Internal water leak in property we ar buying - but already exchanged contracts :(

NameUnavailable

AdrianC said:

What did your survey say?

Probably what most of them say, 'we advise you to carry out checks on the - insert utility - '

lady38_me

As the house is nearly new build we didn't order the most expensive one as we thought that the one the bank was doing for mortgage purposes would be sufficient (I might regret it now but can't change anything ). No problems were identfied through the survey or searches....

GDB2222

You are, hopefully, over-worrying. If it's just a tap or something like that, it's a cheap job to fix it.

If it's a leak in the supply pipe, it depends where the leak is. It could be at the joint with the meter, which the water company will probably fix FOC. But, if there's a hole in the pipe, the hole will have to be located, and that will mean some digging. Hopefully not in the middle of the living room floor.

Section62

lady38_me said:

As the house is nearly new build we didn't order the most expensive one as we thought that the one the bank was doing for mortgage purposes would be sufficient (I might regret it now but can't change anything ). No problems were identfied through the survey or searches....

I would be asking the vendor for further information and copies of the correspondence with the water company that led to them knowing there was an "internal leak in the property" and deciding the property should have a "high consumption flag attached to it".

Notwithstanding Windofchange's experience, the typical domestic water meter is not very sensitive at very low levels of flow. Part of the certification process involves specifying a minimum flow rate the meter is able to accurately record.  E.g. for impeller type meters if water is able to leak out of a tap unnoticed then it is quite probable the water has 'leaked' past the impeller and not been recorded.

Unless the water company have installed an especially sensitive meter I'd think it is more likely the problem has been identified through some other kind of investigation or complaint, which the vendors should know about.

AdrianC

lady38_me said:

As the house is nearly new build we didn't order the most expensive one as we thought that the one the bank was doing for mortgage purposes would be sufficient (I might regret it now but can't change anything ). No problems were identfied through the survey or searches....

With what caveats?

It was your responsibility to identify that you were happy with the condition of the property prior to exchange. You did so. You may have missed something. Caveat emptor.

Skiddaw1

@lady38_me , we had a similar issue when we moved to current house. First water bill arrived and was much higher than expected. Water company flagged up a likely leak. It proved to be a dribbly toilet in the en suite. It was so subtle we'd not even noticed. I was gob-smacked at how much water it was using. Swapped out the valve and all was fine. I wouldn't overly worry at this stage.

Irishpearce26

lady38_me said:

As the house is nearly new build we didn't order the most expensive one as we thought that the one the bank was doing for mortgage purposes would be sufficient (I might regret it now but can't change anything ). No problems were identfied through the survey or searches....

Quite often the bank survey which is to determine the value is a drive by, many don't even enter the house. Searches have nothing to do with the inside of the house. You have exchanged and unfortunately this will be your problem to solve, maybe ask the vendor if they have noticed anything then get someone to check it out once you move in.

jimbog

You're only liable for the bills from when you complete so take a water meeting reading then and watch it like a hawk for a few days.

If there is a problem you can perhaps do some detective work: https://www.stwater.co.uk/my-supply/leakage/how-to-check-for-a-leak/?iid=uhb_wss:leak_check:button/

Justonemorecupoftea

You can't make them do anything, but you could ask them if they are aware of anything that might be causing it.

As a general conversation, not some thinly veiled threat to sue or something.

They may well say "well the bath tap has been leaking for a while, but we didn't think anything much of it..."

Pok3mon

I would say 8L is a lot! Imagine a full bucket thrown on the floor, However good news if there was that much water going where it shouldn't you would have noticed. I am going with toilet overflow running back into the bowl, I had this once and did not notice because it was clear water on a white surface. 

Easy fix and might not cost a penny. 

How ever if it is a underground leak could be a issue.