AIBU to think the way we buy houses in England is madness??

[LiquoriceLilly]

Have spent months going through the whole complicated process of buying a house, surveys, searches, etc, and just as we thought we were approaching the end point, our solicitor flags up a massive legal issue with the property. Sellers were obviously absolutely aware of this the whole way through, and were clearly hoping it wouldn't come up. They've completely refused to do anything about it, and we've been forced to pull out of the purchase, causing delays all the way down the chain, losing all the money we've already spent, the usual.

Just been on Rightmove and the sellers have relisted the propety...absolutely no mention of this legal issue once again. AIBU to think the whole system allows these kind of shenanigans, and leads to wasted money and heartache for everyone involved? I'd love a system where you were presented a full portfolio on the property upfront, flaws and all, and could actually make an informed decision!

Yanbu at all it is insane!!! Our buyers pulled out at the last minute a couple of years ago, we lost our dream property when I was 8 months pregnant when they just decided they wanted 25k off the asking price because of Brexit. The estate agent was nonplussed.

I'd be contacting the water supply owner and making sure they are aware of the back payment due.

Just to feel better about the fact these sellers aren't ripping of anyone without such good solicitors.

And for revenge for them being twats.

This should have been revealed by your water and drainage search which is returned in days - why did it take so long to uncover?

That does sound like a shit situation, OP, but if you want to see madness, you should try buying in Italy. Or Spain.

England ain't got nothing on some European countries when it comes to property insanity

@ladybee28

That does sound like a shit situation, OP, but if you want to see madness, you should try buying in Italy. Or Spain.

England ain't got nothing on some European countries when it comes to property insanity

Can you elaborate - I’m intrigued

@LetMeOut2021

This should have been revealed by your water and drainage search which is returned in days - why did it take so long to uncover?

Just about to say the exact same! Why has your solicitor only just picked this up? D&W searches take no more than 10 days to come back and lack of connection would have been obvious. Not to make a crap situation worse, but do press your solicitor why the transaction has got so far without this being spotted. This is what you pay them for.

Also intrigued why landowner hasn’t raised it for 15 years? They can’t have missed the payments !

@HintOfVintagePink

Also intrigued why landowner hasn’t raised it for 15 years? They can’t have missed the payments !

Sounds as though he HAS... many times ... and there is now substantial fees .. which he is pursuing through legal action.

YANBU there has got to be a better way, the system seems very backwards in England.

I would have Scottish Law on this, unless someone can improve on that. I would also have regulation of estate agents and letting agents alongside this.

Hmm you may be right but I can’t see that from the OPs posts. Was any dispute disclosed in the Property Information Form I wonder?

Didn't realise there would be so much interest in the legal ins-and-outs sorry! We knew it wasn't mains water from the start, so the initial water search didn't ring any alarm bells. But the story kept changing about exactly where the water DID come from and how it was paid for as our solicitor pressed the issue; first it was a source owned by the property, then not owned by the property but provided for free by the landowner. Eventually the story came out that they just hadn't paid for years, but due to land changing hands a couple of times in that time there was some confusion as to how much was owed and to who; seems like the original landowner had pursued the debt, but this was a while ago so the dispute wasn't declared. Theoretically, the entire debt is still owed to someone! Basically, a complicated set-up that we were strongly advised to stay well clear of!

Sounds a total nightmare.

So, how long did this all take OP? Aren't you cross with your solicitor?

We moved nearly 2 years ago. FTB buying ours and the house we were buying was empty and had been through probate. Should of been really straight forward. The searches showed the house we were buying was listed as a guest house. The relatives had to have it changed. They said 3 times that they had done in. They hadn't. We offered to pay half, still wasn't done. We had to threaten to pull out (if they hadn't done it we would of had to anyway because our mortgage wouldn't of been given) right at the end. Took over 5 months to move. Insane system in this country

Scottish system is better House buying in England is very stressful.

@Merryoldgoat

YANBU - it’s outrageous.

When we bought our first flat it was the 4th one we’d had an offer accepted on. All the rest the buyer had pulled out for no real reason.

We were FTB with large deposit and AIP ready to go. It was bizarre.

We had this too. Surveyors due to go in the following morning and we had a phone call saying they weren't moving. They wouldn't answer the phone to their estate agent or to their door when they went round. They relisted it with another agent about 4 years later and a colleague mentioned they were going to view it. Same thing happened to them too.

We've had the seller deciding they're not going to move after all too. When we bought our current house we put offers in on two other houses first and in both cases the sellers said "oh we've decided not to move now". In one case they moved about a year later in the end, but with the other I can't remember the exact house number so can't see if/when they moved.

I think the Scottish system is better in many ways but not the "offers over" system which creates its own stress. Just have an asking price and haggle a bit!