Need help with enquiries on sale

NornIronRose

Hi, 
Hoping you knowledgeable people can help guide me to where I can find the information for enquiries raised on the sale of my property. 
I thought we were just about ready to exchange but an email has come to me now with quite a few queries and I am not sure where to start with all of it. 

 

7. Please confirm that the sellers have complied with the restrictive covenants affecting the

property. Please refer to Section C of the Charges Register on the Official Copy Register. (do I go on gov.uk and download the deeds?)

 

8. Please confirm if the sellers have made any contributions towards the maintenance/repair of

any shared boundaries/passageways. (fence between ourselves and next door has just been repaired after falling down in the latest winds and is their responsibility - we put a new fence in 2 years ago. Nothing needed doing on the other side. Not sure how to answer this)

 

9. Please confirm if the sellers have made any contributions towards the maintenance/repair of

any shared services referred to in the title. (again, not sure what this is)

 

10. As to the property information form:

a. Please arrange for your client to fully complete question 1.6.b. Please specifically confirm whether the boiler was installed after the 1st April 2005.

c. Please provide the 2023 heating service report. (I have had this done about 4 months ago and can't find the paperwork, do I have to do it again? Buyers were around again on Saturday and I had the heat on for them)

 

11. At the time your client purchased the property, was a Chancel Repair Liability investigated

or an insurance policy taken out? If so, please provide a copy. (I know we didn't take out any kind of insurance after looking into the possibility of liability)

 

12. Having considered the results of our drainage search, please can your client confirm the

following:

a. Whether there are any manholes within the property boundary to access this sewer

and if yes, whether any effluence has come from the same. (2 manholes; had a recent blockage and I paid to have the underground pipe replaced as it was broken but nothing came up through them so I take it it would be a no.)

b. Whether any third parties have attended the property in order to carry out repairs or

maintenance to the sewer line. (Yes, as above)

housebuyer143

Answer them as you have. 

7. Please confirm that the sellers have complied with the restrictive covenants affecting the

property. Please refer to Section C of the Charges Register on the Official Copy Register. (do I go on gov.uk and download the deeds?) ask your solicitor for a copy, read the covenants and confirm you are not in breach.

 

8. Please confirm if the sellers have made any contributions towards the maintenance/repair of

any shared boundaries/passageways. (fence between ourselves and next door has just been repaired after falling down in the latest winds and is their responsibility - we put a new fence in 2 years ago. Nothing needed doing on the other side. Not sure how to answer this) state that the boundary fence was repaired but you do not believe this to be a shared boundary. 

9. Please confirm if the sellers have made any contributions towards the maintenance/repair of

any shared services referred to in the title. (again, not sure what this is) i imagine this refers to shared drains or something, if you don't know, just put don't know. 

 

10. As to the property information form:

a. Please arrange for your client to fully complete question 1.6.b. Please specifically confirm whether the boiler was installed after the 1st April 2005. yes or no here.

c. Please provide the 2023 heating service report. (I have had this done about 4 months ago and can't find the paperwork, do I have to do it again? Buyers were around again on Saturday and I had the heat on for them) tell them you have misplaced it but the heating is off full working order as of your reply.

 

11. At the time your client purchased the property, was a Chancel Repair Liability investigated

or an insurance policy taken out? If so, please provide a copy. (I know we didn't take out any kind of insurance after looking into the possibility of liability)

 yes or no will do here 

12. Having considered the results of our drainage search, please can your client confirm the

following:

a. Whether there are any manholes within the property boundary to access this sewer

and if yes, whether any effluence has come from the same. (2 manholes; had a recent blockage and I paid to have the underground pipe replaced as it was broken but nothing came up through them so I take it it would be a no.). yes and no.

b. Whether any third parties have attended the property in order to carry out repairs or

maintenance to the sewer line. (Yes, as above) yes.

This is just my 2 cents but I think you answered most of them yourself.

Devongardener

Has the email come via your solicitor?    They should have a copy of the Land Registry entry and explain any restrictive covenants.
Re the maintenance of fences, you can just state what you have said here.
As they are referring to shared services in the title, again this will be on the LR document.
Can you ask your boiler engineer for a copy and the service report?  The will have this.
If you didn’t take out Chancel insurance just say so,  your buyer can do that anyway.
Provide a copy of the invoice for the drain repair, and describe the work carried out.

user1977

As above, your solicitor should be guiding you through this, so give them a call.

NornIronRose

Solicitor has been really slow. I should have had these queries ages ago but got them yesterday after I stuck a rocket up their proverbial! 

Thank you so much for your guidance on this. Good to have confirmation. 

As for the boiler service, I can't remember who did it for me. Definitely had it done as some of the dials for the underfloor heating were corroded so they came and did it all at the same time but can't find the paperwork and can't remember for the life of me who came to do it. So will I just answer that? That it has been done, can't find the paperwork, and the heating works as evidenced when the buyers came. 

user1977

If your solicitor is the slow link in the chain, there's not much point in you rushing to give them (possibly misleading) answers, as presumably they'll then just sit with them anyway...but in general just give honest answers, if that means "don't know" or "I don't understand the question" then say so.

GoogleMeNow

a. Please arrange for your client to fully complete question 1.6.b. Please specifically confirm whether the boiler was installed after the 1st April 2005.

Answer yes, the boiler was installed before 1st April 2005, or no it was installed after 1st April 2005.  

However, if you answer yes or no, without providing any further information, expect to be asked the following with a further enquiry to clarify your answer:

If the boiler was installed after 1st April 2005, the buyer's solicitor will ask for the CORGI/Gas Safe Certification.  If you don't have the certificate, you can get a duplicate off the Gas Safe website, or pay for an indemnity policy.  Prior to 1st April 2005, there was no certification required, though it should have been fitted by a CORGI registered fitter.

NornIronRose

The solicitor has had the original installation certificate for the boiler and pretty sure I gave them the service records for the few years since (apart from this year as I can't find it).

Thanks to you all, I have emailed my solicitor back with the queries answered to the best of my knowledge. 

grumbler

NornIronRose said:

c. Please provide the 2023 heating service report. 

Is everybody supposed to have this report? I've been living in my house for 20+ years and have never serviced anything.
And 2023 isn't over yet. Is the 'service' supposed to be done bevore Nov.?

MorningcoffeeIV

grumbler said:

NornIronRose said:

c. Please provide the 2023 heating service report. 

Is everybody supposed to have this report? I've been living in my house for 20+ years and have never serviced anything.
And 2023 isn't over yet. Is the 'service' supposed to be done bevore Nov.?

Buyers will invariably ask for it, as they want to know the state of what they're buying and whether basic maintenance has been done 

If you haven't serviced anything, then you won't have service reports and it's then up to the buyer as to how, or if to proceed.

The reference to 2023 is just shorthand for 'the one in the last 12 months'. You'd produce whatever the last one is that you have.

grumbler

In this case I'd expect, especially from a solicitor, something less categorical than "Please provide the 2023 heating service report."
E.g. "... if you have one". Even better, just a question "Do you have a recent  heating service report that you can provide?"