Claim against seller of our property

Sjones2188

 Can anyone please advise whether we have a case against the seller of a property.

We got the keys to our new house at the end of June this year. We have just moved in this week as we have been decorating and our roof is leaking into our main bedroom.

We dis get a level 2 home buyers report done and some issues was raised with the roof and they stated it would be more economical to get a new roof than just fix bits here and there as it was an old roof. As nothing was flagged urgently but we knew we might need one in the long term £3k was knocked off the price of the house.

I was in direct communication with the seller and she advised the roof definitely was currently leaking. 

AND NOW WE HAVE A LEAKING ROOF.

We have spoken to our neighbour who has advised our roof has been leaking for a while and that the seller knew about this but wanted to get rid of the house. Neighbours had a new roof done last year and the roofer could see our roof needed doing urgently but the seller wasn’t interested. Our neighbour stated we may have a case about the seller not disclosing the fact the roof was currently leaking in valuation and that we may have a case of the house being valued incorrectly.

Can anyone please advise??

PS. I know you’re thinking we should contact surveyors, however we have already had a full refund as our garage roof was leaking. Honestly you can’t right it!!

biscan25

Sjones2188 said:

 Can anyone please advise whether we have a case against the seller of a property.

We got the keys to our new house at the end of June this year. We have just moved in this week as we have been decorating and our roof is leaking into our main bedroom.

We dis get a level 2 home buyers report done and some issues was raised with the roof and they stated it would be more economical to get a new roof than just fix bits here and there as it was an old roof. As nothing was flagged urgently but we knew we might need one in the long term £3k was knocked off the price of the house.

I was in direct communication with the seller and she advised the roof definitely was currently leaking. 

AND NOW WE HAVE A LEAKING ROOF.

We have spoken to our neighbour who has advised our roof has been leaking for a while and that the seller knew about this but wanted to get rid of the house. Neighbours had a new roof done last year and the roofer could see our roof needed doing urgently but the seller wasn’t interested. Our neighbour stated we may have a case about the seller not disclosing the fact the roof was currently leaking in valuation and that we may have a case of the house being valued incorrectly.

Can anyone please advise??

PS. I know you’re thinking we should contact surveyors, however we have already had a full refund as our garage roof was leaking. Honestly you can’t right it!!

The surveyor's liability to you should extend beyond the cost of the survey, otherwise it's pretty pointless. No sure whether a "level 2" report will contain an exclusion to this effect?
Did the seller confirm the roof wasn't leaking in writing? (I've assumed a typo in your post). If so it should be straightforward to pursue them. When we made a claim against our sellers for condemned central heating (described as fully functional) they were advised to admit defeat and they paid £1,500 for complete replacement, rather than it go to court.

user1977

Sjones2188 said:

I was in direct communication with the seller and she advised the roof definitely was [not?] currently leaking. 

I doubt your direct communications are going to count for anything. If you wanted to rely on it, it should have been made into a formal enquiry via the solicitors.

[Deleted User]

Apart from a very small number of things, its not the sellers job to disclose the roof condition.   Did you ask through your solicitors?  If you did and they lied then there may be some come back there.  Although it will be a case of proving an actual and tangible loss to claim against.    Its unlikely you can claim against a drop in valuation as that it just theoretical at this point

Why would the sellers disclosures have anything to do with the valuation?  Thats the surveyors job to make inspections and use that information to get their valuation.  A very large % of valuations are done without the seller even in the house

Sjones2188

I know, I’m kicking myself now, but she was constantly on at me and as a first time buyer I was naive. The messages was over text message and I have a text from the seller stating the roof wasn’t currently leaking.

Sjones2188

Do we have more of a claim against the surveyors then for not picking it up as an urgent priority?

NameUnavailable

The thing with roof leaks is that one day it's fine and then the next day it leaks.

You would need to prove that the roof had been leaking for a period of time for a start.

Your survey stated the roof was nearing the point of replacement and you negotiated a discount on the price towards it.........

Slithery

Sjones2188 said:

I was in direct communication with the seller and she advised the roof definitely was currently leaking. 

So the seller told you the roof was leaking and you continued with the purchase. I can't see what they've done wrong.

user1977

Sjones2188 said:

Do we have more of a claim against the surveyors then for not picking it up as an urgent priority?

If you can produce evidence now that it was actually in a different condition on the date of the survey (which was how long ago?) from that stated, and that that would have been apparent to the surveyor within the parameters of their report. This is why surveys include mention of what the weather was - if it's not been raining, any current leaks are obviously not going to be as apparent. And if the surveyor recommended a new roof anyway, I'm not sure sure what you'd be claiming for. It's not as if they gave it a clean bill of health.

pinkshoes

But your homebuyer's report stated the roof was old and uneconomical to repair, and you negotiated £3k off the price because of this.

Roofs leak at random times. Ours leaks sometimes when it is heavy rain and wind in a certain direction. 

Given the homebuyer results, and the £3k negotiation, did you ask the question "has the roof EVER leaked"? "How often does the roof leak?".

So from what the seller said by "it was not currently leaking" does not say it has NEVER leaked. It just says it was not at that point in time leaking. Which given the summer weather is feasible. 

On that basis, I'd say your chances of getting any money are very slim.

Sjones2188

The seller told us the roof WASN’T leaking. It was a typo in the above message