Chimney in house being sold

[AInightingale]

Selling my mother's house atm which she hasn't lived in since summer 2023.

She had an open fire which was used through the winter of 2022-23 but not swept since as the house was vacant.

Does anyone know if we're obliged to have the chimney swept or would if just be a courtesy thing for the new owners? It's not even a given that they'll keep the fireplace (though I couldn't see anyone turning one down with the current price of heating).

Not obliged at all, and I wouldn’t expect a vendor of an empty house to have bothered having it done tbh.

No, minor detail especially if house has been empty. Anyone buying will make sure to get it swept before they use it.

Not for the sale, no. We don't use our fire either but we still sweep the chimney annually because our insurance requires it. We paid £60 last year, I expect it's gone up since.

No, I wouldn't bother. Any purchaser might ask if it's been swept recently, but as said before it's a minor consideration compared to other things. One thing, you know it was a fully working chimney up until that date.

I’m going to go against the grain here. We sold our house with a log burner last year. The solicitor asked for the chimney to be swept and a certificate provided from the chimney sweep to prove it had been done. I think it’s a fairly standard request now, similar to where they ask for evidence of the boiler being serviced.

We sold with a log burner last year too, told the buyer we never used it and so they'd have to sweep it and no-one batted an eyelid.
Definitely wasn't solicitor involved in that detail.

I wouldn’t worry about it OP. You might get asked for it to be done, you might not. If you are then it’s very quick and easy to sort out at the time.

We had a logburner and the buyers solicitor queried when the chimney was last swept (we emailed a copy of the receipt) but didn't request we had it done again.

Agree with others that you are under no obligation to have it serviced or swept. We asked our vendors and they said they last had it swept the winter before last and they clearly use it as they had a log store outside the front door! We will have it swept as soon as we move in and I've just fired off a request to a sweep to get it booked in.

Thanks for replies. I find it very hard to get a call back from the sol to ask her anything! I suppose a chimney with a winter's worth of soot in it (my mum used the fire every day) might be deemed technically 'unsafe' so I would need to give them a head's up about cleaning it before next winter.

If you give them a heads up like that, then they will definitely be telling you to get it swept before exchange.

Generally we sweep ours in September in case birds nest in it over the Spring. I therefore wouldn't sweep it unless requested because they might want to sweep it before the winter.

Yes it's not something I'd go chasing down. Wait to see if their solicitor asks about it.

Also even if they do ask, you can start with a "no" and see if they push.

We’ve just been through similar and were asked to get it swept. We thought it was pointless too but apparently it helps to identify any issues with the chimney. It cost less than £100and meant they couldn’t use that to delay anything or raise further queries. In the scheme of things, it was money well spent

I never thought about birds...hopefully we will complete by 1 June, but there could well be a nest in there - who's to say there isn't? Can't disturb a bird's nest!

nope - id also not mention it!

I have a fire in my house and swept it when i completed -i would still have it done even if the vendors had said they had!