leasehold wet rot

Sumeya81

Update: so a drain engineer came out yesterday and confirmed although the blockage had been cleared it’s strange that water was collecting under the floorboards. This suggests there is further drainage/ pipe work issues as if it was the blockage causing the issues then the water would just overflow in the loo and sink with nowhere to go. He also said this is likely to have gone on for a while.

During my conveyancing I directly addressed the presence of wood rot and the seller disputed its presence from his recent experience of laying down the flooring. This was clearly a lie and I went back a couple of times and he said it’s presence is highly improbable. I have this in writing.

I’m now considering filing a lawsuit of misrepresentation because after receiving confirmation of speculative wet rot from an expert through a damp survey, I questioned the seller and he led me to believe that there was none. There is absolutely not a chance in hell he could have not known about this with the smells and the drain flies. This is clearly a cover up. Spoken to other tenants and they have reported they complained about this issue to the previous owners and again this was not on their property information form. When asked if there’s been or could be any complaints regarding this property, the seller ticked ‘no’.

Sumeya81

anselld said:

@sumeya81 .. nasty and obviously ongoing for some considerable time. 

However, you mention "unfolding the root cause".  So have you actually found the root cause?  A puddle under the floor is not a root cause;  the hole where it came from is the root cause.

I thought I did but clearly not. Since the water was seeping in under my floor boards we now have to rip out the entire floor including the bathroom floor to check the plumbing and drainage system. Furthermore, the rot most likely has spread so the flooring in other parts of the flat will also need to come up. Once that comes up and I get a wood rot specialist in I’ll be able to prove that the seller was outright lying to not lose the sale.

lucypilates

That’s looks awful and I cannot believe the previous owners weren’t aware - esp as neighbours complained about smell to them.

good luck with suing them - they shouldn’t be able to just walk away from this!! Hope it’s remedied quickly for you 

YellowCarBlueCar

Yes really awful for you, and pretty shocking that anyone would try to pass the problem on.  It's no excuse, but I wonder if they knew quite how bad it was.

Sueing the vendor may take a while, and may not ge succesful, I don't know enough about the burden of proof required. Hopefully you can also go down the insurance route as that's going to get the problems addressed most quickly. 

Have you started an insurance claim yet? If not I'd suggest that as a priority as the insurer will probably take charge of the investigation work.

Sumeya81

YellowCarBlueCar said:

Yes really awful for you, and pretty shocking that anyone would try to pass the problem on.  It's no excuse, but I wonder if they knew quite how bad it was.

Sueing the vendor may take a while, and may not ge succesful, I don't know enough about the burden of proof required. Hopefully you can also go down the insurance route as that's going to get the problems addressed most quickly. 

Have you started an insurance claim yet? If not I'd suggest that as a priority as the insurer will probably take charge of the investigation work.

Since it’s a leasehold flat, my freeholder deals with the insurance company - it’s included in my service charge. He tells me he’s informed them and should have a response by Monday. This is another challenge - going through a third party to get the answers I need. I expect they will send someone out to inspect the situation but god knows when that will happen and if I can get access to the paperwork. I also need accommodation coz currently I’m homeless and paying a mortgage. 

It’s amazing what lengths people will go to do people over!

JuanBallOfWimbledon

This is shocking, I can imagine you’re beyond stressed - it’s anyone’s worst nightmare, but especially a FTB!

If it helps at all, in our last house we had a massive leak from the water tank in the loft, which rendered all but one room unusable. The insurance company not only sorted the lot but they also provided us with alternative accommodation for the 12 weeks it took to repair everything. It was pretty great actually, lovely log cabin with a hot tub in the countryside over Christmas, use of all the amenities (swimming pool etc), cleaners and so on, and we came home to a lovely ‘new’ house. We were renting, but the landlord had only owned the house for a month and it was an issue that had been ongoing for a long while. Obviously I’ve no idea what the insurance company will do in your case, but if it’s deemed uninhabitable whilst remedial works are carried out, you’ll hopefully be set up with alternative accommodation. Good luck with it all.