...OK, so not directly finance related, but how likely is it that an estate agent will reveal why the previous purchaser ditched the purchase at draft contract stage? I'm getting worried that it was due to a bad survey and I'm just about to arrange mine and thought I could save the hassle if the estate agent would just say - "oh because they couldn't afford it anymore" or something like that. I guess my question is whether estate agents sworn to secrecy on this point? Thanks.
Are you seriously suggesting you might get a survey 'by proxy'? Or that whatever might have been in a survey that caused the previous people to pull out, would by necessity mean that you would too? Or if they pulled out because they couldnt afford it but they had never had a survey done, then you wouldnt have one? Or that they might only have had the low cost survey done when you would otherwise have had a full structural survey? Are you mad?
FWIW, if you asked the agent and they lied they would be committing an offence, and AFAIK if you did the same to the vendors and they lied (for example they said the previous purcasers hadnt had a survey but in fact they knew they had, and that it had revealed something nasty), they would also be breaking the law.
On the other hand, I suppose you could argue that if someone pulled out after a bad survey, it wasnt necessarily the faults that were found, but the extra costs it would have entailed, ie the survey meant they couldnt afford it. So saying 'they coudlnt afford it' doenst tell you anything anyway.
The agent is bound to reveal the contents of a previous survey if they are aware of them, (Property Misdescriptions Act). However, if the previous buyer ditched without declaring the reason, or gave a different reason, then you cant expect the agent to offer a bad survey as a reason.
Ask them directly if the Property Misdescriptions Act means they have to tell you about a previous survey - this will put them on notice that you may take the matter further, and you should get a straight answer - thereagain, you might not.
BeanSmart website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.