Hi there
Just need some advice please.
I’ve agreed to sell my house (it;s very old but il’ve done lots of work in it - on my own) to sellers who’ve been absolutely lovely to me. They’ve agreed to wait until my house purchase goes through. We are at contracts stage,, I’ve signed the contracts for my sale, purchase contracts and it;’s ready for exchange in a couple of weeks. The TR1 has been signed for the sale - it’s all ready to go. The buyers are very keen to move in asap. The seller wants to move quickly too. I could honestly say that, at the time of signing there were no problems with any leaks.
I decided to sell as I’m just not settled. It was a mistake to leave my roots and I;m hoping to move back.
My buyers totally fell in love the house and paid full price - I couldn’t ask for more reasonable buyers. I bought the house over a year ago, spent every every penny I had, working evenings and weekends on the garden and house and it does look good. It was a year long commitment just working and renovating.
I had a survey done when I bought the house and I did all of the work needed to make the house sellable, damp proof course, electrics completely renovated it. The survey did flag up possible roof problems but my seller knew of this and paid towards repairs by a roofer - new felt - I thought it was solved. The roofer did say that if I got another leak I’d need a new roof. I had the ceilings re plastered , boxed pipes in, stripped the old pine floors, and renewed the bathrooms. I’d had no further leaks from the roof. It was spring/summer though.
The buyers asked to see my survey but I’d lost it in the house move and so I gave all the details of what work had to be done via the solicitor and sent all the invoices and guarantees to the buyers. I assumed that they’d ask for a survey but as it was a recent one they decide not to bother with their own. This surprised me to be honest. I’d told them about the roof repairs, damp proof course, electrics etc.
I was very honest about everything but it’s an old house - 1749 - I thought I’d dealt with every potential problem. The roofer had been several times to deal with various leaks but I thought once the plastering was done - all would be okay.
We should exchange in a couple of weeks and complete soon after - my new home is a new build and empty.
There’s been lots of rain and the old leaks have come back in one ceiling and under a dormer window. The house does need the roof replacing. It’s one small patch in the dining room, small patch in the bathroom and some stains under the dormer window.
I’ve spent all my money to get my new home and cannot lose this sale. I’ve managed to disguise the patches but they MAY come back - depending on wind direction…it’s very unpredictable.
If I come clean with the buyers they will either pull out - they’ve been very patient or ask for a reduction and then I cannot go ahead with my purchase and move back with my family.
I know once the contracts are exchanged it’s done and if I didn’t say about the leaks what would happen? The thing is I know about them now but not when I signed back in the summer months.
It’s only very minor leaks but It’s a sign of future problems.