Misrepresentation Claim?

[hugh]

I have bought (cash, no mortgage) a property. I did not have a Survey done. After completion and now 3 weeks on and only after stripping walls have I found some serious cracks along with Damp which is pointing to a Subsidence issue. I believe that when this particular room was newly decorated then these issues would of been obvious I am trying to establish if I would have a claim for either Misrepresentation Negligence or Misreoresentation Innocence? There is no mention of this on the SPIF.

[ostell]

Now you know why you should have had a survey. You were free to discover any potential problems but did not do so.

[hugh]

Most people will tell you Surveys are not worth the paper they are written on, most of the time. Surveyors do not lift carpets, move furniture or strip wallpaper. The issues with this property would not have been obvious to anyone, including a Surveyor

[R0b]

There is no mention of this on the SPIF

There is a question around property changes which relates to alterations to the property such as extensions or internal modifications like knocking through a wall, but I don't think it covers general decorating unless the specific question has been put to them. If you saw the house and knew there had been some recent decoration, you could have instructed your solicitor to probe and ask further questions. Otherwise, based on what you've said I don't think you have any such claim.

Normally you would be covered by building insurance for subsidence if you didn't know about it, have you got that in place?

Agree with Ostell though, this is the very reason you get a survey done. If you are going to fork out a lot of money for a cash purchase then you should at least be able to pay another few hundred quid for a homebuyers report or a structural survey to determine what works may need to be carried out. It also serves as a negotiating tool to drive down the price if any major works are needed.

[des8]

You might just have a claim if you were categorically told (and can prove it) there were no damp or subsidence problems.
These are not part of the Property Information Form.

If the cracks point to subsidence weren't they evident from outside the property?

[hugh]

Thank you. Firstly there were Building alterations made some 20+ years ago. There is no paperwork available regardless. Yes I do have Buildings Insurance but this is an existing problem so is not covered. With regard to the comments by Desb, You are correct to say that the Issue of Subsidence and Damp are not on the Spif and following this when I did some digging, I have read that if any issues arise which are not mentioned on the Spif and withheld by Vendors then this would amount to Misrepresentation. My point being is that they could not possibley deny knowing about it, as it is obvious.

[hugh]

Sorry if that was not clear; although there is no questions on the Spif, if the Vendors knew about it they should have disclosed it then we could have re-negotiated the price so perhaps Misrepresentation by innocence rather than Negligence. The only visible sign of anything outside is damage to Pebbledash which does not appear to go deeper.

[des8]

The consumer protection against Unfair trading Regulations 2008 may come into play if you purchased the property through an estate agent.

However if it was purchased privately you will not have that protection.

You also state the problems weren't evident until you stripped the wallpaper, so presumably the estate agent would not have known of the problems if the vendors had not mentioned it.
If purchased through an agency you may just have a claim for an innocent misleading omission

[hugh]

They knew there was a problem with Drainage to property as they put gravel to the front of the house, the previously dangling downpipe was put through the wall to drain which I found the day I collected the keys. There are no surface drains.
All the guttering had been replaced, so yes they were aware of a damp issue .

[des8]

If you propose pursuing this matter you will have to consider having the property surveyed, and having a report confirming the vendor must have known of the problems

If your house insurance includes legal expenses cover you might be able to fund legal action through it.