Irregularities found 4 years after purchasing a house

Terypb

We purchased our property 4 years ago. At the time we didn't have enough money and didn't pay for a survey. We have now decided to do some work and have found several issues with part of the house; the previous owner moved the kitchen to a different location and added a bathroom in that area, there are no foundation in that area of the property, which she must have known about as the pipes run under the very thin concrete, on the dirt. She has moved the back door a bit to one side and made a window smaller. I believe she didn't have building regulations for any of these work as it wasn't passed on. My question is; where do I go from here? This is obviously going to cost us a bit to put right.

DullGreyGuy

Saving money on a survey can unfortunately result in expensive discoveries later!

user1977

Terypb said:

which she must have known about 

Did you ask her at the time?

I believe she didn't have building regulations for any of these work 

Didn't you check?

Niv

Terypb said:

We purchased our property 4 years ago. At the time we didn't have enough money and didn't pay for a survey. We have now decided to do some work and have found several issues with part of the house; the previous owner moved the kitchen to a different location and added a bathroom in that area, there are no foundation in that area of the property, which she must have known about as the pipes run under the very thin concrete, on the dirt. She has moved the back door a bit to one side and made a window smaller. I believe she didn't have building regulations for any of these work as it wasn't passed on. My question is; where do I go from here? This is obviously going to cost us a bit to put right.

Suck it up, fix what needs to be fixed and learn a valuable life lesson.

Welcome to home ownership, its not always plain sailing.

p.s. I do feel for you but I do not believe there is anything you can do as there is nothing in your post to suggest you were mis sold / lied to in any way during the process.

housebuyer143

You do not go anywhere from here. You did not pay for a survey - house sold as seen

aoleks

Terypb said:

We purchased our property 4 years ago. At the time we didn't have enough money and didn't pay for a survey. We have now decided to do some work and have found several issues with part of the house; the previous owner moved the kitchen to a different location and added a bathroom in that area, there are no foundation in that area of the property, which she must have known about as the pipes run under the very thin concrete, on the dirt. She has moved the back door a bit to one side and made a window smaller. I believe she didn't have building regulations for any of these work as it wasn't passed on. My question is; where do I go from here? This is obviously going to cost us a bit to put right.

you don't, it's not something you can claim back from previous owner. have the works been declared when you bought the house? did you notice the kitchen was moved? what about the additional toilet? if you did know about those, your solicitor should've asked for a building control certificate.

having said that, do you have a sketch/floor plan showing a before/after? it sounds to me like you might not understand how a foundation works and everything could be just fine.

by the sound of it, you have a house with a solid concrete floor, that's not part of the foundation. the foundation will be found under the external walls of the house and potentially under the main internal supporting wall, depending on construction type.

a floor plan will shed a lot of light.

lincroft1710

You have no comeback on the vendor as in England and Wales property is "sold as seen". So any work that needs doing to remedy any defects is down to you to pay for. 

eddddy

Did your seller actually say anything untrue or misleading in the documents that you received via your solicitors?

If so, in theory, you might have the basis for a claim.



But if they... 

• simply didn't mention the problems, or
• said something untrue or misleading directly to you verbally or by email/letter or via the estate agent - and not via your solicitor...

... then you probably don't have a basis for any kind of claim against the sellers.

Woolsery

Terypb said:

 My question is; where do I go from here? This is obviously going to cost us a bit to put right.

If you are 'doing work,' you make what you do compliant with building regulations and get the work signed-off. It's unlikely the council building inspector will be interested in any previous work that's not affected by your  alterations. It's probably too late for planning to quibble over the door or window the previous owner moved.

caprikid1

"you do not go anywhere from here. You did not pay for a survey - house sold as seen"

In fairness if you had paid for a survey you still might have nowhere to go depending on the type of survey accessibility.

If she said nothing had been changed on the PIF when it must have been you may have some scope but I think you are clutching at straws.

htcclub

It's worth digging up the 'Property Information Form' the vendor would have filled out, as it has answers to many questions, and potentially it is/isn't flagged. Some issues MUST be flagged be a vendor legally, I couldn't say if that has happened here though.