If vendors have told me a lie, do I have any redress now I own the place?

[oatcake]

we almost did not buy this house (been in for 3 weeks) because the mortgage company did not want to lend on a steel framed house.

The vendors eventually went halves on a full survey which came back saying that although there was a steel frame in the roof, there was no evidence of it exending into the house.

Et voila! We got the mortgage.

However, the knocking down of walls is upon us and lo and behold, we have steel frames.

Now the vendors explicitly told us that the house did not have a steel frame to their knowledge. I can't believe this as they'd lived here for 30 years and whenever I tell tradespeople that I live here, I get "oh, one of the steel framed houses" It's common knowledge around here!

The surveyor is coming over tomorrow with a structural engineer, and if it appears that there is a huge problem, do I have any course of redress?

A proper survey? By a proper surveyor? You should have some redress against them then!

Not sure about vendor - I don't think you can prove that they knew all along?

(Why is it a problem?)

You should have some redress against the surveyor who will have indemnity insurance to cover this sort of thing. Many steel framed houses are on a defected list, can you find out which type it is and if it's on the list.

i think you would be hard pushed to prove anything against the vendor,but there might be some culpability on the surveyors part . was it a full structural survey?

Your redress probably lies against the surveyor - sounds like he's been negligent. The previous owners probably knew all along but you'd have to prove that they knew which would be hard. However, there's no harm in sending them a letter asking them to confirm in a witness statement or affidavit that they had no knowledge that it was a steel framed house.

"the vendors explicitly told us that the house did not have a steel frame to their knowledge"

The key is that you can't prove they didn't know. they didn't say there definitely wasn't, they said there wasn't one as far as they knew.

The surveyor OTOH is another matter. Mind you, the phrase "no evidence of..." might get them out of that. Although it is there, it may not be visible unless you knock the walls down.

contact the RICS

that's what I thought. How would you prove it?

bah!

I think it was a full structural survey - it cost £750...

actually, as dh has just pointed out (he's come to check the work as he's so stressed out about the resale value now), the vendors would have had to have known as they had an extension built and work was done on the area which we are now exposing.

Therefore that might be the proof that we need?

We are taking photos throughout.

Piggy, might just do that. Don't want to scare them off as they're only in rented accommodation at present as their sale fell through.

Scanner, can you tell me more about this defected list?

The surveyor is (IMO) liable as he (I presume) knew that you were relying on this report to secure your mortgage and as such would realise the importance of the survey. He has been negligent in his duty to supply correct information. There is case law which deals with surveyors and in what circs they will be held to be liable? Was it you and the vendors who instructed the surveyor or was it your mortgage lender?

The best thing to do would be to get a body of evidence together. Go to local planning office/building regs dept and find out when the extension was built so that you can prove it was while they were in occupation. Also double check with the estate agent/solicitor that you have someone who will corroborate your story that they told you it was not steel-framed "to best of their knowledge". Do neighbours have similar houses - how well known is it that they are steel-framed? If all the neighbours knew, it seems unlikely that the owners of this one didn't. Also, ask your builder if the work that the previous owners had done would have required special measures because of frame - their builder would surely have made them aware of this. Then it will be a long slog with respective solicitors.

It is really difficult to tell much about the frame of a house from an internal inspection if it has been reasonably well built and I am sure that the surveyor's report will be full of caveats but it is worth contacting his/her governing body (RICS or the equivalent for structural engineers).

Having said all that, unless there is a particular blight on this type of steel frame, does it make much difference? I know banks are very cautious about "unconventional" builds but that means anything that isn't cavity wall brick - could be timber-frame, concrete anything. Might have no bearing on resale or your building plans.

You may have a claim against the vendors if they knowlingly lied about the steel frame(fraudulent mis-statement) or stated that they house didn't have a steel frame when they really should have known (negligent mis-statement). You'll need to prove they know or should have known. Check with your solicitor if the vendor's solicitor supplied answers to the CPSE (pre-contract) enquiries. They almost certainly will have answered them and there may be something there. If your DH is right and they would have known because of the extension, that is good evidence.

I'd agree that you could look to RICS and see if the surveyor was negligent.