Condemned house wiring

Wanda22

Hi there I bought a property 3 weeks ago, I has electrician in today to install a new shower and he has condemned the wiring in my house advising a whole house rewire. My property is over 60 years old and still has original wiring. Can I go back to my solicitor regarding this for help towards the cost of this? 

user1977

Can you explain your question? What does your solicitor have to do with the wiring?

sacvwgolf

No, it's up to the buyer to find out these things before exchanging. Even then the seller may just reject any price reductions.

biscan25

Not unless the vendor explicitly lied about the state of the wiring. Its typical for the buyer to arrange an EICR or similar to establish the works and the cost involved, so they can adjust their offer if needs be.
If I was buying a house over 40 years old, I'd assume the wiring need to be redone.

macman

Any property wired in the 1960's would be coming to the end of it's service life now, not to mention that it would probably have one socket per room only, and be totally inadequate. 
Did you have a survey, if so what does it say about the wiring/CU? This would have been a visual inspection only, but might say something like 'the wiring and CU appear to be original and may need updating. A professional inspection is recommended'.
Unless, as stated above, the vendor told you that the wiring was newer, you have no comeback whatsoever. 
You bought the house as seen: any defects do not have to be declared by the vendor and are now your sole responsibility.

Wanda22

OK thanks for the advice, seems like it's been a pricey learning curve for me!!!  😭

TBagpuss

As others have said, unless the seller actively lied about the wiring then it's not something you have any come back for, and is nothing to do with your solicitor.

Did you have an electrical survey done before your bought?
What specifically has the electrician said?  
Have they said that there is anything which is dangerous, or have they said that things don't meet current standards / given recommendations for improvements or replacements? 

owenjt

This is the sort of thing that a survey should flag. Did you have a survey done?

martindow

TBagpuss said:

What specifically has the electrician said?  
Have they said that there is anything which is dangerous, or have they said that things don't meet current standards / given recommendations for improvements or replacements? 

These are the important questions.  Electrical regulations change regularly and very few houses comply with the latest regulations, but that doesn't mean they are unsafe.

Even 60 years old, as long as it is plastic rather than rubber insulation, it could still be safe.  It may be worth updating the consumer unit if this is the case.  You probably have very few sockets and this is often the trigger for rewiring rather than safety issues.

Section62

Wanda22 said:

OK thanks for the advice, seems like it's been a pricey learning curve for me!!!  😭

Although it sounds like you will end up needing a full rewire, I would get a second opinion/quote from someone else to make sure.

It would be pretty unusual for a 60 year old house to have nothing but the original wiring, but it can happen.  If so, you'd expect the surveyor to have put a massive red flag on this (more than the usual 'get an electrical inspection'), and likely identified many other aspects of the property where insufficient maintenance and/or updating had occurred.

ProDave

Since your first electrician has "condemned" it, I would first get an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) done by a different electrician.

I encounter lots of old properties and many the actual wiring is in good order.  In many cases all that is needed is thorough testing, a new consumer unit, earth bonding which will be missing or inadequate, and addition of a few more sockets as already pointed out there might not be enough or in the right place.

I like to do that where I can to avoid the disruption usually involved and making good afterwards for a full rewire.