Legal Question in Real Estate Law in United Kingdom

Am I entitled to compensation for the lack of information provided by an estate

My elderly mother recently bought a flat in a retirement complex. Before she was able to proceed with the selling of her own flat, she had to complete an extensive form that detailed the condition of all fixtures and fittings. She did and assumed that the same would have been done on behalf of the flat that she was buying. In the event, it transpired that because her new flat was an 'executor's sale' it was exempt from this requirement. She was never told this by either the estate agent or the solicitor. On moving into her new flat there were several quite serious problems - the cooker and hob were faulty; the shower was unserviceable; a heater in the lounge was incorrectely wired and therefore unserviceable; several of the door locks, including one to the balcony were broken and unusable. Repair/replacement of these faults has cost my mother about �1000.

Is she entitled to financial compensation given that she was not aware - becasue she was not informed - that she was buying a property about which no statment had been made regarding fixtures and fittings and thus she was not in a position to take this into account in her offer price, or indeed in her decision as to whether to buy the flat at all.

Thank you


Asked on 5/10/05, 5:15 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Richard Howard Richard Howard & CO

Re: Am I entitled to compensation for the lack of information provided by an est

Almost certainly not. This is one of the perils of not having a professional survey or proper tests of equipment. The general principle is Let the Buyer beware because it is the Buyer who bears the risk. Unless you received a positive representation that all items were in good condition and working order the Standard Conditions of Sale will almost certainly apply unless they were specifically changed by the contract. Standard Condition 10 provides that the Buyer takes the Chattels in the state they were in at the date of the contract. Even if the seller had filled in a fixtures form this would probably not have assisted you as most of these fixtures and fitting forms including the Law Society one do not require the seller to say that they are in a reasonable state of repair.

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Answered on 5/10/05, 8:41 am


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