Can someone sue after buying a house in the uk?
Can someone sue after buying a house in the UK?
Yes, you can be sued after selling a house to a buyer in the UK. A buyer can sue you after buying your house if you misrepresented the property or did anything that could be seen as a breach of the sales agreement or fraudulent.
This is why it is very important to be completely transparent when selling a house. If the buyer turns around and decides to sue you you will, unfortunately, have to pay to represent yourself and this could easily rack up.
You may have heard the phrase “buyer beware” which indicates that it is the buyer’s responsibility to ensure they are happy with what they are buying.
In most cases, a buyer will have to undergo conveyancing when looking to purchase a property. If anything goes wrong with the property after it was bought and this can be attributed back to the purchase then the buyer can sue the conveyancer for not performing what they were paid for.
Buyers can take out insurance which covers their costs if they have to sue a conveyancer.
Responsibilities of the seller when selling a property
The seller doesn’t have any duty or legal obligation to answer any questions when selling a property and so they don’t have to be completely truthful or honest in their dealings with you. They may consent to answer a few questions and they may indeed answer a few questions presented to them by your conveyancer when a property information form is presented.
In the case of specific questions presented to the seller by your conveyancer, the seller will have to be truthful in their answers ad if they lie the can be sued for misrepresentation. Aside from this, it will be really left up to you to figure things out and ensure the property you are buying is fit for purpose.
Getting home insurance could also prevent you from some of the issues you could face after you purchase a property in the UK. Home insurance may cover you for any claims you may need to make for repair work.
If a seller lies on the property information form then they can be sued after you have bought the house if you relied on those answers as the basis of purchasing the home. The property information form forms part of your contract with the seller and any answers on it have to be accurate. If they are not accurate then you can sue after buying a house in the UK.
Some of the issues which may be listed on a property information form which lying may lead to a lawsuit.
Disputes with the neighbours in regards to the property
Proposed planning permissions granted in the area that could affect the value of the property
The presence of Japanese Knotweed on the property
Structural issues that require extensive remedial works
Damp
How to sue someone after buying a house in the UK
After buying a house, if you have found an issue that you feel you could sue for to get some compensation then you should contact a solicitor who may be able to advise you on the remedy available.
If you want to bring a case against a seller and sue a seller after buying a house in the UK you will need to prove that the seller has answered a question inaccurately on the search form which your conveyancer will have sent to them or you may need to prove that they were aware of an issue listed on the form prior to the sale and disclose this. To do this you may need to speak to neighbours to see if they could provide you with any statements or evidence that the seller was aware of a certain issue prior to selling you the house.
With this piece of information, you may then have a strong case if you intend to sue someone after buying a house in the UK.
Depending on the scale of the issue the courts could either rescind the contract and instruct the seller to return the complete monetary amount you spent during the property transaction or if the claim you have is one that can be fixed with a bit of money the court could ask the seller to compensate you for the work which needs to be done or any expected loss in value for the property.
Misrepresenting a property to a prospective buyer is a big issue and can leave you getting sued after the buyer has bought the house as you can see here.
If you need financial advice and you live in the UK then you could contact the Money Advice service over the phone or via chat for impartial advice.
You can also contact the debt charity “Step Change” if you are in debt and need help.