Buying a flat - sellers refuse to resupply gas

Norman_Castle

That's my biggest worry - that they are reluctant to uncap the gas because they know/suspect that there's a problem with the system and they don't want to have to deal with it... But that could be an expensive problem for me immediately after moving in!

I wouldn't assume it was capped due to a problem. A housing authority are possibly less likely to try mislead or hide faults. It is likely to be simply standard practice to cap supplies of empty properties. This doesn't mean it will be faultless, just that faults aren't knowingly being hidden.
It is very unfair to declare the property sold as seen this late in the purchase although this may be just a phrase someone has chosen to describe it. I would aim to get a small reduction in the price due to this unknown although I wouldn't be overly optimistic about getting one.

davidmcn

If they're a landlord do they have a record of previous checks of the system? Would at least reassure you that everything was working x months ago.

G_M

deannatrois wrote: »

If the boiler had been condemned there would normally be a sign on it. Every social housing property I have rented (rented not purchased) has had the gas supply capped, not because something has been condemned but because of health and safety rules.

The same thing happens with repossessions. First thing the bank does is drain down the water in the heating system (to avoid freezing/burst pipes/leaks) and disconnect/cap the gas.


It's usually a conditon of the buildings insurance for any property left unoccupied for more than 30 (45 or 60) days.

Edinburghsaver

Hi all,

Thanks for your helpful comments! I've just gone through the home buyers survey again and it states in the seller's questionnaire that the gas supply is connected (and provided by Scottish Power). I think if I'd known when the reading the home report that the gas was capped I would have put in a lower offer for exactly this reason!

Based on the home report and your comments, I've gone back to my solicitor and asked them to contact the seller's solicitors to ask them to at least provide proof of the safety of the system or I would need to reconsider my offer.

I'll update the thread as things develop!

davidmcn

Edinburghsaver wrote: »

it states in the seller's questionnaire that the gas supply is connected (and provided by Scottish Power).

Technically that's correct - the property does have a gas supply, it's just been capped on the customer's side of the meter. Nothing in the Home Report would necessarily give you a clue (though the surveyor is meant to say at least whether services are turned off).

Smodlet

Provided the heating system and the boiler are OK (and I strongly advise you to have them checked by a Gas Safe engineer) uncapping the supply should be a few minutes' job and a few quid cost. It will be the check which costs more although servicing a boiler should not be that much (no idea of costs in Edinburgh) Our was still £50 in May, same as last year for just the boiler service.

I really would have thought social housing would have to service boilers every year and provide a record of when it was last done. Any private seller worth their salt would have this information to hand. This HA sound like a pretty shoddy lot to me.

Good luck, OP.

Edinburghsaver

Update: solicitor agrees that this is too late notice to just drop the information that the gas supply is uncapped without having any plan to uncap it / prove that the system is okay. He's going back to the seller's solicitors to request that they action a check from a gas engineer (which I've offered to pay for) and if there are no issues, it's left uncapped.

Edinburghsaver

* that the gas supply is capped. Stupid autocorrect.

Edinburghsaver

Huge thank you to everyone who commented here. Your advice meant that my solicitor was super firm about this with the seller's solicitors and they eventually committed to resupplying the gas and running a check on the boiler - both of which were done on Thursday and we completed yesterday. Such a positive ending - had hot water in the property from the first time we got there and now I'm reassured there's no big issues with the system either.

Smodlet

Congrats, Edinburghsaver, and I hope you will be very happy in your new home.