Claim against seller of our property

lincroft1710

goodwithsaving said:

Sjones2188 said:

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.

I get really fed up of first time buyers claiming nativity. .

I think your predictive text is getting into the Christmas spirit!

yllop1101

I'm sorry to say I don't think you have a chance of any sort of recourse, and I speak from being in a similar experience myself, except my survey said the roof was FINE and DIDN'T need repair, so we got NO money off, AND it then was apparent it was leaking when we moved in.
We went through the surveyors internal complaints process to no avail, escalated to the ombudsman and got some money back from them, but not enough to cover the full cost of replacing the roof. 

You were told it needed replacing (although not 'urgently'- summer = less rain- nonetheless it would have needed doing before the winter most likely) and got some money off for this. If you were being cautious you would have got a proper roof survey or a quote for replacing before proceeding with the purchase, but that's on you and not on them, sorry.

Your best next step is to gather a series of quotes and just ensure you get it done properly. 

billy2shots

So what did you do with that £3000 that you negotiated off due to the condition of the roof. 

You could possibly put it towards fixing the roof. 

MysteryMe

The problem is the house was yours end of June, we are now well into October. You are not going to be  able to prove that the leaking issue hasn't occurred since your ownership.  We've had some strong winds recently so it may be that a tile was dislodged as a result leading to the leak. You knew the roof was coming to the end of its life and got money off based on that.  Obviously the seller was aware of that but other than anecdotal gossip from a neighbour you don't have any proof that it was actually leaking.  I know this is annoying but I would concentrate on getting the leak sorted as the weather is only going to get worse. I would engage a reputable roofer to see what they suggest, it may not need a whole new roof  immediately. You may still be able to repair and get a few more years out of it.

UnsilentMinority

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!!

As others have said surely the survey suggesting it's better to replace the roof and 3k off the price means you should have replaced the roof and you had a good start to the roof fund with the said 3k. Did you just pocket it and think happy days with the reduction ?

goodwithsaving

lincroft1710 said:

goodwithsaving said:

Sjones2188 said:

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.

I get really fed up of first time buyers claiming nativity. .

I think your predictive text is getting into the Christmas spirit!

Must be my wishful thinking!

OP you intentionally chose to ignore the more understanding part of my response to you. 

deannagone

lincroft1710 said:

goodwithsaving said:

Sjones2188 said:

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.

I get really fed up of first time buyers claiming nativity. .

I think your predictive text is getting into the Christmas spirit!

Made me laugh though, wondering if there should be a blanket ban on FTB's called Mary or Joseph unless there was plenty of room in the inn for extra visitors with crowns and space for worshipping angels.  And soundproofing for all the hosannah's.

Apologies if I've offended anyone.., bit stir crazy tonight.

canaldumidi

Surveyor warned you roof was in poor condition - bad enough to justify a £3K price drop. No chance of any claim against the surveyor.

No formal statement by seller attached to the contract of sale via solicitors, guaranteeing the roof was in good condition/not leaking. No chance of any claim against the seller.

Welcome to the joys of property ownership. Houses need maintenance, often at unpredictable times, and house-owners need to budget for this. And in this case you even knew in advance that this was a maintenance requirement.

TheJP

Slithery said:

TheJP said:

The seller doesn't have to disclose anything about the house

But they do have to answer questions truthfully though.

And I think they did when they said its not currently leaking. However the fact the OP accepted a reduction to repair the roof supersedes any comeback in my opinion.

london21

Doubt you will be able to make a claim.
Use the £3k towards getting it sorted.