urgent help required

wicked20

not sure where to post this-hope i am in the right place

son bought a house and moved in 3 weeks ago now the boiler has broke down. Does anyone know his rights in Scotland. Is it his responsiblilty(sp) or the previous owners

real1314

I'm not sure if the same applies in scotland, but in england it's his problem.

If you think it's the vendors problem, how long do you think it would apply for? It was (presumably) working at the point of sale, you don't usually get a guarantee period with a house, and how could the vendore forsee that it might breakdown?

HugoSP

Essentially I suspect it's your sons problem.

The only way in which it could be different was if the seller was asked if there were any known problems with the boiler, replied "no" in writing and your son could prove that they knew of problems at the time they gave their response.

I did read about a buyer successfully sueing his sellers after they found that a wind farm was being built opposite their house.

The sellers had replied NO to a question about whether they knew of any intended or likelidhood of any developments in the area, yet they had written to the council objecting to the development.

IIRC the award represented about 10 to 15% of the value of the house (likely depreciation as a result of the development).

merlinthehappypig

It is actually different in Scotland and it is usual to have limited warranties built into the contract for central heating and any appliances included in the sale. There is normally a set period during which the seller is still responsible for anything that doesn't work and has to pay for repair or replacement.

That said, I think three weeks is probably too long, from my experience it's usually something like a week to ten days. Your son will need to check with his solicitor to see whether a warranty for the heating was included and for how long.

PasturesNew

Years ago my friend was selling her house. She sold it to a young couple, their first house.

After exchange the boiler broke down.

My friend is such a "good person", she bought a brand new boiler and had it fitted because she could afford it and the young couple who had bought the house wouldn't have been able to.

She's just morally a damned good person and there was no obligation at all for her to have done any such thing. Good on her.

In England it's every man for himself in house sales
And there'd be no comeback for a boiler breaking down 3 weeks after the house was bought.

Boilers break down. It's what they do.

merlinthehappypig

PasturesNew wrote: »

Boilers break down. It's what they do.

Absolutely, but the OP is in Scotland and the situation is different there, so I hope that he has come back to the thread after the first couple of answers!