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Property misrepresentation - damp claims

When you’re buying a property, you’ll want to be as informed as possible about the condition of the home before you commit to the purchase. Finding out about serious issues such as structural problems, a flood history or ongoing disputes with neighbours after you have completed on the property can be very distressing, especially if knowing about this before would have changed your mind about proceeding with the purchase.

Whilst there will always be some element of risk when buying a property, there are parts of the process which aim to minimise the unknown issues. Sellers are required to disclose any major issues that they are aware of with the property on the TA6 property information form. If they fail to do this or are found to have lied about the property’s problems or tried to hide or cover serious damp issues up to mislead the buyer, you may be able to make a property misrepresentation claim against the seller. If your claim is successful, depending on the circumstances involved, there may be damages due or the property transaction could potentially be rescinded, with ownership returning to the seller and the buyer being refunded.

Our specialist team can give expert advice on property misrepresentation claims in relation to damp issues and can tell you if you have a valid claim. Call us on 0161 696 6178.

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What to do if you’ve bought a house with damp problems

If you’ve bought a house with major damp issues, that only come to light once the purchase is completed, it can be very stressful and costly to deal with. Sometimes damp, if left unchecked, can cause serious structural problems that are dangerous as well as being expensive to rectify. If the seller of your home was aware of the damp problems but didn’t disclose it, for example if you bought a house with rising damp that the owner covered up, you might be able to make a property misrepresentation claim for damages.

The damages awarded for a successful property misrepresentation damp claim would usually be based on the difference in the value of the home now that the damp has come to light, and may also include other associated costs to fix the problem.

It’s important to seek expert legal advice as soon as you discover the damp problem in your new home, so that we can investigate on your behalf whether the seller has deliberately misled you during the sale process. Property misrepresentation can be a complex area of law, so it’s important to have urgent specialist legal support to give your claim the best chance of success.

Can you sue a surveyor for not finding damp?

If you paid to have extensive surveys carried out on the property before you bought it, and the damp issues were missed by the surveyor, there are some circumstances in which you could potentially bring a claim against them for surveyor negligence. This will depend on the survey instructions they were given and whether the damp could have reasonably been found at the time they surveyed the property. If the seller had made efforts to cover the issue then there might not have been any way for the surveyor to find the damp at that time, in which case they cannot be held liable for not spotting it.

This is why it’s essential to seek expert legal advice as soon as possible so that we can investigate the situation in relation to the damp problems and see if you are eligible to make a claim against the seller or your surveyor. Get in touch with our specialist team today by calling 0161 696 6178.

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