My new house has been used for cannabis grow!

Jamesvx1986

Hello, two of us and our 6 month baby have just moved into our first home and we have discovered cannabis has been growing in the house. To start off we viewed this house a few times before buying, you could smell fresh paint as the whole house had been painted as well as the doors, door frames etc. New carpets had been fitted upstairs and on the stairs. Bathroom looked lovely and the whole place was empty except a few things like a bed, sofa, dining table and table stand. So loved the house so put an offer in. The house was unoccupied for some time as the owner had moved in with her partner roughly 15 miles away. Offer was accepted and it took some time for mortgage to come through but the owner asked the estate agents to put it back on market because they were desperate, luckily the mortgage came through on time. Paid the deposit and got the keys, this is where the problems start. Went to estate agent to get keys and only 1 front door key was there, was told the owner would drop rest off after work. End of day comes and no keys, owner decides they will post the keys in the mail. Estate agent wasn't happy but nothing they could do. Waited over a week for the keys and eventually a letter came with only 1 extra front door key. The rear door key was already in the door but the side door key was no where to be seen and these were the only keys she apparently had. Estate agent and solicitor weren't interested so I changed the locks. So next day I tried to use the washer and dish washer which wouldn't work, I pulled them out and both were plugged in but not connected up to the pipe work, strange especially when the washer had a stopper on the end as if it had never been used. Few days later I noticed the house was getting cold quickly after turning the heating off. I checked the loft again and invested a bit more. They had boarded the middle part of the loft off and installed floor boards, I thought what a neat place to store stuff. Anyway I pulled up a floor board to check insulation and there was none! I then pulled back a plaster board to find loose live wiring, chopped cables, aireal missing and the worst part, a whole set up for a cannabis grow. There was boxes stuffed with insulation, big metal exhaust type things with massive flexi tubing going all around the loft and exiting where the extractor fan was (which obviously wasn't working in both rooms). I came back with a torch and noticed chains hanging for what they would have used for heat lamps and all sorts, I then started to find cannibis leaves and actual small buds in places. So now I know there was a grow in the loft but I went to look further into the loft and noticed a big hole in the bathroom ceiling which had been boarded over. I haven't had a chance to speak to neighbours yet but from what I know the owner was a flight attendent and was rarely here. Solicitor thinks she was renting it out but isn't sure. Whatever went on seems dodgy and I'm not sure if they used more than the loft to grow plants, maybe why the have put fresh carpet down and painted everything. I have explained this to the police and all they said was change the locks but I suppose there's nothing they can do. The solicitor said nothing they can do. The loft is going to cost me a fortune to sort the wiring and insulation out. I'm hoping there is no damp under the carpet. I'm glad I've changed the locks too but it's it doesn't feel like home at the minute. Any advice you could give us? Has anyone been in this situation and what did you do?

Kim_kim

Contact your local police?

pinkshoes

Any advice?

Changing locks is always advisable when buying a home...

Did you not check the loft when viewing? A second viewing would have been the time to have a good poke around...

I would just suck it up and move on.

Mutton_Geoff

Jamesvx1986 wrote: »

Any advice you could give us?

Break your post down into paragraphs to make it easier to read?

Slithery

If this is a terrace are you sure that you are still in your loft and haven't broken through to next door?

Was the cannabis there when you exchanged? If it was and they hadn't put it on the F&F then you can probably claim it back from the seller for not leaving it for you

diggingdude

You have reported it to the police no harm will come to you. What did your survey say about the attic?

zagubov

Jamesvx1986 wrote: »

Hello, two of us and our 6 month baby have just moved into our first home and we have discovered cannabis has been growing in the house.

To start off we viewed this house a few times before buying, you could smell fresh paint as the whole house had been painted as well as the doors, door frames etc. New carpets had been fitted upstairs and on the stairs. Bathroom looked lovely and the whole place was empty except a few things like a bed, sofa, dining table and table stand. So loved the house so put an offer in.

The house was unoccupied for some time as the owner had moved in with her partner roughly 15 miles away. Offer was accepted and it took some time for mortgage to come through but the owner asked the estate agents to put it back on market because they were desperate, luckily the mortgage came through on time.

Paid the deposit and got the keys, this is where the problems start. Went to estate agent to get keys and only 1 front door key was there, was told the owner would drop rest off after work. End of day comes and no keys, owner decides they will post the keys in the mail.

Estate agent wasn't happy but nothing they could do. Waited over a week for the keys and eventually a letter came with only 1 extra front door key. The rear door key was already in the door but the side door key was no where to be seen and these were the only keys she apparently had. Estate agent and solicitor weren't interested so I changed the locks.

So next day I tried to use the washer and dish washer which wouldn't work, I pulled them out and both were plugged in but not connected up to the pipe work, strange especially when the washer had a stopper on the end as if it had never been used.

Few days later I noticed the house was getting cold quickly after turning the heating off. I checked the loft again and invested a bit more. They had boarded the middle part of the loft off and installed floor boards, I thought what a neat place to store stuff. Anyway I pulled up a floor board to check insulation and there was none! I then pulled back a plaster board to find loose live wiring, chopped cables, aireal missing and the worst part, a whole set up for a cannabis grow.

There was boxes stuffed with insulation, big metal exhaust type things with massive flexi tubing going all around the loft and exiting where the extractor fan was (which obviously wasn't working in both rooms). I came back with a torch and noticed chains hanging for what they would have used for heat lamps and all sorts, I then started to find cannibis leaves and actual small buds in places. So now I know there was a grow in the loft but I went to look further into the loft and noticed a big hole in the bathroom ceiling which had been boarded over. I haven't had a chance to speak to neighbours yet but from what I know the owner was a flight attendent and was rarely here. Solicitor thinks she was renting it out but isn't sure.

Whatever went on seems dodgy and I'm not sure if they used more than the loft to grow plants, maybe why the have put fresh carpet down and painted everything. I have explained this to the police and all they said was change the locks but I suppose there's nothing they can do. The solicitor said nothing they can do.

The loft is going to cost me a fortune to sort the wiring and insulation out. I'm hoping there is no damp under the carpet. I'm glad I've changed the locks too but it's it doesn't feel like home at the minute. Any advice you could give us? Has anyone been in this situation and what did you do?

More likely to attract answers if paragraphed this way.

kinger101

I'd be checking the TA6 form. Particularly 4.1(b), 4.2 and 12.2

It's hard to conceive that the vendor wouldn't know what had happened.

How did they answer these questions

Mutton_Geoff

kinger101 wrote: »

How did they answer these questions

With difficulty if they were clearing the loft prior to leaving :rotfl:

Jamesvx1986

Sorry about not using paragraphs, my phone isn't letting me do that for some reason. I did check the loft when I had a viewing but there was no light up there and they had boxes every where at the time. I also wasn't going to pull off plaster boards and lift floor boards. I don't know what the owner has said about it, I don't even know if the solicitor has told them. The solicitor can't help me as the sale has already gone through. I've never met the owner as they had moved out. I understand that I just have to accept and pay for all the mess in the loft to be sorted. I was just wondering if anyone has been in the same situation and also wonder if they used the bedrooms as a grow too.

ian1246

Jamesvx1986 wrote: »

Sorry about not using paragraphs, my phone isn't letting me do that for some reason. I did check the loft when I had a viewing but there was no light up there and they had boxes every where at the time. I also wasn't going to pull off plaster boards and lift floor boards. I don't know what the owner has said about it, I don't even know if the solicitor has told them. The solicitor can't help me as the sale has already gone through. I've never met the owner as they had moved out. I understand that I just have to accept and pay for all the mess in the loft to be sorted. I was just wondering if anyone has been in the same situation and also wonder if they used the bedrooms as a grow too.

Never brought a house with a Cannabis Grow, but I've seen plenty of them with my job. They can pop up anywhere. One particularly memorable experience was Cannabis Grows in a beautiful detached 5 bed House - they had Cannabis growing in every bedroom, in the loft and then also 60+ plants growing in the Cellar (which had open tombs/passageways running to the nearby local church!).

The entire house was dangerous. You had to walk extremely carefully upstairs or you'd fall through the rotten floorboards.... Job became even more Bizarre when we discovered they had an Argentinian Pony living in the house...:rotfl::eek::beer:

If I were you I'd pull up your carpets in each of the rooms and have a good look. Might also be worth getting an Electrician in to check your wiring. Definitely make sure you have working smoke alarms just in-case any wiring has been bodged/over-taxed and becomes a fire-hazard.