Vendor only willing to pay for part of remedial work

TheJP

ESMForum said:

Hi GoogleMeNow, thank you for your reply!

To answer your questions, the house was built in the 70s so I probably should have expected some minor issues with the wiring to be fair. but I'm a FTB so it didn't appear obvious to me when I viewed the property. My surveyor later found issues with the wiring and boiler and recommended a renegotiation as my offer was above market value, but the vendor has refused to reduce the price so as compromises they agreed to carry out electrical and gas safety checks.

I guess insisting they pay for the work probably isn't a good idea now that I think about it, but I'm genuinely a bit confused about what would be a 'fair price' for this type of thing. 

Even as an FTB surely you would have known that a 70s house would need updating, however you chose to pay over the market value and now you want the vendor to pay for things you'll benefit from. This is why FTBs get a bad reputation.

If the boiler works fine why should the vendor contribute! The electrics are dated but as the vendor lives in the property currently look to work fine its just you want more sockets etc. 

I cant even believe the vendor paid for the survey's, think you lucked out there as it would have been a straight pay for your own due diligence.

gingercordial

As others have said, you don't need to do this work, as clearly the vendor has been living with the electrics and boiler.  Both of those things wear out eventually and so the fact that an update would be nice is probably not the fault of your seller, it's to be expected in a house of that age.  Therefore any work you do will be for your benefit and you should probably pay or live with it.

However rewiring is horribly disruptive and messy and so if you can stretch to doing it before you move in (if you're a FTB, I'm assuming you're in rented so do not need to move on completion day) that would save you a lot of hassle later.  Get more sockets put in than you could imagine needing.

canaldumidi

I'm wih everyone else. Think yourself lucky the vendor paid for the electrical test, and if you get a copy, that's a bonus.

Boiler is old but working. So is mine, but I ain't replacing it!

Electrics are old but working (almost certainly) so upgrading is perhaps nice to do for your new home, but not a necessity, unless the report actually identifies dangers (as opposed to 'issues' which probably means not compliant with current Regs, just like 90% of UK houses).

deeboy12

You're having a laugh, surely? Your report says that the boiler is functioning and will need replaced at some point, and you think your seller should stump up cash towards its replacement?!

Thrugelmir

ESMForum said:

 recommended a renegotiation as my offer was above market value, 

A lesson learnt perhaps for the future. Don't pay over the odds. 

dimbo61

I am sure if the boiler stopped working and packed up the Vendor would have it fixed or replaced however it is working and I would agree with the vendor why replace something if its not broken.
Same with the electrics ! Maybe not enough sockets but the people living in the property have managed for X number of years.
If the electrics tripped every time you turned on the lights or put the kettle on you would get it fixed.
Now I have rewired a couple of houses and it causes one hell of a mess.
Floor boards up, Replastering after installing new sockets in different parts of the rooms, New RCB fusebox in metal.
New carpets, New painting and decoration 

If you want to rewire the house and fit a new boiler well that is your decision and you get to decide where and how many plugs,
What kind of new boiler etc

jonnydeppiwish!

As previous, why on earth are you expecting the vendor to pay to update the electrics in the house? You’ve viewed it, offered on and should expect to pay what you’ve offered.
Please stop wasting the vendor’s time.

t1redmonkey

There's very few 'perfect' houses out there that are going to have no issues in surveys/electrical/gas checks...you just need to either accept that and get the work done yourself and proceed with the purchase, or pull out.  But then any other house you look at is probably going to have some issues with it as well if you look hard enough.  Fact is, it's a sellers market so the vendor is most likely not going to care that much if you do pull out of it since there's probably someone else willing to take it off his hands.

Sistergold

ESMForum said:

theoretica said:

If they will not pay for the entire work are you happy to walk away from the purchase?

I probably would still stick with it as I'm quite happy with the property, but considering its boiler will need replacing too I'm looking at £5k+ just for remedial work alone...

The boiler was there when you viewed and the electrics were as is when you viewed. As long as the boiler is working and electrics working no one needs to change anything. You need to have an emergency fund to deal with boiler when it finally packs up. It’s not really reasons enough to reduce price. 

[Deleted User]

You chose to offer above market value attracting the vendor to accept your offer, as a first time buyer. In a property as much as 50 years old without new electrics and a newish boiler, I would have assumed there would be additional costs. I would have been of the attitude that if survey returned with under 5k of issues that would not be a surprise and i would probably not renegotiate. I would use the money i had set aside for such assumed problems - 10k. This is how i approached my purchase. Bidding high, then revising offer based on survey and factors within anticipation, is a messy approach.