Recourse after moving in?

[alabasterangel]

I think I know the answer

Moved in yesterday. En suite pours water into the kitchen below. Plumbing for washing machine leaks everywhere. Oven and grill don't work. Integrated dishwasher doesn't work properly. Electric garage door doesn't work. The list goes on....

Can we do anything? None of this was conveyed to us, obviously. We were lead to believe all was rosy, verbally, when we viewed.

Feeling rather jaded!

My gut feeling is that there is nothing you can do - caveat emptor and all that. Perhaps ask your solicitor to be on the safe side. Poor you .

Caveat emptor I'm afraid. Very frustrating and must take the shine off things a bit but they are fixable. Try and focus on what you love about the house.

sigh - I can live with the door, the leak even (use the other bathroom), but I can't go long feeding a family with a hob and a microwave....

Why do people do that? We've left ours having had the oven professionally cleaned, etc etc. these miserable sods took every last lightbulb and loo roll, and left us with a pile of unworkable issues!!

Is it an electric oven? Is there a spur switch that might have accidentally been turned off? Does anything light up/come on when you turn it on? If it's a cheap model, then sometimes you need to switch on the timer to get it going

Im not entirely sure it is caveat emptor for some of these issues- I think the basis is to assume things are working if they are listed on the fixtures and fittings sheet ie the white goods, or surely they wouldnt be included in the sale.

I think you should ask your solicitor to write a letter to them listing all the problems and saying youd like a contribution towards costs. The letter will cost £20, you'll feel better you havent been a doormat and maybe they'll be guilt tripped into paying something.

Thank you. The oven is a rubbishy single integrated diplomat which has no oven temps (rubbed off) no internal light (bulb I assume) and does heat up but I have no idea to what temp. Took 25 mins to cook a garlic baguette at highest temp I could guess! Fan not working either. Grill operated by separate dial which doesn't work at all; No light, heat, thermostat light, nowt!

Dishwasher is stuck on 70 intensive cycle and can't be altered. Button to alter cycles doesn't work.

Water through ceiling is pretty niagra-ish. Not a drip, nearly washed out the kitchen. It's like the waste isn't attached to anything!! Has obviously been a historic problem because there are marks we can now see on the kitchen ceiling. Tray will have to be removed along with floor tiling which is cut around tray. It's not going to be cheap, I fear.

Almost waiting to find out the next thing....! And massive 1st world issue but because the driveway is very restricted lengthwise, the gate is electric and slides out sideways. That's not working either.

House alarm here but code given as 'no idea'. No spare keys, only one of everything. Really? In a household of 3 adults?

I will call the solicitors Monday...just to lodge my thoughts!!

Oh no Alabaster, how awful! Just when you think you've escaped the stresses of the house buyers thread. I hope you manage to get a bit of recompense from them

You sound remarkably serene amid all that fuckwittery, Alabaster! I have no useful suggestions in terms of what you might be able to do/claim, but am sure your solicitor will give relevant advice. Worth taking photos of Niagara before you get an interim fix?

On the fixtures and fittings list, does it say 'good working order', or something similar. If so, I think you will be able to get recourse.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland/housing/buying-and-selling-s/problems-with-buying-and-selling-a-home-s/

This article may be useful for you.

Sorry, just noticed, that's in Scotland

Just been up to help bath DC. Underside of shower head in bathroom (cradle type shower head) nothing is there - just an empty hole!

I'm understanding 'buyer beware' but seriously do you barge in at offer stage and test every tap, drain, radiator valve, appliance, etc? Not realistic!

optimist I am not serene at all...!! I am too exhausted to get overwrought, and I have gin.....

I feel for you. Ours was nowhere near as bad but a few weeks after we moved in there was a huge leak and it has obviously happened before in heavy rain we realised from the ceiling repaint. There were a lot of maintenance jobs that needed doing ASAP. It is disheartening but in a few weeks you will hopefully laugh about it.

Do get the solicitor to send a letter though or at least get their advice.

Oh and change those locks if you think they still have keys.

I would expect them to take loo roll, but these days on the fixtures and fittings form it normally says that if they're taking light fittings they have to leave a functioning rose/wire/bulb.

Did you have a survey done? Obviously that wouldn't include the white goods but should have noticed the damp stains on the ceiling and alerted you to the possibility of a leaking shower upstairs.

When you say you were "led to believe" all was rosy, do you mean you were TOLD everything worked, or you weren't told either way and just assumed? Because if you were told that it was all in working order, then that is a verbal contract.

Your story scares me as we're nearing completion on the house we're buying and I don't want this to happen to us.

That is really rough - poor you. I hope you do get some recompense.

minor thing, but yes, vendors are no longer allowed to leave bare wires sticking out where electrical fittings should be. The fixtures and fittings form specifies that and is part of the contract. And it would also have had the alarm code on it - did you not see that?

yes, testing taps, toilets and water pressure is a good idea at offer stage.

get a new oven etc ordered. Get the locks changed, you don't know where they left the keys.

White goods that are left are normally 'as is' - although it is a dirty trick not to tell you that things don't work. I left all our white goods except fridge and freezer, they were all about 10 years old but were working when we left. And the buyers knew of their age.

new shower head costs under a tenner.

bigger picture; your surveyor should have spotted damp patches. The RCS close ranks and you'll probably get nowhere on that, but give it a try.

We had a midrange survey, we were advised against anything else as the house is only just 10 years old and our lender said it wasn't warranted. It didn't point out water leakage, no, but we didn't see it either it's only when you really look for it I guess. I suppose a surveyor should have been looking! Ironically I've got our old dishwasher in the garage - our buyers didn't want it. Am hopeful DH can just take the integrated door off and put it in somehow? As for the oven, I pointed it out on viewing, said I'd be sad to leave my range (I bake a lot) and he said 'it'll be fine, my wife copes making a cake' - impossible! The oven has no temp markings for a start! Lights in extractor blown, downstairs loo makes a sound like a foghorn when you flush it..... Etc etc!!!
Alarm code on the fixtures list was annotated with 'code to be left with keys' - keys have a tag from the original selling agent with code and date of 2005- this code does not work! New next door neighbour said they never used the alarm. Counted 8 bare light sockets with no bulbs. No keys for window locks either.
We will change locks but that's extra extra costs! Just very tired after two really long days.... Not to mention we got snarled up in that whole natwest/rbs debacle which almost left us homeless overnight..... Shattered is an understatement!!

Window lock keys off ebay.

Likewise second hand oven to get you going.

The dishwasher should slot out and your current one should slot in.

Sometimes electric gates have a manual override - if you can find markings to indicate manufacturer etc on motor then you can probably google how to override and common faults.

I don't know the legalities but I think you're right to make a call on Monday. Its just bad behaviour on vendors part.

I hope that you get a good nights sleep and tomorrow reminds you of some of the reasons you chose the house and you can start turning it into your home.

Thank you mis - absolutely still love it to bits, and so tired I'd sleep through a hurricane right now. We might just have to make do with things like an oven repair or cheapy replace. I'll make myself feel better by listing the faults, at least I'll know I took a stand. Thank you all....,

after we moved house, for the first couple of weeks I got up every morning and found some new problem or other, after that it wasn't every day, they tailed off a bit. I found it really upsetting at the time, all these things that would mean spending money I hadn't budgeted to spend but 2 years on I have dealt with most of them or lived with them, in the way I did with the problems in the house we left. Our seller left bare wires, we realised a flat roof leaked, a drain outlet has been paved over (!) but it's home now and we cope! If you like the house it will be fine in the end.

We had problems to when we moved house. We naively thought as we had bought a house built by and lived in by a surveyor for 32 years that it would be fine. We also had a full survey but I think the surveyor doing the survey was also not very observant, maybe also because the owner was a well known surveyor in the town. They probably knew each other and sat and had a coffee.
We had two leaks in the lounge ceiling that were old and could be seen if you looked hard enough in the Artex (was due to a badly installed window in the spare bedroom). The ceramic wall tiles were also falling off above the kitchen window but were covered by a blind. When it rained we got a large glassful of water dripping out from between these tiles. We finally found out this was also due to a badly fitted window in the ensuite letting water into the cavity walls. The dishwasher also broke within 2 weeks of being here, the shower leaked all over the kitchen ceiling, the toilets both leaked and once the water tank leaked down from the attic. We seem to solve one damp/water problem and the next one appears.
We still love the house now and are slowly dealing with all the problems. We have now been here two years and can't imagine living anywhere else. We have some new windows, had the roof fixed, put new seals on the toilets, put a new waste pipe connector on the shower (through the plug hole), plastered over the Artex in the lounge and bought a new integrated dishwasher. Zinnser paint is good for covering up damp patches.