House with no guarantees/warranties

ic

A survey will help spot any problems - but for things like electrics, plumbing, etc, you'd only be advised to get someone in to take a look anyway.  Best thing to do is get a friend or family member who knows their stuff and go view the house with them.   

On the boiler, how old is it?  Has it been regularly serviced?

Don't rely on your mortgage valuation - it's not a survey.

macman

Post a link to the property, and someone can advise what level of survey might be required.

Jd843

ic said:

A survey will help spot any problems - but for things like electrics, plumbing, etc, you'd only be advised to get someone in to take a look anyway.  Best thing to do is get a friend or family member who knows their stuff and go view the house with them.   

On the boiler, how old is it?  Has it been regularly serviced?

Don't rely on your mortgage valuation - it's not a survey.

Boiler is pretty much brand new - fitted in December

Jd843

macman said:

Post a link to the property, and someone can advise what level of survey might be required.

We had a building survey done already.  It didn't find any major problems, but did recommend getting timber and damp treatment reports and guarantees if they were available (although the damp in the property was only described as mild).  It was built around 150 years ago.

greatcrested

Boiler less than 1 year old should normally have a warranty. Often up to 5 years. You might ask for claification on that. It should also have an installation certificate (check GasSafe and/or the council).

Surveyors often recommend timber/damp surveys at the dropof a hat just in case. If the surveyor said 'mild' I'd say that's an indication there's minimal/no issue, but you an always ring him and ask for more detail.

150 year old house will always have issues and need ongoing maintenance. Have a budget for this.

caprikid1

150 Years old !  , I suspect the builder is no longer around …… sounds like you have had a good survey done with no issues.
I have bought 4 houses and never had a single guarantee with any of them, never really stressed me, moved in to a duff boiler but never had it checked so my fault, it was old so it meant I had a new boiler fitted that was too my liking and I knew the work.

Jd843

macman said:

They are neither expected or required. If you want such warranties, then buy a new house.

Thanks - that was what I wanted to know.  If it's quite rare for these warranties to be present then I won't worry about it.

macman said:

Consumer protection on a new property is limited to the vendor needing to be truthful, which is the purpose of the SPIF, as the answers are in writing. Beyond that, it's up to you to ask the questions. The vendor does not have to reveal any defects whatsoever unless prompted. And even then, the usual answer is 'don't know, the buyer should rely on their own enquiries'.
Your own survey should reveal any major issues with the property.

The survey didn't find anything major, just age-related things. Before we got the survey, I thought it would be obvious what the next steps should be, what questions to ask etc. but it feels like it isn't.  E.g. the report didn't say "xyz is wrong with the wiring" - does that mean we don't need to raise any further queries about the electrics?  

caprikid1

"does that mean we don't need to raise any further queries about the electrics?"
If you are feeling nervous
1. electrical Survey
2. Damp and Timber Survey (Largely a con by sales people).
3. Central heating review
4. Drains Survey
All surveys suggest further inspections as they are not electricians etc. 

Patricialynne

We have been complaining about the render coming off our 5 year old house since 2020, the neighbours is the same. Now in hands of solicitors & find out the warranty is not worth the paper it's written on.

Albermarle

Patricialynne said:

We have been complaining about the render coming off our 5 year old house since 2020, the neighbours is the same. Now in hands of solicitors & find out the warranty is not worth the paper it's written on.

The thread is 4.5 years old.