Safety gas check before mortgage

kinger101

Estelle77 wrote: »

Nice. I wonder why it was? Did the mortgage conditions specify a freebie like this?

The safety check was probably after completion. I was offered one from British Gas (by Nationwide) and declined as I knew it was really a sales pitch.

kinger101

Estelle77 wrote: »

If I was a home owner, I would guess the buyer would not bother with the third view if they really did not want the house and said NO to the purchase straight away. Why coming for the third time if not interested? We just want to find out more information from them.

Another viewing suggests you're having serious doubts. What information do you need that can't be found out by asking the agent?

Estelle77

kinger101 wrote: »

Another viewing suggests you're having serious doubts. What information do you need that can't be found out by asking the agent?

Why the air bricks are obstructed - for example?
They said they had the keys of everything, but suddenly they don't have of all windows, so we don't now whether we will be able to secure all windows for the insurance purposes.
And some other questions which are better asked and answered on the place with the owner, saving a lengthy ping-pong of the correspondence.
The agent was not in the property, he did not even know the garage door had a hole in there, allowing raining inside.

G_M

I don't see a problem with 3 viewings. It's a big commitment.

But window keys? You can buy them online if needed.

And just remove the air brick obstruction once you own - no need to implicitly 'critisise' the seller for their property maintenance!

find 3 local gassafe engineers here, ring them for quotes. You do NOT want a landlords 'safety inspection'. If that's what's bothing you, buy a CO alarm, take it to th next viewing and leave it next to the boiler while you're there. If it does not go of....... sorted!

What you need to know is
* how old is the boiler
* is it in good condition or likely to breakdown or need replacing in the next year
* are spares available

AlexMac

I paid £90 to my regular independent firm last week, at London prices (albeit not city) for the mandatory landlords annual safety check and certificate ...

But what's the point? If they're living in the property there is no requirement for safety inspections (as there is for rentals), so the fact they've had one implies they have a maintenance contract in place, which your solicitor will have determined anyway from their responses to standard enquiries ... which is good...

... but won't tell you whether the boiler is going to last a week or ten years... merely that the pipework wasn't leaking on the day of the pressure test, that emissions are within guidelines and that its safe...on the day of the test.

Assume the worst; I've had to replace boilers within the first few years of ownership in every one of the last six flats or houses we've had over recent years, at a cost of between £1.3k and £3k (the latter including new storage cylinders) so I simply assume this will happen and offer (and budget) accordingly. But in one house we left prior to that, the boiler had being going strong for 20-30 years...

And as someone above says, if an engineer does an inspection (as opposed to the fairly cursory safety check) and tells you that the system is working but might break down in future, are you really going to try to knock a grand or two off the price?

kinger101

Estelle77 wrote: »

Why the air bricks are obstructed - for example?
They said they had the keys of everything, but suddenly they don't have of all windows, so we don't now whether we will be able to secure all windows for the insurance purposes.
And some other questions which are better asked and answered on the place with the owner, saving a lengthy ping-pong of the correspondence.
The agent was not in the property, he did not even know the garage door had a hole in there, allowing raining inside.

Would any of these cause you to withdraw or revise your offer? Window locks are easily replaced. Obstructions can be removed from airbricks. Many people cover them because they don't like draughts.

If you do visit, I'd include a couple of "re-enforcing" actions like measuring for curtains/carpets.

Estelle77

AlexMac wrote: »

I paid £90 to my regular independent firm last week, at London prices (albeit not city) for the mandatory landlords annual safety check and certificate ...

But what's the point? If they're living in the property there is no requirement for safety inspections (as there is for rentals), so the fact they've had one implies they have a maintenance contract in place, which your solicitor will have determined anyway from their responses to standard enquiries ... which is good...

... but won't tell you whether the boiler is going to last a week or ten years... merely that the pipework wasn't leaking on the day of the pressure test, that emissions are within guidelines and that its safe...on the day of the test.

Assume the worst; I've had to replace boilers within the first few years of ownership in every one of the last six flats or houses we've had over recent years, at a cost of between £1.3k and £3k (the latter including new storage cylinders) so I simply assume this will happen and offer (and budget) accordingly. But in one house we left prior to that, the boiler had being going strong for 20-30 years...

And as someone above says, if an engineer does an inspection (as opposed to the fairly cursory safety check) and tells you that the system is working but might break down in future, are you really going to try to knock a grand or two off the price?

We are going to pay full asking price so I guess we have the right to know that things are working well and safely before we commit to such a big purchase. We are 99% sure we want it and they said if it does not sell now (after being held with a dishonest buyer for nearly a year and another one dropping them down) they will stay. But I guess they do want to sell the house and we want to buy it. One more visit and a few more questions should not be an issue. During our second visit it was only the wife there and she did not know much. We need to speak to her husband which is more knowledgeable.

unforeseen

And if they say they are not going to fix minor points raised what then? Withdraw? Carry on? Negotiate?

It sounds like the answer will be carry on, in which h case why bother with a third viewing, just get on with it.

Tom99

You are right to make as many checks and visits as you need to satisfy yourself that the house is right for you.

Estelle77

G_M wrote: »

I don't see a problem with 3 viewings. It's a big commitment.

But window keys? You can buy them online if needed.

Re window keys: I don't know which they are. And I assume that these should be obtained before the exchange of contracts, since the lender demands the house insurance to be in place at the time of contract exchange.