191 thoughts on “Property Misrepresentation Claims in Practice”
Hello. I have just bought a flat in a block with garages attached. The sales information and the current lease both document that my flat has a specific numbered garage. When I picked up the keys I was told that there was no garage. I have now found that the garage was sold many years ago( not by my seller) but records were not updated. When I was originally shown the flat the agent said that he didn’t have the keys but confirmed that there was a flat attached. I chose not to have a survey as I had previously attempted to buy another flat in the same block. My solicitor asked the seller’s solicitor(by email) to confirm the presence of the garage but got no reply. My solicitor did not include the question in the Property Information Form (TA6). The seller’s solicitor says that this meant that they didn’t need to reply to the original enquiry. Where do I stand?
Thank you for your comment. We cannot give specific advice on our website, if only for the fact that we do not know all of the details.
You should get in touch with us if you do need some specific input. This could be a case of seller misrepresentation or solicitor negligence. Much would turn on the documentation. Also, we would need to know whose “fault” it is that the records you refer to were not updated. In some circumstances the Land Registry can be held liable for losses.
Broadly, the basic position is that it is up to the buyer to satisfy themselves as to what they are buying. Having said this, your seller must surely have known that there was no garage. The sales information must have been approved by the seller. Even if not, there might be a basis of claim against the seller under the law of agency, where the principal (the seller) is bound by the representations of the agent (the estate agent).
Do feel free to contact us if you would like to consider the matter in more detail.
We bought a house in Sept 2018, the sellers confirmed on the Law Society Document that the property had never flooded and that they did not have any dispute with the neighbours. The sellers had installed a pump in the right hand of the garden which the surveyor failed to pick up on. The neighbour confirmed they had fallen out over the flooding issues and the neighbour continuously requested us to switch the pump on due to alleviate the surface water flooding in her garden, she claimed that the seller always switched it on for her when she requested. When we phoned and confronted the seller she claimed they in fact did not get on and a pump was installed to alleviate the surface water flooding issue in their own garden and there wasn’t any agreement with the neighbour to switch it on to alleviate the issue in the neighbours garden. She also confirmed they had fallen out with the neighbours. She realised she had made a mistake and later that evening the husband messaged to say they never experienced any flooding. It transpires that the whole area suffers from surface water flooding as other neighbours in the area all experience it and have pumps put in or do something to alleviate it. We paid a premium for the property. We don’t want to hand the property back to them but the price to reflect the issue. Had we known about the issue we would never have bought the house. When we sell we will not be lieing about this issue and as a result will suffer a price reduction.
We regularly come across issues where disputes with neighbours and flooding have not been disclosed despite the appropriate questions being asked of the seller.
“Flooding” and “disputes” are of course subjective phrases but from what you have written it does appear that there may be some basis of claim here.
Do feel free to get in touch if you would like to explore it further.
In August 2021 we purchased a partially renovated mews house from a developer. There are 10 properties in total with a joint responsibility for the communal areas. The agreement was that within 21 days of purchase we would have a seat on the Residents Management Company and in return we had to pay the whole year’s management fee on completion of our purchase. It is now January 2023 and no one has a seat on the RMC apart from the MD of the development company. We are still expected to pay the management charges which we have refused to do until we have a seat on the RMC as per our agreement. During our purchase we had to fill in forms for Companies House and much was made of our obligations to the management of the site in terms of financial responsibility etc. We have tried repeatedly to get answers to this without success. It is worth noting that we also have a number of restrictive covenants here: we cannot block the access way, we cannot run businesses from home, we can’t have pets etc etc. In December 2021 the company gave permission to a new shop lessee to park in our grounds on a daily basis. They are a delivery company and the nuisance factor is very high as they constantly block the access road. There was no mention of this shop or any other third party rights in our paperwork. Do we have a case here?
This is not really something we are able to provide any input on without looking at the position in much greater detail.
We would need to look at what was discussed during the transaction, consider the relevant contractual term and also consider the nature of what it is that you are being charged.
It is not clear what your objective is here, but if it is a seat on the residents’ management company, there may be some scope to claim this, however, we do note that it appears that your property is a house rather than a flat.
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Hello. I have just bought a flat in a block with garages attached. The sales information and the current lease both document that my flat has a specific numbered garage. When I picked up the keys I was told that there was no garage. I have now found that the garage was sold many years ago( not by my seller) but records were not updated. When I was originally shown the flat the agent said that he didn’t have the keys but confirmed that there was a flat attached. I chose not to have a survey as I had previously attempted to buy another flat in the same block. My solicitor asked the seller’s solicitor(by email) to confirm the presence of the garage but got no reply. My solicitor did not include the question in the Property Information Form (TA6). The seller’s solicitor says that this meant that they didn’t need to reply to the original enquiry. Where do I stand?
Thank you for your comment. We cannot give specific advice on our website, if only for the fact that we do not know all of the details.
You should get in touch with us if you do need some specific input. This could be a case of seller misrepresentation or solicitor negligence. Much would turn on the documentation. Also, we would need to know whose “fault” it is that the records you refer to were not updated. In some circumstances the Land Registry can be held liable for losses.
Broadly, the basic position is that it is up to the buyer to satisfy themselves as to what they are buying. Having said this, your seller must surely have known that there was no garage. The sales information must have been approved by the seller. Even if not, there might be a basis of claim against the seller under the law of agency, where the principal (the seller) is bound by the representations of the agent (the estate agent).
Do feel free to contact us if you would like to consider the matter in more detail.
We bought a house in Sept 2018, the sellers confirmed on the Law Society Document that the property had never flooded and that they did not have any dispute with the neighbours. The sellers had installed a pump in the right hand of the garden which the surveyor failed to pick up on. The neighbour confirmed they had fallen out over the flooding issues and the neighbour continuously requested us to switch the pump on due to alleviate the surface water flooding in her garden, she claimed that the seller always switched it on for her when she requested. When we phoned and confronted the seller she claimed they in fact did not get on and a pump was installed to alleviate the surface water flooding issue in their own garden and there wasn’t any agreement with the neighbour to switch it on to alleviate the issue in the neighbours garden. She also confirmed they had fallen out with the neighbours. She realised she had made a mistake and later that evening the husband messaged to say they never experienced any flooding. It transpires that the whole area suffers from surface water flooding as other neighbours in the area all experience it and have pumps put in or do something to alleviate it. We paid a premium for the property. We don’t want to hand the property back to them but the price to reflect the issue. Had we known about the issue we would never have bought the house. When we sell we will not be lieing about this issue and as a result will suffer a price reduction.
Thank you for your comment.
We regularly come across issues where disputes with neighbours and flooding have not been disclosed despite the appropriate questions being asked of the seller.
“Flooding” and “disputes” are of course subjective phrases but from what you have written it does appear that there may be some basis of claim here.
Do feel free to get in touch if you would like to explore it further.
In August 2021 we purchased a partially renovated mews house from a developer. There are 10 properties in total with a joint responsibility for the communal areas.
The agreement was that within 21 days of purchase we would have a seat on the Residents Management Company and in return we had to pay the whole year’s management fee on completion of our purchase.
It is now January 2023 and no one has a seat on the RMC apart from the MD of the development company.
We are still expected to pay the management charges which we have refused to do until we have a seat on the RMC as per our agreement.
During our purchase we had to fill in forms for Companies House and much was made of our obligations to the management of the site in terms of financial responsibility etc.
We have tried repeatedly to get answers to this without success.
It is worth noting that we also have a number of restrictive covenants here: we cannot block the access way, we cannot run businesses from home, we can’t have pets etc etc.
In December 2021 the company gave permission to a new shop lessee to park in our grounds on a daily basis. They are a delivery company and the nuisance factor is very high as they constantly block the access road.
There was no mention of this shop or any other third party rights in our paperwork.
Do we have a case here?
Thank you for your comment.
This is not really something we are able to provide any input on without looking at the position in much greater detail.
We would need to look at what was discussed during the transaction, consider the relevant contractual term and also consider the nature of what it is that you are being charged.
It is not clear what your objective is here, but if it is a seat on the residents’ management company, there may be some scope to claim this, however, we do note that it appears that your property is a house rather than a flat.
Do feel free to get in touch.