To want to cry re new house?

[meow1989]

Or more like, wibu to expect seller to be a decent human being?

Completed on our dream forever home end of August. We left our house spotless, left flowers and advice re local area plus my number in case new people needed anything. Our seller however left us with the following issues:

• tonnes of rubbish including a double garage door, building materials and granite slabs behind outbuilding. His response was (not true) that most of it had been there when he moved in so it wasn't his problem to sort.
• missing plants dug up and taken
• rubbish in house - so far I'm up to 7 different types of tiles in boxes plus skirting boards, flooring, insulation etc
• Windows that don't lock from the outside and don't close properly (costing 4k to replace, we did know they were misted and would need doing equally but not straight away)
• bodge job building bits (he is a builder!) Like fist sized holes where blinds had been installed, a broken TV bracket installed into the wall rather than on to, paint on floor and windows
• broken blinds, broken bathroom cabinets
• a boiler that I've just found out has been leaking for quite some time (noted by plumber who is fixing leak in ceiling which also seems to have been bodged and covered up from previous leaks)

Aibu or is this par for the course? We hadn't budgeted for a fixer Upper!

Sorry to hear this OP. I got told by my solicitor to get house insurance from the date of exchange to cover any damage made by the Vendor as he'd heard too many stories like this. You can get your solicitor to organize collection of items left or organize for the Vendor to pay for removal. The Surveyors' Report should have picked up on this stuff (mine was full of "dirty" bathroom fittings! Eww). You can also sue the Surveyor for not doing their job properly.

Did you have a survey ? If so what kind of survey ? Did you contact your solicitor ?

Exactly the same for my son and fiancée: they completed on their dream home end of August and left their house spotless but the seller left them with the following:

• old chair and other rubbish in the garden and all wheelie bins full and overflowing
• missing sink and taps!
• windows with missing stays

-filth, half inch of burnt food at the bottom of the oven, stains on carpets (from party before leaving?), ketchup on the bedroom wall...

• bodge job building bits (he is a builder!), walls painted and gone over the edge onto the ceiling
• broken toilet roll holder and bathroom cabinet
• bath and toilet pipework leaking for quite some time, plasterboard under the bath soggy

-garage door lock broken. They had a survey and viewed the property, but as you say these things are hidden eg mat on the kitchen floor to cover the rip in the flooring. Some people just have no respect for anyone else and have very low standards of cleanliness. I wish you well. Hope that you have support and it becomes your dream home very soon.

I dont think holes in the wall or plants in the garden will have much in the way of anything you can do. But the rubbish and boiler sound really serious and it is shocking your sols shrugged their shoulders at this. TBH, I recently moved and my solicitors were crap too.

So we need a new boiler 🤦‍♀️ any recommendations on reasonable companies? Am waiting for the plumber who came to quote and booked an eon consultation. British gas have nothing available until November.

I'm trying to look at it as in 5 years time we definatelt won't be needing to replace it or the windows!

The solicitor has come back to say that the survey says for us to ask the solicitor to ask for a copy of the boiler check so they didn't do anything. Whereas I assumed when we sent the survey over they might have read it and acted on the recommendations.

It's pouring here and out the corner of my eye I'm watching a drip from the pvc roof in the utility room. Ain't life grand ay?

I'd get 3 local gas engineer quotes & use Octopus as a provider.

British Gas are very slow.

Did the surveyor check the boiler functioning themselves? Because they should have done. And the solicitor should have asked for the most recent service report off the back of the survey.

I have had British Gas, twice, they were expensive but excellent

Once in anew house where the boiler was condemned after 3 years

The second when we moved in to our 'forever' home

Both times had 'free' cover for five years post installation

The boiler that was condemned was 'serviced' by local company, in a bid to save money, and ended ip being scrapped in December

meow1989
We had similar to you in our home
Two years in, we are nearly there, last set of windows being fitted Monday
I water dripping though walls in our pantry
It was like an endless catalogue of stuff

Both times had 'free' cover for five years post installation

7 years guarantee for a new boiler is standard

Get on a local FB group and have a search on recommended plumbers / gas engineers. There are always a few posts and you notice a few names being repeated and recommended.

We went for a worcester bosch boiler with a megaflo last year - so far, it's been very good.

OP- YANBU.
Roughly same happened to us as I've mentioned on other threads. It seems fairly commonplace from what I've heard.
Contrary to what some people think- sellers are not supposed to dig up plants planted in the actual soil unless they make it clear in the paperwork they are doing so. Taking removables such as plant pots, bird baths, bird tables, even blooming garden gnomes is fine but they should not be digging up established plants and leaving holes or empty spaces behind unless that has been documented and agreed.
This is a small point in the grand scheme of things I know. But still...it's taking a liberty and they know they shouldn't do it.
We have spent huge amounts of money putting things right in our new home and I was starting to fall out of love with it as it was just one thing after another.
Dynorod last week felt like the last straw. Flooded bathroom, water backing up out of every opening in the bathroom...I was at my wits' end. Leak through to kitchen ceiling and so the list of jobs to repair goes on and on.
BUT OP .....it is all fixable and my DH talked sense into me and said we're together, it's a beautiful house and it will all be OK. We were going to redecorate anyway (just not as urgently as we had expected) but this is planned to be our forever home too so we will just work through the problems gradually and get them sorted.
Yes we had a survey. No i don't believe we have a case against surveyors or solicitors. The small print in their contracts and wording makes that pretty difficult and I don't want to expend energy, emotion or money on what would probably be a fruitless quest for compensation. Tried this once before when we moved into a house and discovered there was a hidden sticker on the boiler that someone had tried to remove that said 'condemned - do not use'. We moved our stuff in and had to move straight out again to stay with rellies with small child in tow whilst another boiler was installed that we couldn't afford.
So I'm sorry so say this kind of situation is commonplace, you're not alone, but please don't let your current issues make you fall out of love with your new home.

Poor you -sadly, as shown here by the many answers, it's very common! We bought in December last year and the house was cleaned top to bottom-fantastic. They did however leave an outhouse stacked to the brim (and I mean the brim) with old furniture, cut back brambles, house sale signs and garden waste. It took four trips to the tip with a 3.5t van to get rid of everything. Absolute pain in the arse! We also are working through the numerous terribly done amateur repairs done throughout the house.

Same thing happened to me once, I bought a flat and the girl left all her kitchen utensils (dirty) half a divan bed, old clothes the shower knob had come off so couldn't turn shower on, attik full and basically very dirty. It does say in the contact that sellers should leave the house in a respectful condition (maybe not those exact words) but I suppose once you've already moved in you probably don't want to mess around with bringing it up and possibly going to court...

Your solicitor should have encouraged you to include a clause which requires empty property, anything left which needs to be got rid of to be charged to previous owner. Your surveyor should have noted issues re boiler windows tv bracket fixing etc. Anything else you should have noticed on viewings.

@Blossomtoes

Why is everyone talking about how they left the house they sold? It’s completely irrelevant. I’ve never moved into a clean house and learnt a long time ago that a survey isn’t worth the paper it’s written on, nor is the clause that stipulates removal of rubbish. It’s always going to cost more to enforce than to just get rid of it.

Why? Any costs legally charged to previous occupant. Can see if they emigrated or died but then you would transfer to legal probate contact

It would be very unusual to recover all costs in these circumstances
Lots of people on this thread seem to totally misunderstand the reality of taking and enforcing court action

@user1487194234

It would be very unusual to recover all costs in these circumstances Lots of people on this thread seem to totally misunderstand the reality of taking and enforcing court action

Precisely.

I've been in this boat and honestly the best course of action is to bite the bullet and get on with the repairs unfortunately.

Feeling much more optimistic today- ds and I have started tackling the garden and bagging up some rubbish for the dump. We're going to grow lots of fruit next summer and it's exciting to start planning. I've also hacked at a very poorly lavender tree that was left in a pit in the hopes that it might regain some life. And we found some.gladioli and canna lilly bulbs that we've relocated. Gardening is good for the soul for sure.

@user1487194234

It would be very unusual to recover all costs in these circumstances Lots of people on this thread seem to totally misunderstand the reality of taking and enforcing court action

Not to mention all the hassle. It’s just not worth the ball ache.

Normally a surveyor/solicitor would suggest you got a copy of the boiler certification and evidence of the last boiler service.
All houses have their problems, though some more than others, and you do seem to have had at least some idea about the really expensive ones (windows). OTOH, your seller seems to be somewhat worse than average, though I have heard of a lot worse. I'm glad you still love the house, hold that thought, and try to just write off the rest. It's what you make it, now, and at least you should be able to see conspicuous signs of improvement as you clear it all and make it your own.

We picked up our keys and came here to find vendor apologetically still cleaning the kitchen just so it was spotless, bless him. He ordered flowers for us too.
We've always cleaned thoroughly before we left- had relatives help us do it when we moved ourselves, and last time we moved out with removals a few days before, so we drove back 100 miles each way to do a final 'where we couldn't get to for furniture' clean before completion so it was spotless. Left wine and chocolate as well (never got any thanks for any of it, incidentally).
Having said that, it must be difficult if you have a lot of stuff filling the house up and have to deal with kids on the day as well as the removing. When we moved when I was a kid, we were sent to school from one house and had to go home to the new one- then Dad had to borrow bowls from our new neighbors to feed us as Mum had gone to her evening job and they still hadn't found the plates.

@ellyeth

It is true a vendor is allowed to remove things like plants, light fittings, etc., but they should indicate on the vendor's questionnaire that they are doing this. If he hadn't done this, then he did not have the right to take them.

Typical solicitors - once they have their money they are not especially interested, though they are probably right that to go to the small claims court would be a lot of hassle and might not yield much in the way of recompense.

It is very hurtful to have made an effort to pass on your previous house in a clean and well maintained condition, only to be greeted with all these issues in your new home. I am so sorry you have had such a shock and such disappointment. Hopefully, in time you will be able to get your house ship shape and start to enjoy it.

Not all solicitors are like that. The Land Registry made a cock-up on our 'deeds' (there's a difference between tenants in common and joint tenants and though they were told the correct one, the LA simply got it wrong, just a genuine mistake, but due to covid the LA was in chaos) and our solicitors doggedly nagged the LR until they got it sorted out. It took about 18 months. Solicitors didn't charge us a penny.