To ignore house buyer complaints a month after completion

Wow who are all these loons that purchase property without getting a survey? It’s insanity.

I had this. My buyer bought my old, needing work flat. It was priced to reflect the work needed and I was honest when asked, didn’t hide anything etc. it was advertised as needing work. I was honest in the questions solicitor asked.

They were cash buyers, but didn’t get any survey as they said they trusted I had looked after the place for 15 years. Superficially it was decorated and looked after. But roof needed work, boiler old and damp issues. I was honest and they knew this. They wanted to rent it out.

turns out they didn’t pay attention to anything that was written down or I said. 4 weeks after completion they asked for a refund as it would cost too much to do the repairs needed to meet rental standards. . My solicitor was great and told them no buyers remorse, no survey so sold as seen

drove past recently and new roof needed,plus other things. They haven’t rented it out after a year!

Su casa no mi casa

Buyers can go after sellers if sellers have lied/wilfully misled and this can be proven...

For example, stating things will be left, then taking them - leaving things that shouldn't have been left.

But not for things the buyer should have noticed or spotted on a survey etc.

I am not a lawyer but it's "sold as seen" as far as I'm aware unless you failed to disclose things that you are legally required to disclose, such as neighbour disputes etc.

Treat their missives with the contempt they deserve. They are trying it on.

It depends how you answer the questions.

For example, on the Property Information Form question 23.3 relates to Japanese knotweed and the answers are "Yes" ,"No" or "Not known".

If you say "No" there is not any knotweed present on the property and it turns out that there is then the buyers can come after you afterwards.

The Guidance Notes say that those who respond “No” must be certain there is no knotweed present, including rhizome hidden beneath the ground or within three metres of the property.

There was a case in London where this happened. The seller said "No" but it turned out that there was. The buyer didn't get a survey at the time but went to court and the seller had to pay £32k in damages plus costs of £95k and his own legal bill.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/japanese-knotweed-selling-property-raynes-park-garden-b1055581.html

So, unless you are absolutely certain, then the best response to this question may be "Not known"

Ha the boiler when we moved in didn’t work and we had not been told. We filed it under shit happens and got a new boiler.

When we left a previous house we were accused of climbing three storeys up and pulling off the guttering.

Further back than that we were asked to return a door (faux bookcase made for my wedding by my mother) it had been specifically excluded in the brochure and the solicitors paperwork. The buggers moved in as the EA gave them the keys even though they hadn't completed. We did call the police.

Golly, some people! I wonder how the tank got cracked. Removal lorry reversed into it?
After one house move a few years ago, our first visitors were whoever is now Cadent to turn the gas off! The boiler was leaking. I hadn't smelled it when we looked round the house - it was a teeny tiny leak, so presumably the smell had dissipated when the doors were open for visitors etc (open house, loads of people there). I think we tentatively asked our solicitor if there was anything doing, out of curiosity, but he said nah. And we agreed - we'd noted that the boiler was very elderly, and had budgeted for replacement soon-ish. It was obviously caveat emptor territory!

It's only your problem if you gave them misleading information at any stage. If you didn't, it's down to them now.

Are there any pictures of that side prior to selling?

The crack was definitely not there when we sold..its v noticeable!

In that case "they should have got a survey" would have made no difference - after all they can't spot what isn't there, and anyway your solicitor's done what they can so I'd just ignore now

The electric oven in the house we bought was pretty grim. When removing it we found it was plugged into a socket behind with a 3 pin plug🤯🤯🤯

Blimey , we had a full survery done on our house and 4 months in spent £10k on a roof issue . It didn't occur to us that I should ask the seller for the money . It's our house now and our problem !

If they had a survey then depending on the survey the surveyor might be at fault for not flagging it.

If they didn’t have a survey then that is on them.

Nothing to do with you

They didn’t do a survey before buying? That’s nuts. They’re trying it on. Completely ignore them.

That would be a wrong reason to potentially "go soft" on them: they sound like people who wouldn't take the trouble to forward ex-owner's mail anyway, even if the house was in perfect order.

I don’t think you have to prove anything. By completing they accepted the house. It is indeed buyer beware.

when we bought the current home the oven never worked. We just replaced it lol
since then have been replacing whatever we needed replacing

Some people are just chancers who want other people to be responsible for doing things they don't like. Ignore them.

Tough shit. I had a similar situation with a buyer they didn't get anywhere. They should have had a proper survey.

You do not have to service the heating prior to selling - but a standard basic survey will say the prospective buyer should satisfy the heating is working, in good order etc.

For many sellers it is easy to provide copies of annual services or to have the heating serviced prior to sale.