Ready to exchange but boiler appears broken after my final viewing

cymruchris

It may be that the work on the 'C2' list has already been completed - you could ask the seller to confirm whether this is the case. 

RedFraggle

If works were completed there should be a certificate confirming that is the case if it was tenanted after

silverbanana

Thanks for all your help.

I had a sleepless night but today sent the email to solicitor and estate agent and basically said:-

* Replace the boiler.
* Provide evidence all C2 faults were addressed or address them, will assume responsibility for C3 & the 30yr old wiring replacement.

Concluded I'd be happy if that was done - and prepared to pull out if it isn't.

TheJP

silverbanana said:

Thanks for all your help.

I had a sleepless night but today sent the email to solicitor and estate agent and basically said:-

* Replace the boiler.
* Provide evidence all C2 faults were addressed or address them, will assume responsibility for C3 & the 30yr old wiring replacement.

Concluded I'd be happy if that was done - and prepared to pull out if it isn't.

I think asking the seller to replace the boiler is a little extreme due to a) you have no idea if it actually works, maybe get an engineer to check it out first and b) why would they gift you a brand new boiler when you know its 14 years old and this likely would have been reflected in the price. At best you could get 30% of the cost but most boilers have a life expectancy of 10 so i would have budgeted with this in mind.

Would you really pull out due to the boiler, you'd probably loose more in fees and higher interest rate further down the line.

silverbanana

I didn’t know it was 14 years old.

silverbanana said:

The boiler is broken and due to the age I will only accept a replacement, not a repair.

The boiler is 14 years old and clearly not in satisfactory condition. I wrote to the estate agent on 10th October 2022 kindly asking the vendor to be mindful of the risk of leaving a property's electrical and gas supply off for an extended period of time, particularly to the boiler. My plea was ignored and consequently the boiler has broken down. This is something that would have happened to me on completion day had I not have viewed the property again and so I am quite vexed by it.

Upon closer inspection of the electrical report it does not appear the boiler was serviced annually which I believed was the case. Consequently I am not prepared to accept a remedial repair. I have reflected on the course of action and concluded that the vendor will need to replace the boiler prior to completion.

The electrical report is not satisfactory and the vendor will need to provide evidence all C2 faults have been remedied.

After the boiler didn't work I spoke to an engineer (also providing them with the electrical report). The handwriting was illegible to me but now they have managed to decipher it raised further concern I would like the vendor to address.

The electrician listed 7 points categorised C2 (Potentially dangerous - urgent remedial action required), I need to evidence that all the C2's have been addressed as a minimum before I proceed further with the purchase:

* There is no earth bonding in the property.

* There is no RCD protection on the shower or socket circuits - so a significant shock risk if there was a fault.

* There's a cover missing off the bus-bar - the strip of metal across the bottom of where the fuses/trip switches are in the main fuse box. I need confirmation this has been replaced/covered, there is risk of shock.

* The Mains supply cable from the meter into the property is smaller than today's standards (would have been fitted when 16mm was big enough and we weren't all drinking electric all day). The earth cable from the meter is also too small for today's standards.

* There's a potential fault of some sort in the stairs lighting circuit that requires further investigation.

* The bedroom light switch has no CPC reading - so there's a fault there too.

* The main fuse for power into the property is 60amp - should be 100amp - requires an upgrade.

I am prepared to assume responsibility for C3 faults (improvement recommended) including the eventual cabling replacement.

The smoke detector that has no working battery will need to be fixed if I assume insurance liability from exchange.

I could not see the gas and electricity meter. Vendor needs to provide estate agent with detail on where they are and then arrange access for inspection. Estate agent didn't know if they were pre-paid or standard credit, location of, etc.

The surveyor could not find access to the gas and electricity meter. I asked the agent to see it in my final viewing. The agent believes they are in a padlocked outbuilding and could cut the lock but I don't believe this is appropriate.

Further clarification required on the parking.

The estate agent does not have keys to the bollard in the parking area. There is a vehicle overlapping one of the spaces I am legally meant to give access to. It is evident, based on the position of the vehicle at my first viewing, see attached files - before.jpg, after.jpg - I've scribbled a white line indicating my presumed boundary) the vendor has given access to a neighbour - as the vehicle would not be able to park in the bay without bollard access. I need clarification of this arrangement and will the neighbour have access to the spaces afterwards. The car appears to have had an accident since the first photo was taken - please confirm if the car has been abandoned, overlapping into my space.

housebuyer143

I probably wouldn't have made the seller do it.. It might work and if he does it you can guarantee it will be done budget. Budget boiler isn't great for you in the long run, and there is no guarantee they will flush the system and all the things you really need to ensure it works for decades to come with no problems. 

Boilers don't really come to the end of their life at 14 years. I have had one boiler 24yrs old that was working fine, one I installed and was 11 years old and never had a fault - it will probably go for another 10 years, and my most recent house it's 20 years and going strong. 

Really an engineer visit to provide you with a service document should have been sufficient to show you it's working. If it is you can plan to replace it if and when it needs it. 
There is little risk to a boiler with having the electric and gas turned off, it's no worse than it being turned on for winter after a 6 month hiatus.

user1977

Given you don't appear to have any idea what is wrong with the boiler (or about boilers in general...), why demand that it be replaced?

silverbanana

housebuyer143 said:

I probably wouldn't have made the seller do it.. It might work and if he does it you can guarantee it will be done budget. Budget boiler isn't great for you in the long run, and there is no guarantee they will flush the system and all the things you really need to ensure it works for decades to come with no problems. 

Boilers don't really come to the end of their life at 14 years. I have had one boiler 24yrs old that was working fine, one I installed and was 11 years old and never had a fault - it will probably go for another 10 years, and my most recent house it's 20 years and going strong. 

Really an engineer visit to provide you with a service document should have been sufficient to show you it's working. If it is you can plan to replace it if and when it needs it. 
There is little risk to a boiler with having the electric and gas turned off, it's no worse than it being turned on for winter after a 6 month hiatus.

The house was up for £115k, I offered £117.5k.

Reason I have asked them to do it is because I would’ve reduced my offer at least down to £115k for all the issues and can’t because of the locked in rate.

 So I need seller to remedy.

I don’t know let’s see what happens. 

All this could’ve been avoided if I had turned up as I requested and seen radiator was on and hot water flowed through the tap. 

The electrical issues have freaked me out.

housebuyer143

silverbanana said:

housebuyer143 said:

I probably wouldn't have made the seller do it.. It might work and if he does it you can guarantee it will be done budget. Budget boiler isn't great for you in the long run, and there is no guarantee they will flush the system and all the things you really need to ensure it works for decades to come with no problems. 

Boilers don't really come to the end of their life at 14 years. I have had one boiler 24yrs old that was working fine, one I installed and was 11 years old and never had a fault - it will probably go for another 10 years, and my most recent house it's 20 years and going strong. 

Really an engineer visit to provide you with a service document should have been sufficient to show you it's working. If it is you can plan to replace it if and when it needs it. 
There is little risk to a boiler with having the electric and gas turned off, it's no worse than it being turned on for winter after a 6 month hiatus.

The house was up for £115k, I offered £117.5k.

Reason I have asked them to do it is because I would’ve reduced my offer at least down to £115k for all the issues and can’t because of the locked in rate.

 So I need seller to remedy.

I don’t know let’s see what happens. 

All this could’ve been avoided if I had turned up as I requested and seen radiator was on and hot water flowed through the tap. 

The electrical issues have freaked me out.

I completely get the electrical issues have freaked you out, that is what I would be more concerned about than the boiler, providing it fires up.

You could get an allowance paid on completion to you by the seller for the boiler etc if they agree, saves you amending the offer. 

silverbanana

housebuyer143 said:

silverbanana said:

housebuyer143 said:

I probably wouldn't have made the seller do it.. It might work and if he does it you can guarantee it will be done budget. Budget boiler isn't great for you in the long run, and there is no guarantee they will flush the system and all the things you really need to ensure it works for decades to come with no problems. 

Boilers don't really come to the end of their life at 14 years. I have had one boiler 24yrs old that was working fine, one I installed and was 11 years old and never had a fault - it will probably go for another 10 years, and my most recent house it's 20 years and going strong. 

Really an engineer visit to provide you with a service document should have been sufficient to show you it's working. If it is you can plan to replace it if and when it needs it. 
There is little risk to a boiler with having the electric and gas turned off, it's no worse than it being turned on for winter after a 6 month hiatus.

The house was up for £115k, I offered £117.5k.

Reason I have asked them to do it is because I would’ve reduced my offer at least down to £115k for all the issues and can’t because of the locked in rate.

 So I need seller to remedy.

I don’t know let’s see what happens. 

All this could’ve been avoided if I had turned up as I requested and seen radiator was on and hot water flowed through the tap. 

The electrical issues have freaked me out.

I completely get the electrical issues have freaked you out, that is what I would be more concerned about than the boiler, providing it fires up.

You could get an allowance paid on completion to you by the seller for the boiler etc if they agree, saves you amending the offer. 

I will Google this- thanks for letting me know. I’ll see what the solicitor (and estate agent) come back with as I sent email to both.