Advice needed from all you knowledgeable people on Scope

perdita

Hi, long story (sorry)
My son's girlfriend split up with her boyfriend 12 months ago and has been left paying the mortgage on her own. 
The house has potentially been sold but here is the rub. The buyer offered via the Estate agent to rent the property back to her whilst she was trying to find a new home she could afford, which she gratefully accepted.
Now they are coming to the point of exchanging and completing (it's a cash buyer) She enquired via the Estate agent a couple of weeks ago what the rent would be and would the lease be ready to sign on completion. She was told that they couldn't do that until gas and electric safety checks where done and they would send someone round. She has now found out that the electric didn't pass and she is responsible to pay for  the certificates and to bring the property up to code (some several thousand pounds)
I don't feel this is her responsibility as the new owner who is buying to let would have to do this anyway.
Any thoughts or questions gratefully received and thanks for reading

Jimm_Scope

I'm going to be honest but I think in this instance what they really need is a solicitor. We can try to look up what the law says but if this is a legal battle someone with actual expertise will be needed.

I'll come back in the morning to see what I can find but she would be in a much better position speaking to a solicitor.

perdita

Thank you @Jimm_Scope I am very appreciative of your help. 
She is a young girl on her own and I feel very strongly that she has been taken advantage of.
I am especially annoyed with her solicitor and estate agent who have been pushing her to take these costs. Threatening her that she will lose the sale if she doesn't comply and her ex has been ringing and verbally abusing her as he just wants the money from the sale.
I have pointed out to both the solicitor and the estate agent the Prohibited Charges for Tenants Fee Acts 1st June 2022 but they argue that she isn't a tenant yet. Which while technically true surely that covers potential tenants.
Thank you again

woodbine

I doubt that it covers potential tenenants.

perdita

@woodbine that is my fear, feels morally wrong he is passing business costs onto her, but morality isn't part of the law unfortunately.
@stormy couldn't agree with you more and I have said pretty much the same to her. However, her own solicitor has told her that unless she agrees to pay the costs (yes her ex would have to pay half ) then the buyer is going to walk away. She is terrified as she has put an offer in on a new house and needs evey penny of her share of the equity and she can't continue paying the mortgage on this house which is double what she can afford. My son has been giving her money but currently lives 88 miles away. The plan was when he found a job where she lives they would move in together.
She has found a new rental place which she can move into in a week but he has still said she needs ro pay the costs or he is pulling out, meaning then she would have rent and mortgage to find. Sorry for the long answer but your input is really appreciated and it is good to hear that I am not alone in thinking that this is not a nice person x

chiarieds

In a way I'm looking at this from a different perspective. During Covid the 2nd of 2 tenants we'd had, who was a lovely elderly lady, had sadly died, & we decided to sell the bungalow. It sold within a month to a cash buyer (& yes, they are very attractive). The estate agent did verify he indeed had the funds. 

Initially the buyer's solicitor enquired about the drains, but as the house had previously belonged to my in-laws, we could say there had never been a problem, tho they wanted photos of any drain covers! 

The estate agents had given us a form to complete, which included the fact that as landlords we had to have an annual gas safety check, which we had always done. We also said that just prior to leasing the property we had paid for some electrical work to update the house to the then current standards some 10 years previously, but, & I can't remember why, we didn't have any paperwork.

Right at the last moment our buyer wanted a gas safety check done, even tho we had a completely valid landlord's gas certificate. We agreed, as the estate agent said they could sort that at a reasonable cost. The estate agent had also obtained an EPC. The sale did go ahead.

I'm just trying to illustrate that as a landlord the onus was on us to show probably more proof of everything being OK rather than a normal seller. I'm also confident in saying I was a good landlady; my daughter who lived nearer even went to fix her squeaky doors as she hadn't heard of WD40, we also paid the gardener we employed who lived nearby to change lightbulbs, & also unblock one of the 2 toilets as our elderly tenant had begun to suffer from dementia & had put a carrier bag down it on 2 occasions! And did so much more. This potential landlord seems anything like 'good.' It seems he has found his first tenant in your son's girlfriend, whom he hopes will update the electric component.

 - her estate agent should have already had her complete detailed forms about the property, tho questions can arise at the last moment from the potential buyer's solicitor (as I found)

 - it's a good idea to prove you've had the boiler & any gas appliances checked annually, but I don't think there's any onus about the electrical regs other than any alterations or additions made to the electrics in the property since 2005, must meet certain regs, which I know keep on changing! Her estate agent or solicitor should surely be conversant & able to advise about these

 - it's a difficult situation, as she's trying to be both a seller & potential tenant at the same time

 - thinking about being a tenant without finding out what her rent would be??

 - her ex hasn't been contributing to the mortgage, but would pay half the costs of any electrical work??

Sorry, I've no answers, just have been thinking out aloud.

perdita

Thank you @stormy your message gave me a lot of food for thought. I believe that she has made the decision to go ahead and sell at a reduced price and take the new tenancy which will mean she has to pull out of buying the new property. 
She has said she will use this time to build up her deposit. That is if the buyer doesn't still pull out himself it is not clear yet as he has asked for the safety certificates to be sent to him and will make a decision on his next steps.
@chiarieds thank you for your message it was very interesting. I wish you could be her Landlord. I can tell from your posts that you are a very kind and empathetic person. I know that good landlords do exist and are given a bad rep by those who are not.
She has been somewhat (understandably) naive during this whole process. It was only when I asked her what her rent would be a couple of weeks ago and she didn't know that this all kicked off.
I genuinely believe, though no hard factual evidence, that he told the estate agent that he would rent to her was inorder to achieve a quick sale with no chain. I don't think he had any intention of doing so. Otherwise he would have been working with her to achieve this. However, now that he knows that it will take £2k to pass the electrics he is re-thinking which is his right. But if he had just purchased the property outright then he wouldn't have know this beforehand.
I am more annoyed at the solicitors  and estate agents as it was them who offered this alternative. The estate agents decided it was her that needed to pay for the checks and the Solicitor sent her a rather blunt email a week ago basically saying she had one of two options either agree to pay for the works up front or complete and find alternative accommodation as the completion was due today. She chose the later and has found a place to rent. Yesterday she received an email to say that the buyer now wants to see the certificates and there is a strong chance that he will want to renegotiate the price. She is completely overwhelmed and struggling. She is saying at the moment she will accept a reduction of two grand and currently has a van and storage facility booked from today. I sincerely hope it goes through