Advice needed before exchanging contracts

dsteve007

Hi all.
Due to the high winds a small dividing wall to the neighbour has blown down. The neighbour is putting pressure on me put it right. But we are due to sell to property next week.
Would there be any come back if I just left it after we exchanged?
I want to contact the buyer to offer to pay towards repairing. But people are telling me to leave it.
Any advice would be appreciated.

[Deleted User]

Some would say it's the buyers fault for not doing a pre exchange viewing. 

Some would say it's pretty crappy to leave it for someone else to deal with. 

To be honest, it's your own moral decision.

There is a bit here: https://cunningtons.co.uk/sellers-misrepresentation/

What if a seller knows something which is not specifically asked about by the buyer?

The basic position here is ‘caveat emptor’, or ‘buyer beware’. If a buyer does not ask the seller a question, they cannot then look to the seller for compensation if they discover something that they do not like about the property. It is up to the buyer to satisfy themselves that they want to purchase the property.

As the basic position in a property transaction is buyer beware, it follows that if no statement or answer is given by the seller, the buyer cannot be said to have relied on it to enter into the transaction.

Having said this, sometimes (but this is unlikely unless a special or fiduciary relationship exists) a misrepresentation can take place by a failure to mention something material to the transaction.

dsteve007

Thank you for the information. I'm going to do the right thing and make them aware.

notrouble

Who owns the wall?

[Deleted User]

I think the right thing to do would be to repair/rebuild the wall?  How would you feel if you were buying the property? Surely its not going to be that expensive if its a 'small' dividing wall?

Slithery

Who does the wall belong to?

If it's your neighbours then it's their job to fix it.

ianthy

I had the same dilemma last week with a rotten fence panel in our garden - it disintegrated during the storm. The fence actually belongs to the neighbour and we were due to complete in a few days time. No way was I going to mess around with trying to get them to fix it asap. So I just sucked up the cost and got our handyman to sort it asap. I just felt it would be really crappy to leave it open and the first discussion (argument) between the new neighbours would be about a missing fence panel. Also it's not unheard of a final viewing before exchange and completion. 

dsteve007

Yea the neighbour is elderly I've just told her I'll build the wall but she will have to repair the fence. Her son in law apparently is handy with fences. I just dont want the hassle trying collect money from the other flats. Ive organised with the new owner I'll sort the wall after completion.