Property purchased problems discovered

[Geoff11]

Good Evening hoping for some advice please I purchased a property where the seller filled out all forms showing no problems however my surveyor found a water mark and my conveyoncer asked the seller if there had ever been any flooding as per the water mark and the seller never responded. The sale went through and now comes to light that there is a problem with surface water for the last few years.
I am a bit stuck do I have any recourse for this?
I was in such a rush to buy a property as my sale on my property had already been agreed.

Thanks

[Collaborate]

What does your conveyancer say? What did they respond to the standard question about flooding? that's what it all comes down to. They don't have to answer any of these questions, but they must ensure they don't mislead you. If they are silent about it (ie neither confirm or deny there is a problem) then it's buyer beware.

[Geoff11]

Thanks for your response Collaborate, but just to double check as when I bought the property the seller ticked no issues flooding of any sort and when I moved in I have discovered the next door have raised their land with cement and are draining g their surface water into this land apparently this has been like this for 5 years prior to the sale of the property and every time it rains there is a huge puddle down the side of the house caused by this.
I asked my solicitor to address this and they did ask the seller the question but it was never answered and the sale went through, I was not concentrating on everything at the time as had a time in hospital and my mind was elsewhere.
However I now own a property with a huge problem and I never would have bought this if I had known, I feel let down. Is there anything legally I can do?
Thanks

[Morgan Sweet]

Natural water run-off from a higher land to a lower land has to be accepted but if your neighbour has purposely raised the level of his land then this is not natural water run-off and it is therefore his responsibility to deal with any drainage issues that arise.

[Collaborate]

OK - so they said there wasn't a problem with flooding. You say there is because of large puddles. Many people won't call that flooding.

In any event you knew about it before exchange of contracts so even if a judge finds it is flooding, it had no effect on your decision to buy the house because you knew of the watermark before you committed to buy.

The neighbour, however, should not drain their land on to yours. You have a right of action against them if they won't drain their land away from you. Check your home insurance for legal cover, but it has to be more than some puddles.

[arborlad]

Good Evening hoping for some advice please I purchased a property where the seller filled out all forms showing no problems however my surveyor found a water mark and my conveyoncer asked the seller if there had ever been any flooding as per the water mark and the seller never responded. The sale went through and now comes to light that there is a problem with surface water for the last few years.
I am a bit stuck do I have any recourse for this?
I was in such a rush to buy a property as my sale on my property had already been agreed.

Thanks

You need to get all your multiple threads merged.

[stufe35]

With builders working on fixed price quotations at circa £20 an hour and solicitors requiring you to sign up to an open ended contract with 2k on account up front and an hourly rate circa £250 , then before court you need a barristers opinion at circa £2000, I'd suggest this might be one of those situations where it's far easier, cheaper and less stressful just to lift a few flags on your patio, and sort some drainage.

Are there drains nearby you can connect into ? Do you know what would be required to sort the issue ? Is it a big job ?

Another question....what drainage is in place to get rid of the water that falls directly on your patio ?

[Scrambler]

Should the title of this thread be "problems discovered, property purchased" ?