Vendor wont let me back into property until exchange of contracts, need some advice

[Charlhewittt]

Hello,

I'm in the process of buying my first property with my boyfriend and need some advice on whether we should proceed or just general thoughts.

The vendor is refusing any visits until exchange of contracts because I wanted an electrician to price up some jobs for me and to make sure the house doesn't need a rewire as the electrics appear to be fairly dated.

We have had our survey but all they come back to say the electrics appear to me in working condition but will require an rcd.

I feel as long as I know about the electrics and if it is going to cost me some money then I'm totally fine with that. But im worried it may need a full rewire and cost me thousands in which I would want to negotiate that with the vendor.

Theres been a few hiccups along the way as there are no building regs on the garage and extension. The main bedroom has a dip in the floor but the ceiling downstairs doesnt appear to bow.

The vendor has agreed to get an electrical test certifcate but I fear his builder son may do this and we know he cuts corners as he built the extension with no regulations.

Would you proceed with the sale based on this information?

Sorry its long but im in two minds and just need some advice.

I can see it from both sides here OP. From the vendors POV you're just trying to find reasons to reduce the value of your offer, despite you offering on the property in the condition you saw.

However, with the knowledge that they did the work on the house previously, without getting it up to regs then you've every reason to suspect there's other bits that will need doing. That said, unless you're buying a new build there will ALWAYS be something that needs doing, if you're being realistic.

If I were you, you've two options. Assume the worst case scenario, a full rewire and either suck it up or try and get the vendor to contribute (they could just tell you to piss off) or walk away.

I'd walk with a lack of building regs. I also don't think it's unreasonable to want to check the state of the property immediately before exchange. It's what I'll be demanding before I exchange on mine in a couple of weeks.

@ThisIsStartingToBoreMe

How many times in total have you viewed the property. I'd be happy to let someone back in for a second viewing but after that i'd probably refuse.

You won't sell your house then, if the survey recommends a damp survey, a structural survey, an electrical test etc.

This sort of thing is all part of asking someone to pay a quarter of a million pounds of their money to you for the house you want to sell.

I would have walked away from this property way before the electrical issues! It sounds like a total nightmare and money pit, and you would be mad to proceed with the purchase.

The only reason a seller wouldn't let you back in to the property is if he had something to hide.

I would walk away.

Depends on how much you want the house and how easy it will be for the vendor to find another buyer.

I would walk away.

You'd be mad to proceed without a full structural survey.

Isn't this what you buy insurance for?
Not normal insurance but the one their solicitors get incase their lied about anything to do with the house?
Ask for current safety checks to be done and signed off, before you will pay up.

Definitely walk away because of the building regs issues.

I'd jump on Usain Bolt's back and head for the hills before I bought something with no building regs.

You should have sorted the electrician before offers were made/accepted. The vendor will be wary of you wanting to reduce the agreed asking price.

Your solicitor should be guiding you through this. Its really important stuff. It is normal to conduct surveys (and further detailed surveys if your structural survey has flagged something eg roof, electrics, drains). The structural survey is often the bare minimum and required because a bank won't lend without it. It has lots of caveats (eg no comment on roof/parts that are inaccessible, so depending on property further enquiries may be needed, but this is all routing). If electrics are flagged you're wise to make further enquiries. Rewiring is material work, it costs £1000s and involves channelling/drilling into walls to install wiring and repainting/plastering afterwards. It also potentially affects safety. Sadly I know of a purchase where DIY building work was done, and similarly the survey flagged electrics but the buyer didn't follow it through further. After completion a complete rewire of the house was required. Shortly after they moved in the electrician also taped up a series of wall switches as they were 'live' along with some garden lighting. They cancelled the overseas trip to see family they had been saving for to pay for it. On the building regs/planning permission for extension and garage - again your solicitor should be guiding you here. You need to know the garage and extension have been build in a way that complies with building and safety standard and is allowed. Approvals and consents can be applied for retrospectively (or perhaps some of this was permissive development or falls within lapse of time). You don't want to buy a house that is unsafe - worse still find that you are required to demolish/rectify works - or think that its a house with a garage only to find the council requires you to demolish the garage. All of this goes to the heart of 'what' are you buying, and your solicitor should be guiding you through this. Its normally more straight forward, often nothing flags, people only take basic surveys for a first time buyer get on the phone to your conveyancing lawyer. Make sure you talk to the qualified fee earner (not the bulk conveyancer/assistant that may be helping) and look for solutions a way forward. eg vendor gets retrospective consents, have your solicitor call their solicitor to explain/discuss further surveys/specialist visits as you have material concerns - they can then feed this to/fro the vendor and you can find out what's really happening at that end. Your chain free (its a plus) and of course any other purchaser is going to raise these issues. Good Luck.

Ditch it. The problems you have seen are probably the tip of the iceberg - particularly if they are withholding access.

Refuse to exchange until you can visit

No building regs. on an extension and a garage? In this day and age? Are they having a laugh? Do you know what that could mean? Avoid.

Run away.

You have had the opportunity to get a survey done, that was your chance. You have agreed a price, I would not let a vendor back in to price up some jobs so they could renegotiate the agreed price either. I don’t agree with posters that this is a normal thing to do and to be honest, if you tried to drop your price on me after we have agreed it I would not waste any more of my time on you.

Electrics aside, I'd be worried about the other points and would want a structural survey done before exchange. The lack of regulations plus their refusal to let you organise safety inspections would definitely sound alarm bells for me. All solicitors will tell you to get any suggested reports done prior to exchange, can you say that if you're not allowed to follow legal advice then you'll have to pull out?

Talk to your solicitor. Following up issues raised by your survey, by arranging trade quotes, is completely normal.

You can't do that before offering, as you wouldn't have proceeded with a survey at that point.

You vendor has agreed to provide insurance against the liability caused by their lack of building regs, I take it? And your solicitor has advised this is acceptable? Unusual for something recent though.

When did they re-plaster / plasterboard that ceiling btw? What does your survey say is going on with the dip in the floor? Sounds like some investigation is merited there too.

If your surveyor has advised you to investigate, you investigate. If you don't, you have no legal comeback after purchase.

Lack of building regs sign off on the extension would put me off buying

I agree, and I would walk away for that reason alone. You've had the lucky chance of finding out what shoddy work has already been done. Don't fall into a money pit.

And that was a full buildings survey, was it not? Not just a homebuyer's or mortgage valuation? For a dodgy house like this, you need the works.

Or maybe just buy a better house.

Having been a vendor a few times I would let you come numerous times. In that position I want the sale & I have nothing to hide. Yes it can be a fag but better that than you decide lack of access means you should start looking at other properties again.

LTB. 🚩

So many red flags with this. You know the seller has cut corners, because the garage and extension don't have building regs approval.

There may well be a hoard of other things that haven't been done properly, which could be costly to rectify. Given the vendor's reluctance to let trades in, he could well be trying to stop more horrors coming to light until it's too late for you to pull out.

If you really love the house, you could agree to accept an electrical report but only if you appoint the person doing it, to ensure that it's independent.

And a full rewire is a nightmare job; dust everywhere where they channel out the plaster, floorboards taken up etc. Every room will need making good and redecorating. Unless I was buying somewhere as a project, I wouldn't contemplate living in a house while it was going on.