Retention of funds

PoGee

Scottish law question - I was told by my solicitor that I had 5 working days after entry date, to flag up any concerns with the property. I made a list, which I forwarded to them. 2 weeks later, I've heard nothing back. Should my solicitor have held back a small sum to cover repairs? It was a cash purchase with funds from an inheritance. 

justwhat

mmm maybe i am am being cynical, but "i made a list" is ringing alarm bells for me.

What is in the list ? Hardly anything on older  property is covered  or has a warranty. 

Scottish house purchases do not withhold money for snagging issues by default.  Normally money is only ever held back for major issues at time of purchase.

 

user1977

Not "any" concerns, unless you had agreed something highly unusual in the missives. Guide to the Scottish Standard Clauses (if that's what you used) here.The standard clause about such things only relates to electrics/plumbing/gas/appliances not working. What's on your list?

There's no retention unless for something specific and you had agreed it before concluding missives.

PoGee

What's the point of the 'let us know of defects within 5 working days', then? The stingy moo even took the caps off the radiators. Toilet flush not working, bathroom fan not working......and no, I didn't flush the toilet when I viewed it. I'll not put the full list on here. 
Is this pic an easy fix?

eddddy

The photo shows a radiator valve body without a radiator valve head. You can buy a thermostatic head for maybe £6 (for a basic one) to £20 (for a top quality one).

BUT... that spindle in the middle is supposed to go up and down. But it's got paint on it, which will probably stop it working - so you'll need to get the paint off.


Are you sure the head was present when you viewed? Presumably the paint got on it when the room was redecorated. Has the room been redecorated since you viewed?


(It's also possible that somebody took the head off because the valve was stuck and/or not working - meaning you might have to get a whole new valve.)

theartfullodger

Sold 3 Scottish houses in last 4 years.  Only one involved their solicitor requesting me via my solicitor to sort some things.  I think 2 were RTFM (read the flaming manual), one was as issue, albeit my solicitor told me i could argue against it.  

Wanting to do the right thing i paid for it to be fixed.

I think only certain limited items may be claimed and there are financial limits (can't recall if they were minimum ir maximum ££££)

(obvs) ask your solicitor what's happening.  HOW did you transmit "the list"? (eg postcard, email. letter..).  How do you know it arrived?

justwhat

PoGee said:

What's the point of the 'let us know of defects within 5 working days', then? The stingy moo even took the caps off the radiators. Toilet flush not working, bathroom fan not working......and no, I didn't flush the toilet when I viewed it. I'll not put the full list on here. 
Is this pic an easy fix?

like i said Alarm bells were ringing.  The warranty does not cover wear/tare/ negligible items. Your list would have been interesting to view. 

Sometimes people blame the surveyor for not discovering these small snagging issues. 

Your valve will prob cost around 100 pound for a plumber to come out and fix. Yes fixing everything on your "list" will probably  amount  allot of money. But its not a new house and is probably the norm and expected.

Even when there is a valid issue with a house , there is often no way of forcing the seller to stump up cash. Hence the use of a retention.

PoGee

She took them off because the flat has some sort of remote heating system where you can turn heating on from an app. I'm not technically minded with heating systems so don't know exactly how it works. I think smart trvs are around £30 each.

user1977

And this is why solicitors wouldn't want to go through all the hassle of retaining funds after settlement and having to figure out what to do with them - most of these "issues" end up being about getting the knack of how to work things, or matters which are so trivial they're not worth claiming for.

sheramber

When I sold my house there was a minimum limit of £300 for any claim after moving in.

PoGee

The 2nd last time I bought a property was 30 years ago - went a lot smoother than the 2023 purchase e.g. problems with overflow pipe were sorted in a week, the solicitor guided me every step of the way. The solicitor who did this purchase has not responded to the defects. I'm not saying get them fixed this very minute but a reply saying matters would be resolved would be nice. Another issue is loose bath tap, as in picture. No way this is getting tightened without the whole bath being removed.