rotten, some walls were unsupported & damp and needed rebuilding, the "new" plumbing was leaking, who uses caulk as sealant?
There were around 40 empty beer cans in the loft under the insulation, had we known it would have been enough to ring alarm bells.

The surveyor didn't pick any of what was wrong, we had to strip back and replace joists,ceilings and flooring. We had to rewire, replace plumbing and replace boiler and windows.
The house was not sold as a wreck but it was and cost us around £50k more than we expected. The one advantage is that now it's all been done we can sell with paperwork and know that it's a nice family home

We have moved house three times, and each time employed a fully qualified surveyor to carry out a full survey on our behalf, certainly quite expensive but well worth the money. Did you check on your surveyor's qualifications because I cannot believe that one who was fully qualified could have missed the very obvious faults in the house? Certainly the ones we used picked up very minor problems not easily seen, but that's their job, If your surveyor had all the necessary qualifications you would certainly have had a case for making a claim for negligence against him.

BaldacchinoR

As people have said, a carpet is not part of the house and any other items sold to a house buyer which are not part of the house are subject to the 'buyer beware' rule as I understand it.


However, with the house itself, while 'buyer beware' is prudent when checking it out, there are precedent cases which provide that the seller has to inform the buyer of problems when answering questions about the property, whether via their solicitor or directly to the buyer. This not only includes defects in the property but other issues e.g. neighbour disputes. Otherwise the purchaser could come back on the seller at a later date for compensation. That's as I understand it but I am not a legal advisor so purchasers need to check with their own advisor.

Wizzbang

Basically it depends whether or not you're just a money-grabbing b@£$%!d with no morals, or not! We ended up buying a house off a pair of old !!!!!!s like that. Oh they smiled so sweetly and at 90+, they were lying through their teeth. We should have known what we were in for, from the problems we had dealing with their solicitors, who clearly were also from the same school of money-grabbing.

Yes, you can pay a surveyor but our survey wasn't worth the paper it was written on and in trying to sue the surveyor we got precisely nowhere, even with the help of the Ombudsman. Turns out the whole scheme is pointless, so don't place any hopes of actually being able to get your money back when things do go wrong. It truly was an eye-opener and I would never, ever bother to waste my money on a survey again. You're better off getting a builder you trust to look at the properly IMHO.

The problems we were able to pick up on before the sale, thanks to our solicitors and getting independent tradesmen to quote were problems with the drains and that they had altered the house without planning permission. We made them give us the money to rectify that.

We ended up having to pay out in excess of £30K to get the house liveable after we moved in. It turned out that the elderly sellers had (perhaps in all fairness) been duped by a cowboy builder more times than you would care to mention. But it didn't help that they were also a pair of old misers- which came to light after we started to get other local tradesmen involved who had been called out to the property to quote in recent years.

It had a leaking roof on 1/3 of the property (oh yes, the seller claimed it had been fixed), the bathroom had been so poorly installed - it was leaking into the walls through the tiling (seller concealed with furniture which of course surveyors are not allowed to move and that's their get-out clause), the porch & conservatory hadn't been constructed properly - both were made of a single skin of bricks and were damp as hell (cleverly concealed by the previous owners), part of the boiler a radiator was leaking meaning the boiler wasn't working properly either. All of the windows and doors had not been fitted correctly and needed adjustment or replacement due to their draughtiness or just plain not functioning. On top of all that they left blood stained carpets in 2 rooms, again concealed by furniture and left belongings behind that they could not be bothered to move (which we then had to dispose of).

It's all very well to say buyer beware, but there are some truly evil people out there (like the above) who think it's acceptable to visit their negligence & laziness on an innocent party. When you have just shelled out everything on your new home, you don't have £30K sat around - especially not when you are young. Might be different if you are retired, but we have really struggled financially since moving in. You expect some routine maintenance, to decorate to your taste and I wouldn't even have quibbled about having to replace all the carpets. But this......all I can say say is that I hope Karma bit them on the !!!! and they died before they could enjoy their new found wealth.

wowojulie

I was really excited when I picked up the keys to the first house I'd bought by myself. Opened the front door, went through into the lounge only to find a big hole in the wall where the gas fire used to be! I'd not seen the hole as the seller's sofa had been in front of it. My sofa was going to be in the same place so the hole wasn't visible but it was a shock all the same. The gas supply had been capped off correctly but I didn't know that until I got someone in to check it out for me. The seller had blu-tacked a piece of wallpaper I've the gap!!! 😂😂
I had the hole filled and plastered professionally at not too much expense but would much rather have been aware of it beforehand! Had I not had the hole made-good I would have advised my future purchaser just to assure them that it was safe (if unsightly!).

wowojulie

I was really excited when I picked up the keys to the first house I'd bought by myself. Opened the front door, went through into the lounge only to find a big hole in the wall where the gas fire used to be! I'd not seen the hole as the seller's sofa had been in front of it. My sofa was going to be in the same place so the hole wasn't visible but it was a shock all the same. The gas supply had been capped off correctly but I didn't know that until I got someone in to check it out for me. The seller had blu-tacked a piece of wallpaper over the gap!!! 😂😂
I had the hole filled and plastered professionally at not too much expense but would much rather have been aware of it beforehand! Had I not had the hole made-good I would have advised my future purchaser just to assure them that it was safe (if unsightly!).

Carmk2008

If its not a danger or going to cause problems to the property in the future I wouldnt tell them.

kazt2006

The short answer is erm NO! Legally it is the buyers responsiblity to do all the relevant checks through an appropriate survey for the age of the property and due diligence through their solicitor. I agree with some of the other replies that the next person in the chain won't do it for you.

kazt2006

It's not just older properties that have problems. They come with newer builds too. My first purchase was a "new" flat in a maintained block. I say new cos it had been owed once in the 2 years since it was built and let out for all of 6 months. The number of issues in individual flats and the block as a whole is staggering! I often wonder how it was allowed to pass building regulations never mind be lived in. We call it a "K******ton Special" where the NBH guarantee isn't worth the paper it is written on!

Sadly I still own the flat, but rent it out as I outgrew the space and was unable to sell, so I am fully aware that the issues continue!

matt2baker

we looked at a property yesterday, and the people currently renting there told us more than we'd discover from the owner!! VERY useful info :T