Please help: Mis-sold house, who’s at fault?

photome

AdrianC wrote: »

Are you in Scotland? Or are you referring to your survey?

Either way, it's down to you to ensure whatever reassurances YOU require are in place. You may choose to delegate that to your solicitor, but it's still up to YOU to be happy before YOU sign to exchange contracts.

IMO if there was an issue with certificates the solicitor should have pointed it out

westernpromise

bobobski wrote: »

Perhaps you should have read your solicitor's report and all ancillary documents more thoroughly and asked questions before committing to buy this property? Just a thought.

That's not very helpful now, though, is it?

Surrey_EA

sleepymans wrote: »

Classic case of Buyers regret

There may be an element of that, but it also seems that the solicitor has not performed their duties in a way that a professional should be expected to.

I don't think it is unreasonable to expect the solicitor acting for the buyer to discover that a loft conversion does not have the required building regs certificates, and to then point out to the buyer the implications.

If there is a mortgage involved it is also possible that the solicitor has failed in their duty of acting on behalf of the lender.

iammumtoone

It always amazes me in these threads much it seems the average person is supposed to check themselves when buying a house. Solicitors are not cheap, I would expect them to do their job for the amount they are paid.

If I was the OP I would assume everything was ok not least if I had a mortgage as otherwise the mortgage company would not loan against it, if there was a potential issue like house has not been signed off.

Thrugelmir

Rob-123 wrote: »

The homebuyers report states: ‘Ensure legal representative obtains all relevant certificates for loft conversion’. (I guess this covers them?)

Any other comments with regards to the loft conversion?

parkrunner

Rob-123 wrote: »

The council is now saying a surveyor will need to come round and it may need to be brought up to spec which could cost £1000’s.

But again it may not cost anything as it may be up to spec. I think you need to find this out first.

Tiglet2

You could complain to your solicitor but I'm not sure how it canl be resolved to your satisfaction.

Your solicitor does not visit the property, nor are they surveyors. When the seller said that the conversion was done in 2005 and that a certificate was enclosed, this would firstly have been sent to the seller's solicitor who would then forward it to your solicitor.

Your solicitor may well have asked for building regulations and completion certificates but if the seller hasn't got the correct paperwork (either lost it or never had it) he could simply say that he has no paperwork. The seller's solicitor would probably then say to your solicitor that they do not have any additional paperwork and since the conversion was over 10 years ago, they would not be obligated to provide it.

Your solicitor should have made you aware that there were no building regulations, but the conversion is over 10 years old. You should rely on your own local searches, inspections and surveys before proceeding further. It is not for the solicitor to advise you whether to go ahead or not, but to present you with the paperwork (i.e. Report on Title) so you can make sure you know what you are buying, before you exchange.

One thing you may have learned since purchasing the property is that while you appoint a surveyor, a solicitor and pay for various searches etc, you also must play your part and accept that you have a responsibility too. You spent a lot of cash on purchasing this property, therefore if the documents you received throughout the transaction and with the Report on Title didn't include important papers (surely you were aware that the copy certificate you received didn't relate to the conversion in 2005), then you should have queried it at the time. Most likely outcome would have been an indemnity policy for Lack of Building Regulations - it wouldn't protect you from shoddy workmanship though.

ThePants999

What amuses me is that one thing you hear a lot of on this forum is that you should be sure to use an actual solicitor, not a cheap conveyancer, so that you actually get quality legal advice. Then, when you do exactly that but DON'T get quality legal advice, it's still your fault, apparently, as the solicitor is just supposed to provide information and it's up to you as the buyer to check you're happy with everything. Okaaayyyyy?

IMO, the OP has strong grounds for at least a complaint here. I bought a property that had been extended without a completion certificate, and the solicitor wouldn't proceed without my explicit confirmation that I understood the implications and wanted them to go ahead anyway. The OP's solicitor should not have just accepted the situation, and certainly should have highlighted the risks.

Rob-123

Thank you all again for taking the time to reply

I am of the same opinion that, I have paid a professional conveyancer around £2000 to act on our behalf and provide me with the legal information I need to buy the house. I think that they should have made me aware that a certificate did not exist.

With regards to other information on the loft conversion, there was not. I have tried to upload an image of the paperwork but can’t seem to do it. But all that is said is the following:

‘The search has revealed building regulation for a loft conversion. Due to the age of the same the sellers solicitors have not provided us a copy of the document’.

To me they worded it as if a certificate existed but because they knew when it was built they didn’t need to see it. Also now we know it wasn’t signed off and therefore completed, surely the solicitors claim that - due to the age the sellers solicitor didn’t need to produce the document, doesn’t stand?

I will mention that at a later date we found out that our solicitor was a trainee solicitor, we did not pay any less or anything, I am unsure if this has anything to do with it.

bobobski

westernpromise wrote: »

That's not very helpful now, though, is it?

See, but it is. It's a lesson to OP for future dealings in property. OP paid for professionals to carry out work to progress their purchase but apparently did not read any of the paperwork provided to them. Their surveyor advised them to check that the lawyers had all the paperwork and the lawyers confirmed that they did not have all of the paperwork. At what point does one take responsibility for themselves?


It's unfortunate and I'm not trying to place blame on OP for this situation, but the question is about where responsibility lies and in my opinion it's with OP for not doing their job when everyone else appears to have done theirs.


I also query OP paying £2k for legal work involved in a purchase. Solicitors are an insanely cheap part of the process for the level of liability they have and I've never in my life heard of anyone paying four figures for their solicitor. I guess this includes search fees etc, but in that case OP has been a little stingy with the truth as that money doesn't go to the solicitors, just through them.