House sold, boiler failed

tranceaddict

Hi

15 year old boiler was on its last legs but working OK, knew it needed replacing but as selling house didn't bother.

Buyer found, she is buying to let so will HAVE to replace boiler anyway.

Offer made, and accepted, now going through the legal stuff, expected to exchange by end of month so nothing legally signed yet, boiler has no died completely (leaking due corrosion etc), it has been switched off and made safe, as Summer don't need heating so using immersion heater for hot water.

So what to do, don't really want to spend £2000 on getting it replaced to get less then a few weeks use from it, and to be honest speaking to my heating engineer he won't have time to do it before we potenatilly move anyway. Buyer was the only offer we had, not sure of her situation but don't want to scare her off before exchanging by telling her what's happened, even though she's going to have to replace it anyway.

Could I wait until exchange and then say it packed up? This would be untrue but perhaps put the onus on her, or should I just get the solcitors to contact her and tell her and offer to lower the price by an amount to compensate? Though don't want to offer the full amount, maybe 50/50 perhaps.

Don't want to lose the sale but don't want to pay out for something I'm not going to get use off

Any help/advice appreciated

mrginge

have you completed a TA6 form and if so what did you answer to section 12?

00ec25

are you asking your question purely from the legal perspective or both that and the moral one?

did your buyer know:

tranceaddict wrote: »

15 year old boiler was on its last legs but working OK, knew it needed replacing

that was the state of it before they made an offer? (I doubt it given what you said and your desire to cover up that fact by you now intending to lie)

thorsoak

Be honest with your buyer : offer £500 towards a replacement boiler.

shortcrust

If I were the buyer I'd probably be ok with a 50:50 offer. Pleased in fact! Better than paying 100%. However, I'd be fuming if I was told after exchange. I'd be very suspicious, I'd want to see it straight away and would be looking for any sign that it happened before exchange. If it's been 'made safe' by a professional I'd want to talk to them and the first question I'd ask is 'when?'.

Mojisola

tranceaddict wrote: »

Buyer found, she is buying to let so will HAVE to replace boiler anyway.

Offer made, and accepted, now going through the legal stuff, expected to exchange by end of month so nothing legally signed yet, boiler has no died completely

should I just get the solcitors to contact her and tell her and offer to lower the price by an amount to compensate? Though don't want to offer the full amount, maybe 50/50 perhaps.

Don't want to lose the sale but don't want to pay out for something I'm not going to get use off

With only one offer made on the house, you need to make sure the sale goes through.

Be honest with the buyer.

As you say, she will have already factored the price of the new boiler in the work needed to be done before renting it out and will accept a reduction in the price as a bonus.

dannyrst

It all depends. If the buyer has already paid out for searches etc then they'd end up losing money anyway. If the boiler would need to be replaced due to it being buy to let, I personally wouldn't offer anything at first, but again, it depends on your situation in regards to selling.


Do you need this person to buy or can you allow it to fall through for the sake of offering to cover part/all of the cost?

dimbo61

Speak to the buyer,
She may well have plans to refurbish the whole property with modern double glazing, new heating, bathroom,s and kitchen etc before renting out the property.

G_M

mrginge wrote: »

have you completed a TA6 form and if so what did you answer to section 12?

This.

If you have already responded to a TA6 and stated that the boiler is 'working', then by law you must report any change (ie the boiler's breakdown).

Of course if you answered the TA6 by saying 'not working' then there's no problem.

If you have not yet received/sent back form TA6, then you will need to write 'not working' on the form when you get round to responding.

Has the buyer had a boiler inspectiion done?

she is buying to let so will HAVE to replace boiler anyway.

You know that. Does the buyer? If you replied 'working' on TA6 the buyer may not have any intention of replacing it (though they will need a safety check done).

goodwithsaving

Don't lie to your buyer. If they're spending hundred(s) of thousands on a property, they deserve honesty. If it has packed up, sort it or come to a mutual agreement.
If they're sensible they'll do a pre-exchange inspection anyway and if you don't sort it, I hope they catch you out.

tranceaddict

Thanks for all the reply's

have you completed a TA6 form and if so what did you answer to section 12?

Yes, section 12.3 c "Is heating system in good working order" answered yes, as it was when question was answered, although new it was old, it was working fine.

are you asking your question purely from the legal perspective or both that and the moral one

Both really, I know morally its the right thing to do, as I would be gutted if I moved in to my new place and the boiler wasn't working, but as she's going to replace it anyway I don't see the sense in replacing it for her in full

did your buyer know that was the state of it before they made an offer?

She looked round the house, and at the boiler, asked if it worked, and I said yes (as at the time it was) she could clearly see it was old and past its prime. She has had a survey done, but believe it was very basic (probably just for mortgage) as they just measured and wandered round the house, didn't seem to in depth as I recall

Do you need this person to buy or can you allow it to fall through for the sake of offering to cover part/all of the cost?

Cant really afford to pull out now, offer was made in March, she has been quite reasonable as at the time we hadn't found anywhere and she said she was willing to wait as she was buying to let anyway (even offered to buy and let us stay and rent off her whilst we found somewhere) We have now found property and all is going through, solicitors have advised they are working towards exchanging at the end of the month, so time is running out really.

I'm happy to offer something but should we contact her through estate agents or ask solicitors to do it via her solicitors, we have no direct contact details of the buyer

Thanks again