NC as outing.
Sense check please! Sorry for long post, I don't want to drip feed.
DH and I almost completed on a wreck of a house in Feb. It would have meant living in a flat with a toddler for about a year whilst the work was being done. Fast forward to a few weeks before exchange and we found out I was very unexpectedly pregnant. This was a genuine shock, since we've been trying for 18 months and was told our only hope of conceiving was IVF.
We decided we could not take on the project with the new baby and toddler, and made the difficult decision to pull out that same week. At this time, the Stamp Duty holiday was still due to end at the end of March.
We were really fond of the guy selling the house so mentioned to our agent that if there was anything we could do to help him secure a speedy sale (i.e., before stamp duty rules changed) they should let us know.
About a week later we were contacted directly by the new buyers, asking if they could buy our searches and documents. We provided them with a list of exactly what we were in possession of; including our full building survey, the name of the company who carried it out and their contact details, and an explicit request that they speak to their lawyers before we send them anything to establish what - if anything - can be transferred to them.
A few days later they confirmed what they wanted, including the full building survey. We paid £1400 for the survey and they offered us £700 for it. We agreed and sent them all docs that day.
Fast forward to this week and the buyers have contacted us to advise that they are not covered by the surveyor's insurance (we didn't know that we had been either, it was not mentioned in the contract) and that they will have to pay a further £300 to the surveyor's to be insured. They would like us to pay the £300 and act with "integrity and ethics".
To end, I had also checked the contract and it whilst it says that the report has been prepared for me, it does not say that it cannot be sold or given to anyone else. I separately spoke to the surveyor who said if I told them to seek legal advice this is on them.
Do you think I have acted improperly here? Ultimately there were able to proceed with a house purchase in record time because they had all the checks, and they've still ended up with a full building survey - insured - for £400 less than the list cost.
Thoughts?