Seller lied in Property Information form

atnewton · 9 July 2018 at 8:08PM

I purchased a property at the end of may that was previously rented out and it has been in need of lots of work as the previous owner did not care about it at all, so I have not moved in yet. It's had plenty done now and I have not yet used the boiler at all. I had British Gas out this week to inspect the boiler and take it under their cover. Unfortunately, they have said it's not fit for them to cover it due to the issues it has and it's going to cost me over £1,500 to have the system fully repaired.

I have reviewed the documents from when I purchased the property and the surveyors covered their back saying that the heating was off and they have not carried out any tests on the system and therefore cannot comment on it's serviceability or operation. However when reading through the surveyors report it states "Where visible the cold water installation appears satisfactory with no serious defect or obvious leakage" however there is a clear constant drip coming from the piping under the boiler which I believe should have been detected by the surveyors Is there anything. This is also true for the hot water pipes.
The boiler is also beginning to come away from the wall and this is clearly visible from the side of it, but again was not reported in the report. Is there anything I can back to them on regarding these points?

Onto the Law Society Property Information Form, filled in by the previous owner of the property. It states on Section 12.3c (Central Heating) "Is the heating system in good working order?" - The owner has ticked "Yes" however the central heating is not in a good working order as mentioned earlier by British Gas - The points of concern raised are:

1) Discharge Pipe requires turning into wall
2) Hot and cold pipes reversed (Hot feeding toilet)
3) Pressure Vessel is Split
4) System badly sludged
5) Water Leak from Pipes

The seller also provided a Gas Record Sheet from march 2017, by law this should be done every 12 months therefore there could be one from March 2018, right? (Dependant on when the previous tenants left.)

Anyway, I am thinking of going back to Solicitors with these details and seeing if there is anything that they can do to help progress this/regain costs?

Thanks, let me know if anything is unclear or need more information!

ACG · 9 July 2018 at 8:13PM

The gas safety check should be done every 12 months if the property is let out. If the tenants moved out in March 2018 or prior then no gas safety check was required - in any event, that would be down to the tenants to deal with not you. Although I will cover my back and say that is my understanding, I am happy to be corrected if I am wrong.

In terms of everything else, the time to check the boiler was when you became the legal owner. It has been over a month since you completed, the vendor could argue when he/she sold it to you everything was fine and that any damage is since the sale completed - he said/she said.

I think you are going to have to take this on the chin and move on.

There will be people more qualified than I am who can answer your questions/concerns however.

jonnygee2 · 9 July 2018 at 8:21PM

and the surveyors covered their back

Oh really? Quelle surprise!

Anyway, I am thinking of going back to Solicitors with these details and seeing if there is anything that they can do to help progress this/regain costs?

Your solicitors will gladly write letters etc for you, but first you have to think - would I actually risk taking this to court? Probably wouldn't be advised - it's less than £2k to fix and would be a complicated/risky court case.

Generally, if you take on a property that you know needs work, I think its probably safer to factor in repairs to the plumbing. Your situation sucks a bit but could be a bit worse.

Thrugelmir · 9 July 2018 at 8:25PM

atnewton wrote: »

I have reviewed the documents from when I purchased the property and the surveyors covered their back saying that the heating was off and they have not carried out any tests on the system and therefore cannot comment on it's serviceability or operation.

Little point in reviewing the documentation now. Surveyors do not purport to be trained heating engineers. The information is provided for you, the purchaser, to make informed decisions.

kinger101 · 9 July 2018 at 8:36PM

I'd instantly dismiss anything British Gas have written as they have a reputation of condemning boilers so they can sell you a new one.

The surveyor is not a heating engineer. They'll never really look at the system. You should have commissioned a report from a qualified person prior to the purchase if you were that concerned, rather than relying on a historic and out-of-date safety report.

The vendor said the system worked. Nothing more. You've not confirmed whether it actually does.

Given it seems pretty clear the system was old and in poor repair when you purchased, what do you expect to achieve if you take actions against the vendor? I expect even if the vendor has mislead you, the valuation of the house would be identical. You're not getting a new boiler out of it.

macman · 9 July 2018 at 10:04PM

Those faults have nothing to do with the boiler itself. The reason BG have quoted you such a ludicrous amount is because they always tell you a powerflush is needed-and they charge twice what an independent would.
The necessary repairs appear to involve a bit of work to modify the pipework, replacing the PV, and possibly flushing the system. Maybe £500 plus £100 parts at most from a local independent GSR engineer?
As above, a surveyor is not any more qualified than you are to evaluate the condition of gas, water or electrical systems.
It would be insane to spend £1500 to 'repair', when £2K would get you a new boiler installed (though not if you give your custom to BG).

AnotherJoe · 9 July 2018 at 11:02PM

atnewton wrote: »

Onto the Law Society Property Information Form, filled in by the previous owner of the property. It states on Section 12.3c (Central Heating) "Is the heating system in good working order?" - The owner has ticked "Yes" however the central heating is not in a good working order as mentioned earlier by British Gas - The points of concern raised are:
<snip>

Anyway, I am thinking of going back to Solicitors with these details and seeing if there is anything that they can do to help progress this/regain costs?!

The problem with this is that the owner, who is not an expert on CH systems (I assume !) said this. Why give it any credence? If you challenged the accuracy of that, his defence I am sure would be "I am not an expert, it looked OK to me, if you wanted an assurance you should have paid for a survey by a specialist that covered it"

Xplosivgas · 10 July 2018 at 12:23AM

I had a very similar situation last year. I considered taking it to the small claims court but in the end decided it wasn't worth the added stress and time investment. I think it's best to bite the bullet and get a new boiler. You'll have a 5 year warranty and peace of mind - so although it's a kick in the teeth shelling out money on a boiler so soon, it's not money down the drain.

stator · 10 July 2018 at 12:46AM

British Gas are the Kwik Fit of the Boiler industry. They will always find problems and they will always be expensive to repair, if not requiring a whole new boiler.

In my opinion you've left it too late to make any complaints about the boiler. It's 3 months since you bought the house, you can't prove that the faults were there when the transaction completed, they might be new faults.

csgohan4 · 10 July 2018 at 7:11AM

A good lesson to all, if their worried about the boiler, get an inspection before exchange

Rambosmum · 10 July 2018 at 8:12AM

All the owner has said is that it was working - they probably turned it on, it heated up the radiators and water = working. Beyond that, I'm not sure what you expect. They are not heating engineers, neither are you - when you come to sell the house I would assume you'll say it's working if the heating and hot water come on?

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Seller lied in Property Information form

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