House Purchase

[Bigbucks]

Hi

Wanting some advice.

My wife and I purchased a house 2 months ago as in1st September 2018.

Everything was good until I went to strip wood panelling off walls to find the ceiling was damp. Upon further investigation in the loft I seen the roof was leaking.

I then contacted a roofing contractor who advised the roof was leaking due to the work that had been compete within the last 5 yrs on the valleys. He said the seller would have known of this as there was a bucket stuffed into bottom of valley to catch water whihc was full of water.

I have loads of pictures took and the roofer even stripped some tile back around the valleys and took pictures of this too and the bad job that had been completed.

I contacted my solicitor with a document and pictures of the happenings and I am in the process of obtaing a report from roofer as well.

My solicitor has contacted sellers solicitor who advised whole house had been repainted prior to sale and their was some damage to roof which he had got a handyman to fix a few years back. The seller did not declare any leaks even though there was a bucket in the loft at the bottom of the valley whihc he would have known about the leak.

My solicitor has yet to send evidence of the findings and roofers report to the sellers solicitors.

Can anyone advise if they think I have a case to claim for the seller to fall for the cost of fixing and any damages that has happened.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Amethyst]

Sounds like something that should have been picked up in in the survey but it depends how indepth your survey was.

The buyer thinks the solicitor or licensed conveyancer has been negligent

As the buyer you may think that the solicitor or licensed conveyancer has been negligent, for example, after the sale has been completed, you may discover there is a problem with the boundary wall or there is a road widening scheme that will reduce the size of the garden and this might mean that the value of your house has reduced. In England and Wales, if this happens and you want compensation, you should seek legal advice about suing the conveyancer. If you have a complaint regarding poor service or behaviour, you should follow any internal complaints procedure of the firm concerned. If you are not happy with the outcome you should complain as you may be able to get compensation. In England and Wales you can complain to the Legal Ombudsman if you used a solicitor or a licensed conveyancer. In Northern Ireland, problems with conveyancing are dealt with by the Law Society of Northern Ireland.

[Bigbucks]

The survey was a mortgage survey only.

There is no legal requirement to have an in depth one done.

Is it not a misrepresentation from the seller though?

[Amethyst]

Okay.

Nothing stated on the Sellers Information Form then ? Yes it is likely to be misrepresentation if they knew about it ( which the bucket would suggest ). It sounds like you have your solicitors on the case in that regard.

[2222]

Okay.

Nothing stated on the Sellers Information Form then ? Yes it is likely to be misrepresentation if they knew about it ( which the bucket would suggest ). It sounds like you have your solicitors on the case in that regard.

OOI, where on the form does it ask about this? Qu 4.1a seems to be asking about bigger works than just the odd repair.

[Bigbucks]

Anyone have a copy of the form

[Amethyst]

You should have a copy from the purchase ? Example here
https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/suppor...form-specimen/
I don't know what "work on the valleys" means mind - just makes me think of Wales, so guess it depends if it was major works ( like roof replacement) whether it would be declared.
Otherwise its likely would be your responsibility to have had a full survey undertaken.

[ostell]

The valley is where 2 descending roofs come together and it is a little gully between them.

Or it could have been a wayward tradesman who knew he had made a mess of a job so just sacrificed a bucket to make it look as though it had been fixed.

[Bigbucks]

The seller has admitted that there was issues with roof but was fixed few yrs back. The seller used the loft area as storage for work so he would have known about it.

Yes valleys r were roof meets roof at different angles with the gully in the middle made from lead ££££.

[Peridot]

The problem with having a mortgage survey only. They would not have gone in the loft or lifted any panels etc. So difficult when every last thing costs more on top of buying the house itself.
As far as showing the seller has been negligent, it would be down to whether you could prove the seller knew about the leak. The evidence of the bucket may not be sufficient but see what response the solicitor gets then review it. It may be worth asking for more info on the 'leak' and copies of the builder/handyman quote (although that may be long gone but worth asking).
So frustrating when you just want to get on with settling in.