Vendor not declaring work

[5littlechickens]

In process of buying a house that needs some updating. Property forms say that no work has been done on property.

This is clearly untrue as e. Roof has been replaced in last 2 years (google street view shows) kitchen/bathroom has been updated and therefore had work done on electrics.

Solicitor has queried their answers and they've come back and said no work has been done since 1988.

Where do I go from here? (no mortgage required).

When we last sold the solicitors were only interested in structural work - could your vendor think that's what's being asked about?

Could be a probate sale and the vendors haven't a clue what's been done?
Could be they are only listing things that required official signoff - new kitchen/bathroom doesn't necessarily mean electrics altered much.
Could be that they're just unsure and erring on the side of caution.
If you have specific queries I'd just raise them.

Definitely not a probate sale, vendor moving in with family.

We queried e.g. building control certificates for the new roof (which you can see has been replaced on google Street view and work out when it was done). They responded saying nothing has been done to property since 1988.

I don’t think you would have building control certs for a re-roof. We didn’t. Anything structural should come up in the searches (if they got sign off). I wouldn’t consider a new bathroom or kitchen ’work’ as I would only really consider structural alterations.

But as for what you do - ask the direct questions about when the kitchens/bathrooms were done if you like. I’d probably ask for details of the roof because the work may have some kind of warranty/at the very least you might want the invoice in case of issues.

And then if you don’t get satisfactory answers it’s up to you whether you take on what you consider to be risk.

Full reroof has required building control sign off since 2006, to ensure the thermal performance is adequate, and almost any works to kitchen and bathroom electrics beyond like for like replacement of fittings also does.

They're telling lies. Beware. It might be a botched job. Ithink I would give this a miss. They sound as if they cant be trusted an inch. Why lie.

This happened with us. I think they might have had the flipping place extended in that timeframe, but ultimately I couldn’t prove it and when I come to sell I will refer back to the previous vendors statement. Had a structural survey and it was fine from that perspective so really just paperwork.

I didn’t realise that - but then thinking back, ours was done in preparation for a loft conversion which did get sign off.