And did they advise you of those faults at the time?
Was going to make the same point.
To be honest in the OP's shoes I'd be writing to the surveyor to ask if there were signs, explain why, then, that in hand, asking a solicitor (assuming a (your) conveyancing one is the place to start?) about going after the original vendor and their solicitor/estate agent for the full cost of remedial work as they're legally required to declare the problems these days.
as they’re legally required to declare the problems these days.
Just to be a bit obtuse, surely the vendor is required to reasonably answer the questions asked of them in the contract. So, have the questions been asked? And replied to? And is there anything relevant?
AFAIK there's no overbearing compunction to declare things.
AFAIK there’s no overbearing compunction to declare things.
From the previous link.
So far as I'm aware, one of the questions on the questionnaire will also relate to the state and fabric of the building.
And even then if the problem has been there for years, the seller was aware but its not been obvious on viewing, on survey or on moving in, but it now is, why wasn't it? Without effort to deceive or conceal its difficult to see how that would be the case.
A link to Chancellors? Are we trusting estate agents these days, then?
The form is a TA6. I'm not aware there's anything in there where a vendor needs to say what the condition of the place is. So, the seller needs to answer the questions on it to the best of their knowledge. And that's it as far as I can tell.
OP needs to look at the responses to the texts and see if the vendor has mis-answered something in the contract.
I must say I thought it was the sellers responsibility to disclose any issues with the property that they were aware of. Ie when I sold my flat I had to be up front that the roof was buggered and required work
So if they knew and didn’t tell you isn’t it them you can pursue?
I'd say if you do it, expect a long drawn out process.
A family member bought a house, after a structural survey, and then found heavy subsidence.
The surveyor admitted fault very quickly, but then followed 5 years of drawn out, and expensive, legal work to settle on the damages.
I believe over £200k in legal and professional fees, lots of stress and a risk of not even getting costs covered if they won.
They won in the end, but the stress it caused was immense. If you can suck it up and move on, I would.
I dont think you’ll get anywhere by taking him to Court. As said previously,there will be a lot of caveats in his Contract, take the £100 and put it down to experience.
I see it as a race to the bottom, you are not going to get a thorough survey for £600. We recently paid £350 for a house valuation from an RICS Surveyor. He was here for around 30 minutes. He took a load of pics, and obviously did a lot more work in his office, I paid, as I thought he did a pretty good report, and highlighted a number of things thta could be improved in the house. A good survey would take a minimum of 3 hours on site, probably a lot more, so £600 isnt going to get that.
Its the same in my work, electrical. Doing house inspections isnt worth doing any more. I’d charge £150 minimum for a small flat inspection, £200+ for a 3 bed house. There are Companies out there doing them for £50. It is impossible to do it properly in less than 3 hours. But the people ordering these reports are not bothered, they just want the bit of paper to say it is safe (which isnt true in many cases Ive seen).
A link to Chancellors? Are we trusting estate agents these days, then?
I don't know, they seem to have some useful advice for Caesar.
‘caveat emperor’
When we sold earlier in the year we knew we needed a new roof. Before we accepted the offer we insisted on speaking to the buyers to make sure they knew what they were buying (a 1900s house that needed a new roof and work, not a plug and play new build). But even we were surprised by how shabby it looked when all the furniture was out. It's amazing what you become used to.
Personally I'd have had to have said about a leak if I knew about it.
Not sure how I'd proceed - £4k is a lot, but not in the scheme of house fixes. I'd be inclined to chalk it up yo experience.
The seller only needs to answer the questions set out in the TA6. There isn’t a defect disclosure question as a seller is assumed to not have the skill or expertise to answer reasonably. That’s the role of the surveyor.