Is anyone moving now?

[AJB88]

The seller has got all the certificates as ive got copies of them already he sent me!

I however don't have certificates for our boiler, it was installed when we moved in 10 years ago, had it serviced a few times thats about it. I do have copies of the old window installation certificates, but doubt the buyer is going to need them, as his partner used to own the house.

Edited by AJB88 on Wednesday 17th March 12:33

[Fast Bug]

I had a Fensa certificate turn up in the post yesterday. It took 2 weeks tops from asking the installers to regsiter the installation, it showed online as being certified within a few days of me raising the query

[The ArtfulBodger]

AJB88 said:

The seller has got all the certificates as ive got copies of them already he sent me!

I however don't have certificates for our boiler, it was installed when we moved in 10 years ago, had it serviced a few times thats about it. I do have copies of the old window installation certificates, but doubt the buyer is going to need them, as his partner used to own the house.

Edited by AJB88 on Wednesday 17th March 12:33

Try a search on your local planning department online portal.

For our local council we can do this by using an address search.

If I do it on our onward purchase it shows:-

Building Control – Building Control Summary Help with this page(opens in a new window)
CPS/**/*****/GASAFE | Installed a Gas Boiler | Number Street Town County Post Code
Property ***********Get informed when this item is updated Print summary icon
Details Summary Further Information Plots Important Dates Documents (0) Related Cases (1) Map
Description Of Works Installed a Gas Boiler
Application Reference Number CPS/**/*****/GASAFE
Valid Date Mon 12 Oct 2009
Decision Date Not Available
Status Building Work Complete

[AJB88]

Quick question for those who have sold recently, our property was built in approx 1970. we still have the old school electric fuse board with the fuses where you have to wire them.

Solicitor has emailed tonight to say buyers solicitors want an electrical test done, spoke to a bloke that lives locally he said straight away it will fail. A mate of mine who is an industrial electrician said they cant test buildings against the brand new regulations (think he mentioned issue 18) as 99% if houses would fail.

Anybody has this situation? only outcome I can see is the buyer asking for money off?

The email suggests they want us to pay for it as well, surely it should be them? are we better off just getting a qualified electrician to come in and say everything is "safe" rather than everything meets current regulations (which it wont)

Edited by AJB88 on Wednesday 17th March 18:42

[Claude455]

We accepted an offer a couple of weeks ago and the buyers live locally.

I’m tempted to drop a note through their letterbox with my contact details in case they want to get in touch directly about anything.

Good or bad idea? Anyone made contact and wished they hadn’t?

[ooid]

AJB88 said:

Quick question for those who have sold recently, our property was built in approx 1970. we still have the old school electric fuse board with the fuses where you have to wire them.

Solicitor has emailed tonight to say buyers solicitors want an electrical test done, spoke to a bloke that lives locally he said straight away it will fail. A mate of mine who is an industrial electrician said they cant test buildings against the brand new regulations (think he mentioned issue 18) as 99% if houses would fail.

Anybody has this situation? only outcome I can see is the buyer asking for money off?

The email suggests they want us to pay for it as well, surely it should be them? are we better off just getting a qualified electrician to come in and say everything is "safe" rather than everything meets current regulations (which it wont)

Edited by AJB88 on Wednesday 17th March 18:42

I just sold my edwardian terrace, built in 1896. I think the electrics were quite old, well we lived in the property for a few years and there was nothing wrong. The buyer asked about electrics but we showed the few years old electrician "safety" check, thats it. My usual response to these little things are " SOLD AS SEEN", if they are being unreasonable. I can understand things like boiler warranty and etc. but the rest is a bit meh. Many people do not realize they are mostly buying the "land" as a freehold, and there happens to be a bunch of old bricks and mortar still standing as a "house", by luck.

[The ArtfulBodger]

Claude455 said:

We accepted an offer a couple of weeks ago and the buyers live locally.

I’m tempted to drop a note through their letterbox with my contact details in case they want to get in touch directly about anything.

Good or bad idea? Anyone made contact and wished they hadn’t?

It’s a double edged sword.

Begin of January our buyers did as you suggest, I was very reluctant to engage in any dialogue outside of the EA or Solicitors.
I caved in and text him back as I thought on balance a good relationship with our buyer was worth more than the hassle that we could potentially be exposed to.

Luckily for us he’s turned out to be a good lad, he gave us an early insight into the fact his solicitors are untrustworthy useless waste of blood and organs!

We have struck up a fairly good relationship and have got more achieved by working together on potential hold ups rather than leaving it to the respective legal teams.
when I spoke to our EA (who is also acting for our buyer) he said to me tread carefully and if you are at all unhappy or uncomfortable with any aspect of direct communication refer him straight to your solicitor of himself. As it turns out it’s was the best thing we did.

Our seller on our onward purchase has only just made contact via the school telegraph - in one brief conversation I have deduce they are a pair of cretins that could bugger the whole job up - nice enough bloke to talk to but completely unrealistic expectations of what is going to happen at the fag end of the transaction; was it worth talking to him? Hell yes! We now know where the hassle factor is going to come from and can take steps to mitigate that - be it through the EA or leaning a bit harder on solicitors.

TL,DR

Weigh up the pros and cons and go with what you are comfortable with, but be aware if you leave it all to the EA and the legal teams it nay take much longer than you like to get from offer to completion.

[ten200]

AJB88 said:

Quick question for those who have sold recently, our property was built in approx 1970. we still have the old school electric fuse board with the fuses where you have to wire them.

Solicitor has emailed tonight to say buyers solicitors want an electrical test done, spoke to a bloke that lives locally he said straight away it will fail. A mate of mine who is an industrial electrician said they cant test buildings against the brand new regulations (think he mentioned issue 18) as 99% if houses would fail.

Anybody has this situation? only outcome I can see is the buyer asking for money off?

The email suggests they want us to pay for it as well, surely it should be them? are we better off just getting a qualified electrician to come in and say everything is "safe" rather than everything meets current regulations (which it wont)

What is the rest of the house like? If it's been untouched since the 1970s and needs refurbishment from top to bottom, it would be reasonable to say that the buyers should have known that the electrics also date from the 1970s and taken that into account when making their offer.

If everything in the house looks up to date, and the buyers were expecting to move in without doing any work, they might have reasonably expected the house to have been rewired. Finding out that the house "needs" a rewire costing a few thousand, and then redecoration in every room afterwards, will be a bit of a shock and you couldn't blame them for trying to renegotiate.

Are they first time buyers who are used to seeing the electric test certificate when they rent a property?

[Simes205]

AJB88 said:

Quick question for those who have sold recently, our property was built in approx 1970. we still have the old school electric fuse board with the fuses where you have to wire them.

Solicitor has emailed tonight to say buyers solicitors want an electrical test done, spoke to a bloke that lives locally he said straight away it will fail. A mate of mine who is an industrial electrician said they cant test buildings against the brand new regulations (think he mentioned issue 18) as 99% if houses would fail.

Anybody has this situation? only outcome I can see is the buyer asking for money off?

The email suggests they want us to pay for it as well, surely it should be them? are we better off just getting a qualified electrician to come in and say everything is "safe" rather than everything meets current regulations (which it wont)

Edited by AJB88 on Wednesday 17th March 18:42

It will fail.
Cheapest thing to do is to fit a new consumer unit and then test.
That’s the only way our electrics got a ticket.
£600 about ten years ago....our house was built in ‘73.

[The ArtfulBodger]

AJB88 said:

Quick question for those who have sold recently, our property was built in approx 1970. we still have the old school electric fuse board with the fuses where you have to wire them.

Solicitor has emailed tonight to say buyers solicitors want an electrical test done, spoke to a bloke that lives locally he said straight away it will fail. A mate of mine who is an industrial electrician said they cant test buildings against the brand new regulations (think he mentioned issue 18) as 99% if houses would fail.

Anybody has this situation? only outcome I can see is the buyer asking for money off?

The email suggests they want us to pay for it as well, surely it should be them? are we better off just getting a qualified electrician to come in and say everything is "safe" rather than everything meets current regulations (which it wont)

Edited by AJB88 on Wednesday 17th March 18:42

Couple of things.

There is no obligation for the homeowner to carry out periodic inspect and test - it is recommended Best Practice to have the installation inspected and tested at a 10 year interval but you are by no means legally obligated to do so - even if you are selling the property.

Our house is 9 months overdue according to best practice, not a chance in hell I would agree to pay for test and inspect on our buyers behalf, that said they would have been more than welcome to arrange it at their cost.

Most importantly though:-

Current wiring regulations are NOT retrospective. However; Any works carried out after the initial design, installation and test MUST meet the regulations in force at that time the works were carried.

If for example a property was built in the mid 60's to the 14th edition and had no alterations since, a request by a solicitor to have the installation inspected to the current 18th edition would be wholly unreasonable.

If the property had a recent extension then it is not unreasonable to demonstrate that the additional works do comply to the regulations in force at the time of the alterations. Any circuit in the rest of the installation not affected by the alterations need only to comply with the regulations when they were installed.

TL;DR

No onus on you to provide a current inspect and test, nor any obligation to retrospectively comply with current regulations.

Your buyer is at liberty to have a test and inspection at their expense but must understand current regs cannot be retrospectively applied and therefore no use a bargaining tool.

Edited by The ArtfulBodger on Wednesday 17th March 20:34

[The ArtfulBodger]

Simes205 said:

AJB88 said:

Quick question for those who have sold recently, our property was built in approx 1970. we still have the old school electric fuse board with the fuses where you have to wire them.

Solicitor has emailed tonight to say buyers solicitors want an electrical test done, spoke to a bloke that lives locally he said straight away it will fail. A mate of mine who is an industrial electrician said they cant test buildings against the brand new regulations (think he mentioned issue 18) as 99% if houses would fail.

Anybody has this situation? only outcome I can see is the buyer asking for money off?

The email suggests they want us to pay for it as well, surely it should be them? are we better off just getting a qualified electrician to come in and say everything is "safe" rather than everything meets current regulations (which it wont)

Edited by AJB88 on Wednesday 17th March 18:42

It will fail.
Cheapest thing to do is to fit a new consumer unit and then test.
That’s the only way our electrics got a ticket.
£600 about ten years ago....our house was built in ‘73.

So you are selling a 50 year old house designed and installed to the 14th edition and decide to have a shiny new metal consumer unit fitted that complies with the 18th edition. Great stuff, everyone happy, right?!

What do you do about the lighting circuits wired in singles stretched diagonally across the loft space and your ring main circuits that are not buried deep enough in the wall to comply?

The key words are 'cannot be retrospectively applied'

Now, if you were embarking on alterations or a rewire then those installations would need to comply.

Simply flinging in a new CU isn't the answer.

Edited by The ArtfulBodger on Wednesday 17th March 20:43

[James-06gep]

My purchase is the gift that keeps on giving.

6 months of waiting and just before our buyer was set to pull out, the probate lands. Excellent. Due to exchange today and “oh we need to wait for 2 redemption certificates to be issued before we can exchange”..

FFS!

Apparently one of them is from the county council (care home fees). Please someone tell me this won’t take months as well?

[sjc]

Well having contributed to this thread a few months back with the sale of the marital home falling through twice, it’s been a bizarre 7 days ! A Chinese doctor and his Doctor wife looked at it once, offered full asking price straightaway, and declared he forego a survey and all searches because was exchanging the following day and he needed to be moved in within 9 days !!! Absolutely impossible.The next day a Solicitor who had previously looked at it but is now STC (and has been told we had two full asking price offers on the table) offers 150 grand less.The EA explains again that although by law he has to forward the offer there is no chance of it being accepted.A day later he ups his offer £100,000, so still pointless and then goes up another 50 grand to match the other offers.The EA then says he has a message from another previous viewer to please ring him the following morning as he is now also STC and wants to put an offer in.... he has suddenly been unobtainable since last Friday. The Chinese couple seem to be moving the goalposts as to what their intentions are with regard to accommodation whilst the sale goes through ( they even wanted to move in and rent it from us during that period)so we’ve gone with the solicitor.Whether that is wise, or the whole transaction is going to be full of know-it-all but no common sense type communications, or threats to withdraw( as he is obviously hurting at being originally out manoeuvred) remains to be seen ... fingers bloody crossed.

[ChevronB19]

Nice. I assumed when you replied in a thread of mine you were local ish to me.

Seems to be good value out Carlisle way. Never considered it due to work but less of an issue with WFH becoming more the norm.
[/quote]

I dunno about value. Modern new build 4 bed houses directly opposite McDonald’s on a busy road in Carlisle are more expensive than what we paid for this.

[Turn7]

James-06gep said:

My purchase is the gift that keeps on giving.

6 months of waiting and just before our buyer was set to pull out, the probate lands. Excellent. Due to exchange today and “oh we need to wait for 2 redemption certificates to be issued before we can exchange”..

FFS!

Apparently one of them is from the county council (care home fees). Please someone tell me this won’t take months as well?

I feel your pain Brother.....

[Biggus thingus]

Received memorandum of sale from EA this morning

Right at the bottom of the letter it says "conditions of sale" and underneath it says "survey booked by 31/03/21"

Under that it says "aim to exchange by 04/06/21"

Presume this is normal and that we'll get notification of when surveyor wants to come round?

[Turn7]

Biggus thingus said:

Received memorandum of sale from EA this morning

Right at the bottom of the letter it says "conditions of sale" and underneath it says "survey booked by 31/03/21"

Under that it says "aim to exchange by 04/06/21"

Presume this is normal and that we'll get notification of when surveyor wants to come round?

The only thing you can be sure of is EA and Solicitors lying to you I’m sorry to say.....

[LetsTryAgain]

ChevronB19 said:

I dunno about value. Modern new build 4 bed houses directly opposite McDonald’s on a busy road in Carlisle are more expensive than what we paid for this.

A friend has just bought one of the all singing all dancing expensive ones there.
Been in a year and 4 toilets have had to replaced due to leaks.
Her 'double' width driveway was only 1.5 so that had to be sorted as soon as she moved in to.

It's the attention to detail one gets with a new build i like...

[Claude455]

The ArtfulBodger said:

It’s a double edged sword...

Lots more useful and interesting content.

Thanks, appreciate the response.

We’re only moving 100m away and will have to drive/walk past our old house on a daily basis so figure we may as well make contact. After we’ve completed the sale our buyer is still going to feature in our lives to some extent so hopefully opening a line of communication and building a relationship will be of benefit - to the transaction and post-completion.

[littlebasher]

Biggus thingus said:

Presume this is normal and that we'll get notification of when surveyor wants to come round?

I'm in the process of selling my FILs house. Despite asking the estate agent to let me know when anybody is going around, a surveyor turned up unexpectedly last time i was there and expected to let himself in. Did he get a shock.

Yesterday, i called the estate agents to ask for an update. They cheerfully told me that the buyers have sent around a builder to look at the windows & roof and an electrician to look at the 1970's electrics. News to me, thanks for letting me know beforehand !

As above, i hope that the old fuse board electrics don't cause me any headaches. The house was sold as requiring modernisation, so I'm not going to be impressed if the buyers come back wanting money off for issues that were clearly present when they made their original offer.

Same with windows, yes aluminium double glazing probably isn't all the rage now, but it's double glazing and secure. What more would you expect from it.

Fingers crossed.