Section 20 notice after purchase of flat

margaret.balin

Hello,
I'm brand new to the forums. I joined to ask a question because I'm at my wits end.

I recently exchanged on a property. I was very happy because I managed to knock off 10k off the price the day before exchanging so I really thought I was getting a good deal. Especially, since we negotiated the price down earlier too, so we saved 15k.

However, the week after completion, we got a letter for a section 20. They are planning fire-proofing works on the block of flats and the bill is 8k per flat! This includes new fire doors, new communal area renovation and new fire alarms.

This letter we received is a stage 2 notice. Apparently the stage 1 was undisclosed.
We were told that the stage 1 notice was in the form of an email and not a letter, so many tennants didn't receive it are now in shock.

I don't understand how this was undisclosed though. Shouldn't we have known about it?
During our conveyancing process it didn't come up because we got the management pack before the notice was served but shouldn't the seller have notified us regardless??

What can we do about this? Can we sue?
We've been stuffed with a 8k bill only a week after completing! I'm livid. :mad:

Any help please?
Margaret

Grezz24

the 10K that you saved on completion has now paid for that, so at least you're not completely out of pocket.

Plus after the horror of Grenfell id imagine the improvements were welcome.

david1951

margaret.balin wrote: »

I managed to knock off 10k off the price the day before exchanging so I really thought I was getting a good deal.

Some would say what goes around comes around...

margaret.balin

They are quoting Grenfell for all the fire-proofing works.

I just want to explore any legal avenues for compensation since the notice was served before exchange. Does it matter that ti was in the form of an email? If the buyer claims he didn't see the email, can we still claim something?

Our lawyers are not willing to help. I feel cheated on.
Also the seller has gone abroad after the sale and apparently has no address so not sure how to do anything at this point. Is this all I can do?

marliepanda

You said yourself that other tenants didnt know because of the fact it was emailed. If the seller didnt know, how could they have told you...

marliepanda

margaret.balin wrote: »

They are quoting Grenfell for all the fire-proofing works.

I just want to explore any legal avenues for compensation since the notice was served before exchange. Does it matter that ti was in the form of an email? If the buyer claims he didn't see the email, can we still claim something?

Our lawyers are not willing to help. I feel cheated on.
Also our buyer has gone abroad after the sale and apparently has no address so not sure how to do anything at this point. Is this all I can do?

You saved 15k on your purchase. You are still 7k up.

Of course you cant claim against someone for not telling you something they didnt know!

mrginge

#compo
#karmasab!tch

davidwood681

Why did you haggle him down the day before completion?

Not very nice of you wasting everybody else's time so late on in the deal

margaret.balin

Since the offer was accepted, the London property market seems to have dropped and we didn't feel comfortable sticking to our original offer when we started seeing cheaper properties popping out elsewhere.
Is it wrong that we haggled him down? We saved 10k!

The point is that a section 20 notice was undisclosed at the point of exchange. Our lawyers say there was no such notice in place when the LP1 pack was received but if it gets served at a later date shouldn't someone be informed? Shouldn't someone get the blame for this mess?

marliepanda

margaret.balin wrote: »

Since the offer was accepted, the London property market seems to have dropped and we didn't feel comfortable sticking to our original offer when we started seeing cheaper properties popping out elsewhere.
Is it wrong that we haggled him down? We saved 10k!

The point is that a section 20 notice was undisclosed at the point of exchange. Our lawyers say there was no such notice in place when the LP1 pack was received but if it gets served at a later date shouldn't someone be informed? Shouldn't someone get the blame for this mess?

Its your house now. Your bill.

Are you saying you would have pulled out? Are you saying you'd have haggled him down another 8k on top of your 15k?

Your lawyers didnt know - no blame.
Your seller didnt know (or if theyre smart they will say they didnt) so no blame.

End of...

margaret.balin

I would have certainly pulled out and asked for an adjustment, I don't think it's ethical that I wasn't informed during the point of exchange and I do want to explore any legal avenues for suing , I just don't think I have a solid case because the notice was an email and most people here are also in shock.