Non disclosure of property defects - Sound Proofing and drainage issues

user1977

sheramber said:

Presumably any noise can travel both ways.

Does your neighbour complain about noise in her house?

Indeed, this doesn't like "complaining about unreasonable noisy neighbour" and more "hey, our party wall is a bit rubbish, isn't it?"

laurajanelolly

Thank you for all the replies. 

Upon further research it is actually down to the vendor to prove they that they didn't lie. 

"They may decide to take action under the Misrepresentation Act 1967 and the burden of proof has shifted from the buyer to the seller.

This now means that the buyer no longer has to prove that you lied on the form, it’s now up to you to prove that you did not, should they decide to make a claim."

It does make us question would we have bought the property had we have known about the noise levels or the fact that the work had to be carried out. I do respect though that it's more complex than that and just the way it goes with buying properties. I think the bigger issue for us is should they have told us that they had work done due to noise issues and poor party wall. For context they were only in the house for 3 years and our neighbour had only moved into hers 3 months after them. They were both doing a lot of redecorating so she was surprised they complained so much as they too were making noise. It happened not long after she had moved in so 2018/19. We are going to ask our neighbour for more information regarding the sound complaints and work that was carried out as a result. It just feels a little suspicious that they didn't tell us about the soundproofing as surely that's a positive, although it's not really fixed it I guess.  

GDB2222

doodling said:

Hi,

To play devil's advocate a little, some potential answers from your vendors if you pursue this:

GDB2222 said:

user1977 said:

UnsilentMinority said:

MaryNB said:

mattyprice4004 said:

It doesn't sound like something serious enough to go down on a TA6 as a dispute - if a neighbour complained I was a little noisy at times I wouldn't put it down either. 
Drains are also a non-issue, as long as they work correctly during 'normal' weather I'd say that's good enough. 

You bought a 60 year old house, if you want a new house with a warranty then buy a new-build. 
Unfortunately older stuff (including houses) usually comes with an issue or two. 

Some people are also more sensitive to noise than others - I had to buy detached and lower my expectations in terms of space as I'm quite intolerant of neighbour noise.

Given the seller appeared to have noise consultants out, the neighbour had to have builders in to mitigate the issue and it caused tension between them I would say that it would very difficult to argue that there was no complaint about a nearby property. Whether they are over sensitive to noise or not doesn't change the fact that it appeared to be a fairly significant issue between the neighbours. The question is very open - have there been any disputes or complaints and the neighbour very much confirmed this. If they were still sleeping in the smaller room at the time of the viewing it would indicate that the issue wasn't resolved. 

Only if the complaint goes down the legal/written route

No, that's not what the question asks. In fact it's not even restricted to written complaints, or complaints which have actually been made - it includes things which you know are likely to lead to a complaint.

Quite! To be precise, there are two questions:

• Have there been any disputes or complaints regarding this property or a property nearby?

No, there have been no disputes or complaints.  There was more noise from next door than I anticipated when I moved in but the neighbours and I worked together to resolve the issue. At no point were there any disputes or complaints between the neighbour and myself.

• Is the seller aware of anything which might lead to a dispute about the property or a property nearby?

No. As noted above, there was initially some noise from next door but following the work agreed with the neighbour, the issue was resolved to everyone's satisfaction.

You would need to convince a court that what I have written in italics is untrue to make progress with this.

The argument from the vendor will be that this is exactly the same as them, for example, noting to a neighbour that the shared drive is getting a bit tatty and agreeing with the neighbour that they will jointly fund a layer of tarmac.  That isn't a dispute or complaint, it is joint property maintenance / enhancement.

Of course, if the neighbour tells a different story then maybe that evidence would be compelling?

Totally agree that "You would need to convince a court that what I have written in italics is untrue to make progress with this." Bear in mind that the standard of proof is 'balance of probabilities'. You don't have to convince the court beyond reasonable doubt. 

My own view is that it's fairy clear that there's a problem with noise that might lead to a dispute.

Thrugelmir

laurajanelolly said:

 They were both doing a lot of redecorating so she was surprised they complained so much as they too were making noise.

Perhaps they were decorating at unsocial hours. You are only getting one side of the story. Neatly deflects your attention away from them.