Should I exchange contracts if the property's been damaged? A tree has fallen onto the garage of a house I'm buying, what should I do?

Notify your solicitor immediately, says our legal expert.
Merrily Harpur
Fiona McNulty8 June 2019

Question: I was hoping to exchange contracts on my new house in the next few days but when I drove past it yesterday I saw that a tree has been blown down and has fallen on to the garage, completely crushing it. What should happen now — and who is going to pay for this?

Answer: Notify your solicitor immediately. He or she should make relevant enquiries of the sellers’ solicitors. If an estate agent is involved, ask them for information about the sellers’ intentions.

Establish the extent of the damage to the garage and what the seller plans to do, for example, employ contractors to carry out repairs, or claim on their buildings insurance.

Consider engaging a surveyor to inspect the garage and report on the damage. If the property has already been surveyed for you, ask your original surveyor, or else employ a builder to inspect and report.

Your solicitor should ensure there is provision in the contract dealing with the issue.

If an insurance claim is being made, then the contract should provide for the benefit of that claim to be assigned to you (if assignable).

If the seller or their contractors are rectifying the damage, the contract should provide for a retention of a sum of money equal to the cost of the repairs which should only be released to the sellers once you and your surveyor have carried out an inspection and are satisfied that the damage has been repaired properly.

If the seller is unhelpful you can just walk away from the purchase, as you have not yet exchanged contracts.

These answers can only be a very brief commentary on the issues raised and should not be relied on as legal advice. No liability is accepted for such reliance. If you have similar issues, you should obtain advice from a solicitor.

If you have a question for Fiona McNulty, email legalsolutions@standard.co.uk or write to Legal Solutions, Homes & Property, Evening Standard, 2 Derry Street, W8 5EE. Questions cannot be answered individually, but we will try to feature them here.

Fiona McNulty is a solicitor specialising in residential property.

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