Seller didn’t disclose bat roost in loft

gengastars

Hi
First post on the forum, and I have found these very useful in getting to where we are today. Unfortunately after having an offer accepted on a flat early March, we’ve just become aware of a substantial colony of bats living above the bathroom and in the loft.

We haven’t yet exchanged as the process has been held up by the seller on a number of occasions and as it’s leasehold, so luckily we can pull out and call it a close shave. I’m not completely against the idea of sharing a building with bats but this is clearly a substantial colony and there is a most atrocious stench emanating throughout the property from the loft - presumably because it’s heating up fast up there in this heatwave. And we would not be able to sell the property easily so it’s a no brainer. (Bats are heavily protected and therefore the roost can not be disturbed).

The seller did not disclose any information about bats. Surprisingly she herself has delayed the sale at times, although there is a strong likelihood we’ve been played, as there have been many sob stories and mentions of her finances along the way. She already moved out and sent us all the keys (this is just frankly odd, given how much the bats make their presence felt). A few days ago we saw a dead bat in the living room, and on Thursday I found evidence of the roost in the loft and on the bathroom outside window sill by way of masses of droppings.

We will lose a lot of money thanks to the seller’s dishonesty. Is there anything we can do to recoup those costs given that she should have disclosed?

Also, a second question if anyone knows. I closed my Help to Buy ISA in good faith so effectively that’s even more money down the drain. Can it be reinstated?

Thanks for reading this far!

Tomg84

Yeah all sounds very strange. Who would send keys when you haven't even exchanged!

As you haven't exchanged there's probably not much you can do as there isn't a commitment to buy or sell at this point so probably not much chance of recouping costs. Better news about about your help to buy ISA. I got this from web about your help to buy ISA:

What happens if the house purchase falls through?
If the property purchase doesn’t proceed after you have closed your Help to Buy: ISA account in anticipation of claiming a bonus, you can re-open the account. To do this the conveyancer will give you a ‘purchase failure notification’ confirming the property purchase did not complete.
You should take the purchase failure notification to your Help to Buy: ISA provider who will re-open the account. Alternatively, you may approach a different provider to open a new Help to Buy: ISA or any other ISA. The purchase failure notice should be presented to an ISA provider within 12 months of issue. If the government bonus has already been transferred, the conveyancer will need to return the bonus to the Scheme Administrator (https://www.helptobuyportal.org.uk) before providing you with a purchase failure
notification

kazwookie

I'd take the keys to the estate agent.

Only you can decide if you can live with bats in the loft.

Rosieandjim

Bats cause terrible damage from their urine and faeces. I would not buy this flat.


You would have to wait till their breeding season is over before you can prevent them coming back in. If this has been a long term breeding area the damage would have to be assessed Found this


https://www.gov.uk/guidance/bats-protection-surveys-and-licences

Keep_pedalling

It is unusual for a bat colony to cause issues with bad smells, as their poo mainly consists of the hard parts of the insects they eat. The house will be a summer roost so putting a solution in place to clean up the loft below the roost and maybe adding additional protection to make future cleaning easier could be done after the bat have left for their winter roosts.

Keep_pedalling

Rosieandjim wrote: »

Bats cause terrible damage from their urine and faeces. I would not buy this flat.


You would have to wait till their breeding season is over before you can prevent them coming back in. If this has been a long term breeding area the damage would have to be assessed

Actually bat poo causes no damage as it consists almost entirely of the hard parts of insects. It also poses no known health risks. The urine can cause damage to some metals and stone, but nothing that can’t easily be prevented.

Some of our old buildings have had bat colonies for centuries, and are not crumbling to bits because of them.

You also cannot block of the access to an established roost over winter.

It is entirely down to the OP what they do, but I would contact the Bat Conservation trust to see what could be done about overcoming the problem, but then I like bats and would love a house that had them.

https://cdn.bats.org.uk/pdf/About%20Bats/Living_with_Bats.pdf?mtime=20181101151301

Slinky

Somebody has to say it, the vendor is a bit batty - too many bats in her belfry.

snilloct1957

Shouldn't the fact that there is a roosting colony of bats in the loft be disclosed by the vendor prior to sale? Pre-sale disclosure document?

Davesnave

There doesn't seem to be a specific question about bats on the TA6, so on what basis should the seller have disclosed the info about the bat roost without being asked?



She could say they were no problem to her, just as I could say the House Martins nesting on the end of our house are no big deal.



Also, having given you the keys before she should, it doesn't look as if she as trying to hide anything, even if she was.


Just playing devil's advocate here.



We were excited about a property around 11 years ago, but on the second viewing we were introduced to the only neighbour and proudly shown the bat roost. Those two experiences were sufficient to turn our feelings around overnight.

onwards&upwards

To answer your question, no you can’t get any of your money back.

In England nobody is committed until exchange and before that any money spent is always a gamble.

Sorry.

Here’s some info on the ISA I found on google, apparently you can reopen it.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/ask-a-money-expert/what-happens-to-my-help-to-buy-isa-if-my-house-purchase-falls-th/

https://www.helptobuy.gov.uk/help-to-buy-isa/faq/

gengastars

Thanks everyone. Really relieved to hear I can reopen the ISA. That’s something!!

I’ve become something of a bat expert I’ve the last 3 days!! First thing I did was call the Bat Conservation Trust, and after that phone call almost felt excited to live with bats. It seems that for small roosts there isn’t usually a noticeable smell. But by the size of the pile of guano, and the amount of cheeping (?) I could hear in the loft I suspect there might be a lot of them up there. And the smell was overwhelming. Like the smell of a hamster cage but amplified. Hit us in the face when we opened the front door and got worse as we went upstairs.

Good point about sending back the keys. Probably safer to send to the estate agent.

I was also confused that nowhere on the TA6 asks questions about all the list of things vendors are meant to consider. Then I read that they are meant to include this information when they market the property, on the Property Information Questionnaire provided to the estate agent. Though she pretty much marketed it herself, did all the viewings as she used the online company Doorsteps.

So, we could potentially have legal recourse if we had exchanged and found the problem, but up to exchange any sunk costs are just lost. Though obviously thank goodness we didn’t get that far!

Sorry can’t tag anyone directly to respond, I’m a newbie and not seeing quite how that works yet