Advice please-Seller lied on property information form....

Aliwoo2

We have recently bought a house that needed a lot of updating, one of which was the utility room which had plaster boards on the outside wall which were buckled in the middle, so we had a plasterer come out to redo them.  The plasterer found a horror show under the plasterboards of damp and water which was coming through the wall which was also crumbling. So we decided to speak to the neighbour. The neighbours house is currently in probate and explained that the seller turned our garden footpath into a utility area (lean to i guess it could also be classed as) using the neighbours wall and a make shift roof which actually goes onto the neighbours property and rests on top of this garden wall. He didnt speak to the neighbour for permission and didnt seek planning permissions. The neighbour advised that eventually when the probate is sorted he is going to knock down this wall as it is crumbling and is unsafe and said that the roof of the utility area will have to go to, with it being attached to his wall.

Now where do we stand as this property was advertised as having a utility area and when we viewed it the estate agent obviously showed us this area and explained it as such but in reality it is not. In the property information forms the seller didnt mention any building work or adjustments to the property (had ticked no) but that is simply not true.

sorry for the long post, any advice is greatly appreciated.

MEM62

This is one for the solicitor that handled your conveyancing.  It is likely to be a bun fight.  

FreeBear

And what did your surveyor say about it ?

You did have a full survey done didn't you......

user1977

Your problem seems to be its poor condition - is the fact the vendor built it relevant?

lincroft1710

Some years ago I renewed the rear fence in my garden. The fencing contractor found that the rear neighbour had attached their side fence (without permission) to my fence. So on renewing my fence the contractor removed trespassing neighbour's fence and to avoid further damage placed in his garden. Few days later neighbour politely asked what was happening about his fence and I equally politely explained he would have buy and install a fence post.


Your problem is similar, your utility roof is trespassing on your neighbour's wall. So when (or before) your neighbour renews the wall you will have to erect some form of support for the roof or demolish the structure. You bought a house with a utility area but either you or your surveyor did not check or check thoroughly its condition/construction.


Planning permission may not have been needed. The fact that your vendor in his hurry to complete the form on time ticked the wrong box (because if challenged that is what he would probably claim) does not help you one iota. You viewed the house, saw what was there and bought it. As has been stated by @user1977, is who built the extension relevant? Because you have no claim on the vendor or whoever built that extension.

Thrugelmir

Aliwoo2 said:

We have recently bought a house that needed a lot of updating, one of which was the utility room which had plaster boards on the outside wall which were buckled in the middle, 

The time to ask questions was when buying the property. You bought what you saw. 

ProDave

A solution might be for YOU to offer to pay to replace the crumbling wall on the condition that the neighbour grants permission for it to be a party wall and allows the roof to rest on it.  you get to keep your utility room suitably repaired and the neighbour gets a new wall.

Noneforit999

I don't think you have much of a leg to stand on here, sounds very much like caveat emptor to me. 

Did you have a survey? If so, did the surveyor not pick up on it?

From what you have described, I think you are going to need to take this on the chin and accept you no longer have a utility area. 

You have no hope of recourse via property information sheet as its not a legally binding document. 

koalakoala

Noneforit999 said:

I

You have no hope of recourse via property information sheet as its not a legally binding document. 

I also found that out to my cost !

Noneforit999

koalakoala said:

Noneforit999 said:

I

You have no hope of recourse via property information sheet as its not a legally binding document. 

I also found that out to my cost !

I suppose the document is just designed for the buyer to query anything the vendor wants to leave or is planning to take before the exchange of contracts.

We filled ours out a few weeks ago and submitted to our solicitor, I put down a couple of light fittings were being taken but the shed and built in storage in the cupboard downstairs would be left if the buyer wanted them. I am waiting to hear back but I will proceed on the basis both things will be staying unless they query it via their solicitor as I made it clear on the form they were included. 

steampowered

If you can prove that the seller made an untrue statement on their property information form, then you can sue the seller under the law of "misrepresentation". 

You would need to be able to point to a specific statement in the form which is not true, and be able to articulate exactly why it is not true. 

There is an article about it here which gives good examples of legal cases in which people were sued for making false statements on their property information forms. For example, a seller who answered "no" to the flooding question when a stream overflowed was liable, and a seller who answered "no" to the question about neighbour disputes when there was an access dispute was liable. Property Misrepresentation Claims: Example Cases and Advice (cunningtons.co.uk)