Compensation for a house bought in poor state

albelmel

Hi guys

A friend of mine have bought at the end of summer a 60’s house that was apparently fine.

They finally moved in last month to discover that no one lived in the house for months as the lady who lived there passed away and his sons left the house empty.

Because no one was living in the house the boiler seems to be broken, some pipes bursted leaving the upstairs bathroom unusable until this is repaired. The boiler is so old it’s inside a wall and they need a complete new one.

The repair bill is coming to around 7k just to be able to live in the house as they don’t have heating and can’t use the toilet.

Is there a way to ask for a compensation to the previous owners?

Thanks  

Schwarzwald

unlikely. all this should have been investigated prior to purchasing
also, how come they bought it last summer and only moved in now, approx 6-9 months later?

JGB1955

No... Caveat emptor.  They should have done their research before completing on the property.  I'm guessing they didn't have a survey.....

Martico

I'm guessing they didn't even visit if they hadn't realised no-one was living there, or that it had an old boiler. 
I'd also say no chance - they should have researched the place properly.

Van_Girl

What did your friends survey say? Did they follow up on the survey with a report on the boiler by a gas engineer? Did they visit and check the property before exchanging contracts? 

Ayr_Rage

Was it bought at auction without a viewing ?

If they bought it last summer why have they left it without checking whether the boiler worked and not safeguarding against burst pipes over the winter ?

ReadingTim

Yes, they are entitled to compensation from the previous owner.  Write to her care of "St. Peter, the Pearly Gates, etc..."

Annisele

I think the answer to this is almost certainly that your friend has to pay £7k out of their own pocket.

But can you expand on why you think the previous owners should be responsible? Does your friend think they lied on the property information form (eg they said the boiler was brand new when it was 20 years old)? Or does your friend think the property deteriorated between exchange and completion (eg the pipe burst after exchange but before completion)?

I think that if your friend bought "last summer" but has only just moved in, then any deterioration in the property is highly likely to be your friend's responsiblity - why didn't your friend drain the system, or do any kind of winter proofing? But I'm curious as to whose sons left the property empty - you say "his sons" which suggests they're not the sons of the lady who lived there before. Are they perhaps your friend's sons? In theory your friend might be able to claim against his sons if it was the son's negligence which caused the water problems, but I suspect they won't be able to do that without causing a giant family fight.

Jonboy_1984

Did they actually complete last summer or was their offer accepted last summer, with completion recently after the normal conveyancing.

If so did they inspect immediately before exchange of contracts?

sleepymans

Buyers remorse comes to bite yer bum! You will learn from this experience, though.

albelmel

Thanks for your answers.

To clarify my message:

The last time they saw the house was in August, the heating was off. When they did the inspection they said the heating was off because it only turns on from 7pm to 8am they were told the boiler was old but was working. The guy who did the survey didn’t check anything else because the boiler is inside the wall.

When my friend saw the report he called the sales agent to make sure the boiler was working and he was told the boiler was indeed working.

To save money, the previous owners turned off the boiler which caused the pipes to burst and the boiler to break leaving a mess for the new owners as they were not warned about this. I do feel the previous owners should keep a house in good state until the new owners move in.

The house wasn’t bought in an auction.