Ready to exchange but boiler appears broken after my final viewing

housebuyer143

silverbanana said:

m0bov said:

OP, the seller is mostly likely going to re list it now he thinks you are chancing. Why would he pay out with a new boiler and sell at the same price. If I was asked, I'd do it, but then I'd up the price.

Just get a trusted GSI and a sparky to go in and do a report. I would never ask the vendor to do any sort of repair, I'd want that done myself. As I did when I purchased my house. If you’re serious, you need facts.

Chancing it? The situation has come about because his boiler broke. He didn’t keep it in good order till exchange. He chanced it, it backfired.

He can relist it if he wants. 

He will still have issue with his boiler and electrical report and it’s unlikely he will find another buyer at the same price. Meanwhile it’s turning to a buyers market and I’m well placed for it.

At the end of the day the boiler is 14 years old and on its last legs…. I don’t care if people say boilers can last 20+ years - he hasn’t regularly serviced it and I’m not chancing it, I shouldn’t have to.

the gas engineer/plumber went to the property on Monday and the estate agent said I’d have an update but here we are on Wednesday afternoon and I’ve not heard a peep from anyone since!

You are still jumping to conclusions. If it doesn't work and can't be repaired then a new one should be forthcoming but demanding a replacement because it wasn't working when you went around seems silly. There are all manner of reasons why it might not have been working - maybe the system is drained down? 
If it's not working then it definitely should be repaired. 

The electrical issues, someone mentioned before they might have been done after the EICR was done.. They don't do a new report, he would just have invoices to show it was done. 

macman

silverbanana said:

Response so far from estate agent:

The plumber / gas engineer is visiting the property today to take a look at the boiler. I will keep you posted. Early conversation this morning with the seller I don’t think he’s willing to replace the boiler at this stage. I will however keep you posted. It had regular gas safety certificates for it to be rented so thus being mechanically sound… 

With the electrics, he is saying that all the faults were rectified and signed Off for the EICR certificate which was required for renting the property out. 

How will I know the faults were all rectified?

By asking them to supply copies of the invoice/Part P documentation that the sparky would have provided, if the work was actually carried out. It's nonsensical that this wasn't supplied at the outset, and would make me very suspicious.

silverbanana

macman said:

silverbanana said:

Response so far from estate agent:

The plumber / gas engineer is visiting the property today to take a look at the boiler. I will keep you posted. Early conversation this morning with the seller I don’t think he’s willing to replace the boiler at this stage. I will however keep you posted. It had regular gas safety certificates for it to be rented so thus being mechanically sound… 

With the electrics, he is saying that all the faults were rectified and signed Off for the EICR certificate which was required for renting the property out. 

How will I know the faults were all rectified?

By asking them to supply copies of the invoice/Part P documentation that the sparky would have provided, if the work was actually carried out. It's nonsensical that this wasn't supplied at the outset, and would make me very suspicious.

No invoice or part P but I was given this certificate.

cymruchris

silverbanana said:

macman said:

silverbanana said:

Response so far from estate agent:

The plumber / gas engineer is visiting the property today to take a look at the boiler. I will keep you posted. Early conversation this morning with the seller I don’t think he’s willing to replace the boiler at this stage. I will however keep you posted. It had regular gas safety certificates for it to be rented so thus being mechanically sound… 

With the electrics, he is saying that all the faults were rectified and signed Off for the EICR certificate which was required for renting the property out. 

How will I know the faults were all rectified?

By asking them to supply copies of the invoice/Part P documentation that the sparky would have provided, if the work was actually carried out. It's nonsensical that this wasn't supplied at the outset, and would make me very suspicious.

No invoice or part P but I was given this certificate.

Did that come with your original paperwork - or has that just been sent?

It mentions the consumer unit has been replaced and circuits installed - which sounds like the C2's.

silverbanana

cymruchris said:

silverbanana said:

macman said:

silverbanana said:

Response so far from estate agent:

The plumber / gas engineer is visiting the property today to take a look at the boiler. I will keep you posted. Early conversation this morning with the seller I don’t think he’s willing to replace the boiler at this stage. I will however keep you posted. It had regular gas safety certificates for it to be rented so thus being mechanically sound… 

With the electrics, he is saying that all the faults were rectified and signed Off for the EICR certificate which was required for renting the property out. 

How will I know the faults were all rectified?

By asking them to supply copies of the invoice/Part P documentation that the sparky would have provided, if the work was actually carried out. It's nonsensical that this wasn't supplied at the outset, and would make me very suspicious.

No invoice or part P but I was given this certificate.

Did that come with your original paperwork - or has that just been sent?

It mentions the consumer unit has been replaced and circuits installed - which sounds like the C2's.

It came with the original paperwork.

 So I can stop worrying about the electrics (C2s)?

ian1246

Buyers market? Op I'd be very careful of overestimating your position. Any offer you make on any other property you ll face a far higher interest rate on your mortgage. My advice to you would be to think very carefully of the implications of this - what will be the extra cost per month on your mortgage for the sort of house you ll buy/be prepared to pay vs. Your current one? Then compare it to the cost to fix the issues with the current property.

I.e. if its going to cost £2000 to fix the wiring issue on your current offer and your mortgage bill on any other property you offer on will be £200 more a month for a similar property.... then in less than a year your worse off by pulling out (not to mention lost legal & survey fees) than sticking with the current one.

As an example, back in 2021 our first time buyers pulled a fast one on us with regards to wiring - despite our house being sold with a price reflecting the age of the wiring & my *expressly* pointing out the 1970s fuse box & explaining it will need replacing, with the price reflecting this, on their first viewing. 

Eventually to stop the chain falling apart we split the cost of the work - luckily despite the age of the wiring, there was only 1 C2 issue, alongside replacing the fuse box, so it cost £800 (£400 each)in 2021 to replace our wired fuse box with a modern one & rectify the 1 C2 issue, so it wasn't as expensive as we initially thought.

It's also worth noting your gas/electricity suppliers are responsible up to & including the meters, so anything wrong with the meters they ultimately will rectify. 

Mutton_Geoff

I think you're mad asking the vendor to fit a new boiler. Even if they agreed, do you think that they will a> use a reputable plumber to fit a good quality boiler that will last years and give you peace of mind or b> do the cheapest thing possible?

You seem fixated on losing your mortgage deal by revisiting the price. Are you sure this is the case?

cymruchris

silverbanana said:

cymruchris said:

silverbanana said:

macman said:

silverbanana said:

Response so far from estate agent:

The plumber / gas engineer is visiting the property today to take a look at the boiler. I will keep you posted. Early conversation this morning with the seller I don’t think he’s willing to replace the boiler at this stage. I will however keep you posted. It had regular gas safety certificates for it to be rented so thus being mechanically sound… 

With the electrics, he is saying that all the faults were rectified and signed Off for the EICR certificate which was required for renting the property out. 

How will I know the faults were all rectified?

By asking them to supply copies of the invoice/Part P documentation that the sparky would have provided, if the work was actually carried out. It's nonsensical that this wasn't supplied at the outset, and would make me very suspicious.

No invoice or part P but I was given this certificate.

Did that come with your original paperwork - or has that just been sent?

It mentions the consumer unit has been replaced and circuits installed - which sounds like the C2's.

It came with the original paperwork.

 So I can stop worrying about the electrics (C2s)?

If there’s a new consumer unit and electrical circuit as outlined - then yes - it should mean all the c2’s were addressed. There’s probably still some things that can be improved - but not the urgent items. So now it’s just a dodgy boiler that might be repairable.

silverbanana

cymruchris said:

If there’s a new consumer unit and electrical circuit as outlined - then yes - it should mean all the c2’s were addressed. There’s probably still some things that can be improved - but not the urgent items. So now it’s just a dodgy boiler that might be repairable.

My solicitor came back with the following:

1.    The sellers have arranged for this to be repaired. The selling agents are organising this.

2.    With regards to the electrical faults so far as the sellers are aware these have been dealt with and believe the compliance certificate is verification of the same. 

3.    The sellers will install a new battery.

4.    The gas and electric are standard credit.  The meters are located in the brick store.

5.    The seller will arrange to drop the keys off to the bollard early next week.  Unfortunately we could not download the images sent with the email.  The seller believes that the car your client is referring to has been in an accident and can only assume that this is how the recovery vehicle left it.  Please note that the sellers do not live at the property.

We did inform them that your instructions were for the boiler to be replaced rather than fixed but they have come back with the above response. If this is not acceptable to you, I would be grateful if you would please contact the Estate Agent and negotiate a resolution through them. Once an agreement has been reached, please let us know.

In respect of the car, we would advise that you make enquiries with the Local Authority and the DVLA as how you take steps to have the vehicle removed from your space.

So I will strike off the electrics then if they covered all the C2's. Thank you.Mutton_Geoff said:

I think you're mad asking the vendor to fit a new boiler. Even if they agreed, do you think that they will a> use a reputable plumber to fit a good quality boiler that will last years and give you peace of mind or b> do the cheapest thing possible?

You seem fixated on losing your mortgage deal by revisiting the price. Are you sure this is the case?

Some may think it's mad - many others are saying I should insist on it. I think I am being reasonable and that's what I am happy with - if the seller thinks not then we can go separate ways on the matter.

I rented a house a year or so ago and the boiler broke every couple of months - the gas engineer bloke said he kept telling the landlord it was due a replacement but the landlord repaired it 3 times before finally caving in and getting a new one.

At the end of the day it was within the sellers gift to ensure my final viewing went without a hitch - especially as seller knew my nervousness about a boiler, and he didn't. ian1246 said:

Buyers market? Op I'd be very careful of overestimating your position. Any offer you make on any other property you ll face a far higher interest rate on your mortgage. My advice to you would be to think very carefully of the implications of this - what will be the extra cost per month on your mortgage for the sort of house you ll buy/be prepared to pay vs. Your current one? Then compare it to the cost to fix the issues with the current property.

I.e. if its going to cost £2000 to fix the wiring issue on your current offer and your mortgage bill on any other property you offer on will be £200 more a month for a similar property.... then in less than a year your worse off by pulling out (not to mention lost legal & survey fees) than sticking with the current one.

As an example, back in 2021 our first time buyers pulled a fast one on us with regards to wiring - despite our house being sold with a price reflecting the age of the wiring & my *expressly* pointing out the 1970s fuse box & explaining it will need replacing, with the price reflecting this, on their first viewing. 

Eventually to stop the chain falling apart we split the cost of the work - luckily despite the age of the wiring, there was only 1 C2 issue, alongside replacing the fuse box, so it cost £800 (£400 each)in 2021 to replace our wired fuse box with a modern one & rectify the 1 C2 issue, so it wasn't as expensive as we initially thought.

It's also worth noting your gas/electricity suppliers are responsible up to & including the meters, so anything wrong with the meters they ultimately will rectify. 

I have factored all that in to my position.

I really think painting me as 'chancing it' or 'pulling a fast one' is a bit of an unfair characterisation - the situation has come about because the seller's boiler broke, I didn't break it - but accept its FTB/vs experienced chainer disagreement.

Thank you re: the meters, I will strike that off my list of things.

RedFraggle

Can I ask if you're discussing these issues with professionals and your solicitor? 
At the moment it looks as if demands are being made via the estate agent when you don't yet have a full picture or a full understanding of the documents you do have. 
The boiler - it's not clear if the gas was on and the system in a state where the boiler could be tested.
The electrics - you have a certificate that suggests works were done that was provided up front.