Buying House Legal Problems Can She Claim Costs?

Question

My sister has been buying a flat, all seemed OK and she has a solicitor with the normal buying fees (about £1000). She has now come across some really big problems with the purchase caused by the vendors.

Firstly they are unwilling to provide insurance on the common shared parts, hallway, roofs etc. Secondly it now turns out that the only access to the flats is built illegally so that you have to cross property not owned by the vendors. The owner of the property not owned by the vendor could easily restrict/block access to her flat.

My sister is a first time buyer and has little money to spare with house prices the way they are, we need her to move out of our house as we are adopting a child.

She obviously can't buy this property now, so should the sellers be liable to pay towards the solicitors costs, seeing as it is their fault she can't buy the flat? It has obviously been mis-represented and doesn't seem very fair. Any advice appreciated.

OK the vendors are the people who converted a house into four seperate flats, they are I think classed as a new build.

Answer 1

I hate to say it, but I doubt it. That's what solicitors are for - to do searches and find potential problems.
Get her to ask her solicitor about the fees - whether she can sue them for costs or not, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
It's a case of caveat empore, in this case at least she found the problems BEFORE buying.

Answer 2

I'm confused. Why have the vendors got to provide insurance for common areas? Isn't that the responsibility of either the freeholder (the person that owns the land on which the building stands) and usually included in the ground rent charge or a co-operative formed by all the tenants in the same building with joint insurance? Why have the people who are selling the flat got to take responsibility for insuring something they no longer own?

Next, access to the property. It is very likely that because the vendors have presumably been using the entrance way to gain access to their flat over a period of time that this has created what is called an easement. Easements are rights of way which are created either expressly (by it being written in the contract) or impliedly (by custom, verbal agreement, common sense as it is the only possible access). I doubt very much whether the freeholder could prevent your sister from using an easement that is merely allowing her access to her flat. How did the vendors manage before her?

If she were to look in the documentation for the house sale, it may well make reference to the easement or show it on the plans of the property from the Land Registry which she will have been sent. If she still feels that there is a problem, she should seek some legal advice firstly about how the conveyancing solicitor has handled this as they should have ensured that an easement was in place in this instance, or secondly from any surveyor your sister has employed. It is their duty to act on behalf of the mortgagee (the place from where your sister has obtained her mortgage) that the flat is a viable concern and that such matters as easements and access are properly in place and documented.

Answer 3

I think a lot depends on the Prospectus for the sale. If there was no reference to the items in question, the Solicitor acting for your Sister should have, and I think might.

The cost of employing a Solicitor is in the Buyer's interest here and the only way to recoup anything is if the property was described inaccurately. That would be a separate issue.

Answer 4

It is incumbent on a seller of anything to make the potential buyer aware of any points which could effect the decision to buy. If these very pertinent facts were not disclosed the seller is hiding such facts. Your solicitor having found these anomalies should now be advising you how to recover your expenses incurred due to what is in fact the dishonesty of the seller.

Answer 5

She could try suing them for attempted real estate fraud. She shoul d be asking the lawyer about this. But it's not the seller's fault your sister started the process with them in the first place. She should have asked a few basic questions right at the beginning and then just dropped the whole thing if it seemed shady.

Answer 6

if your in the UK yes she can claim for costs because by law sellers have to be honest with every thing when selling their property, even noisy neighbours, if they are known to keep some thing from any buyers deliberately then they are liable, but she should check with her solicitor.

Answer 7

sorry i dont know anything about the pound law