Should estate agent have done checks?

mills112

My FIL is buying a flat that is currently rented out but the seller said that the tenant is moving out soon as his contract ends at the end of May but he wants to move out earlier.

I used to be a landlord so I know all the risks associated with this.

We have found out through the TA6 forms and the survey report that the seller does not have an ECIR report nor a gas safety certificate. Should the estate agent not checked this before putting the flat on sale? When we sold a house a couple of years ago, which was tenanted, the estate agent even asked to see the EICR report and the gas safety certifcate before putting the house on the market, even though the tenants had already moved out! To be fair, not all estate agents do this, but they should do really, especially when the property is tenanted at the time of the sale.

I went back to the estate agent and asked why there is no ECIR report when the property is rented out and could the seller send across the gas safety certificate as this should be available since it is a legal requirement. The estate agent directed me to inform my solicitors and the solicitors can then raise the queries, but I feel the estate agent is irresponsible in this respect.

Thoughts?

lincroft1710

No legal requirement for a property on the market FOR SALE to have either

mills112

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81967166#Comment_81967166

I think they should introduce this as that will stop rogue landlords!

elsien

I don’t believe there’s a legal obligation for them to check for the EICR, so there isn’t really what they “should” have done other than a matter of opinion.

mills112

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81967170#Comment_81967170

as a matter of course, it would be wise for them to check as they could be wasting their time marketing a property that will never sell because the tenant can't be evicted!

lincroft1710

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81967169#Comment_81967169

How will it "stop rogue landlords", when we are talking about selling not renting property. And who are "they"?

mills112

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81967178#Comment_81967178

if estate agents are required to check a rented property has all the necessary documentation before putting it on sale, it will stop rogue landlords thinking they can get away with it once they put the property on sale, but if they knew they won't be able to sell it if they have broken the law, they may think twice about it!

lincroft1710

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81967186#Comment_81967186

This makes little sense. Most property on the market for sale is by the current owner. A landlord selling an ex rental property, ceases being a landlord and becomes a vendor and the legal responsibilities of landlords and vendors are very different

mills112

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81967191#Comment_81967191

a lot of properties are put on the market before the tenants have moved out. when i put my rental properties on sale, the estate agent always advise to sell before the tenants move out as an empty property means no money. i have never taken this advice and have always waited until the tenants have moved out before i put the property on the market, but i have seen lots and lots of properties on sale with the tenants still there, but with the assurance that they will be gone by the time exchange happens!

there should be safeguard put in place to stop rogue landlords being able to sell their dodgy property, in the same way that safeguards are put in place to stop criminals selling their dodgy properties via the AML checks that estate agents and soliticitors must do.

lincroft1710

That is why you have surveys, to look for faults, because buying any property is a gamble. Owner occupiers can sell "dodgy property" just as well as landlords. If the tenant is still in situ, you don't exchange. If you buy somewhere and don't trust the electrics have it rewired. Equally unsafe gas installations can be made safe. Leaking roofs can be renewed. If you are not happy with the place, you don't buy it!

AML is something completely different.

Do you know many "rogue landlords" selling "dodgy property"?

silvercar

I don’t see why you label a property as dodgy, just because it was tenanted. Plenty properties are sold at whatever market value is that takes into account their condition. Whether they were let before or not is irrelevant. A house on my road has just been sold, it was a probate sale of a gentleman that had reached the age of 103, living in his own home that he had bought at the age of 18 as a brand new property and had never moved. It hadn’t been updated for many years, it won’t have had an EIRC of GSC, doesn’t make it dodgy.