Scottish home report expired - who should pay?

junipero

We are first-time buyers and under pressure to move into the house we've had an offer accepted on so we really need this to go through.

My mortgage broker has advised me that the HR has expired. The sellers had a previous offer accepted but it fell through hence why it has had enough time to expire. I can get it done for free through the mortgage company I am applying with or the sellers can foot the £180 bill.

It would make sense for me to get it through the mortgage company, I've also been advised this will be quicker, however I'm concerned in case they value it lower than the original HR and then we could be snookered and may not be able to buy the property at all.

I don't want to tick off the sellers by getting them to foot the bill again although it is not my fault it has expired. The other issue is what if they foot the bill and then they are in the same position again and ours falls through for whatever reason. They aren't going to want to keep having to pay out for HRs.

Incidentally, when should I expect an entry date by?? The offer was accepted 2 weeks ago and I haven't heard anything further. My conveyancer says just to concentrate on the mortgage application but that's out of my hands, he said he'll let me know when he hears anything.

theartfullodger

Surely only seller can sort it - part of it is their section (currently drafting one....).

What does your solicitors say about this?

user1977

Why aren't you talking to your solicitor about this? The norm would be for the seller to get it refreshed, at their expense. But it doesn't sound like you need it done immediately anyway.

junipero

It turns out the seller can refuse to pay for this as they are under no obligation. I am getting conflicting information from both my conveyancer and mortgage broker. My solicitor is going to ask the seller for a refresh so I'll see what happens next. 

Alderbank

I'll take a deep breath...

Home reports do not expire.
However mortgage lenders will not accept a valuation which is any more than 3 months old. For this reason a buyer may request a ‘replacement’ Home Report, as in this case. However the seller is under no obligation to provide this.

OP, you're not asking for a legal requirement. You are asking because of an additional demand from your lender. Your lender is not going to budge.
If you use the same assessor who did it before I suspect he will simply change the date at the top and send it off along with the request for his fee. It is very unusual for these 'refreshed' Home Reports to differ from the originals.

If the seller ends up having to put the house back on the market again he will have to pay for another Home Report. This is not because it has expired but because it should not have been compiled any more than 28 days before the property is marketed. You could point that out to the seller who might agree to share the cost.

user1977

junipero said:

It turns out the seller can refuse to pay for this as they are under no obligation.

Nobody's under any obligation to do anything until you conclude missives. It is one of the holes in the Home Report system that the seller must get one in order to market the property in the first place, but there's no law or official guidance on getting it updated - but in practice, the seller would normally do this.

sheramber

Incidentally, when should I expect an entry date by?? The offer was accepted 2 weeks ago and I haven't heard anything furthe

What was stated about entry in your offer to buy?

Usually, it says a mutually agreeable date so once missives are ready for signing a date can be set.

junipero

sheramber said:

Incidentally, when should I expect an entry date by?? The offer was accepted 2 weeks ago and I haven't heard anything furthe

What was stated about entry in your offer to buy?

Usually, it says a mutually agreeable date so once missives are ready for signing a date can be set.

Thank you, that's all I really needed to know. Yes, the offer stated mutually agreeable date. I didn't know that it was generally once the missives were ready.

junipero

user1977 said:

Why aren't you talking to your solicitor about this? The norm would be for the seller to get it refreshed, at their expense. But it doesn't sound like you need it done immediately anyway.

I have spoken to my solicitor about it but I am asking here for advice. What do you mean by "it doesn't sound like I need it done immediately" please?

junipero

user1977 said:

junipero said:

It turns out the seller can refuse to pay for this as they are under no obligation.

Nobody's under any obligation to do anything until you conclude missives. It is one of the holes in the Home Report system that the seller must get one in order to market the property in the first place, but there's no law or official guidance on getting it updated - but in practice, the seller would normally do this.

I'll happily pay for it if it reduces the risk of the lender coming back with a lower value.

junipero

Alderbank said:

I'll take a deep breath...

Home reports do not expire.
However mortgage lenders will not accept a valuation which is any more than 3 months old. For this reason a buyer may request a ‘replacement’ Home Report, as in this case. However the seller is under no obligation to provide this.

OP, you're not asking for a legal requirement. You are asking because of an additional demand from your lender. Your lender is not going to budge.
If you use the same assessor who did it before I suspect he will simply change the date at the top and send it off along with the request for his fee. It is very unusual for these 'refreshed' Home Reports to differ from the originals.

If the seller ends up having to put the house back on the market again he will have to pay for another Home Report. This is not because it has expired but because it should not have been compiled any more than 28 days before the property is marketed. You could point that out to the seller who might agree to share the cost.

Thank you for this info. That's interesting because the EA hasn't taken it off the market, it's been showing as for sale for the past 2 weeks after we've had our offer accepted. I wonder if that's the reason, to prevent them having to get another home report should my offer fall through?