I wrote here late last year, asking for advice on helping my cousin who was selling her house at the time to get her electrical installation into compliance. With the advice I got here I was able to save her a fair bit of money by doing a few electrical jobs before the assessor came around. (They were inevitably able to wring a few thousand rand from her, anyway, but I covered much more work than they did).
They have now moved into their newly-bought house and are very chuffed. Everything is much better. The area, the property, the proximity to work, etc. But the joy of their new home has been dampened by the apparent spiteful actions of the previous owner. Based on the amount of effort they went to when selling their old house, I think they expected the new house to be similarly sorted out. But there now appears to be several snags that have come to light. The seller had disconnected the electric fence. When confronted about this, she claimed that the electric fence installation belonged to the neighbour. The neighbour in turn denied and said nope; the seller had indeed installed said fence. A TV bracket and other fixings that were installed upon viewing have been removed and the holes in the walls have not been filled. The gas supply to the gas hob has a leak. There is a water leak. There is untidy electrical wiring installation and a live wire inside a cupboard. Based on all the things my cousin described, the house is not safety compliant.
So now, my questions:
What can my cousin do to get rectification?
Is safety compliance a legal requirement/condition of sale, or is it an optional stipulation in the offer to purchase?
What say would/should my cousin's bank or agent have with regards to these matters?
Can the previous owner be compelled to bring the property into compliance or is she now without recourse?
They have now moved into their newly-bought house and are very chuffed. Everything is much better. The area, the property, the proximity to work, etc. But the joy of their new home has been dampened by the apparent spiteful actions of the previous owner. Based on the amount of effort they went to when selling their old house, I think they expected the new house to be similarly sorted out. But there now appears to be several snags that have come to light. The seller had disconnected the electric fence. When confronted about this, she claimed that the electric fence installation belonged to the neighbour. The neighbour in turn denied and said nope; the seller had indeed installed said fence. A TV bracket and other fixings that were installed upon viewing have been removed and the holes in the walls have not been filled. The gas supply to the gas hob has a leak. There is a water leak. There is untidy electrical wiring installation and a live wire inside a cupboard. Based on all the things my cousin described, the house is not safety compliant.
So now, my questions:
What can my cousin do to get rectification?
Is safety compliance a legal requirement/condition of sale, or is it an optional stipulation in the offer to purchase?
What say would/should my cousin's bank or agent have with regards to these matters?
Can the previous owner be compelled to bring the property into compliance or is she now without recourse?
