Dodgy house been sold - what can be done

Hi All,

Sorry if the thread title sounds funny but not sure what else to write.
If someone could point me in the right direction on this, I'd be delighted.
I'm aware of a house going on the market quite close to me but I happen to know for a fact that there are numerous faults with the property. The owner is a complete chancer and wants to offload the house as is without fixing any of the problems.
These problems are:
1) The chimney (the part that can be seen in the attic) is coated in a thick tar like creosote that I believe is a major fire hazard.
2) There were garages built beside the house with no planning permission. (retention permission has recently been granted by the local county council subject to a number of conditions but none of these conditions have been met)
3) The property has been re-plumbed, but to a very poor standard.

I'm aware of these issues as my brother used to to some gardening work for the owner. The owner would openly boast about letting the new owners worry about the problems with the house. While I don't want to get directly involved, I would like to know if this property could be reported to any authorities due to the issues with it. I know of a number of young couples in the area that may be be interested in this property but hate the thoughts of them get caught in the money pit that this property would be. Have thought about mentioning to the auctioneer about the issues with the house but he's as big a chancer as the guy selling it. Any advice would be most welcome. Thanks.

Highlights the importance of getting a decent survey done before saddling yourself with a mortgage.

As a house buyer myself I would always get a survey done by an engineer who will look into the attic to check chimneys and water tanks. Most solicitors would advise their clients to get a survey done. However a structural survey would not advise on planning permissions (it is up to the buyer to do that). As for the plumbing, well there are a lot of houses out there, some brand new, with dodgy plumbing. The chimney can't be that bad or it would have gone on fire already.
We all enter these situations when we buy houses, or second hand cars for that matter. There could well be a lot of faults with a lot of houses that people don't know about until they move in and find the soapy water from the sink is appearing up into the bath, or that the garden floods when it rains.
When I buy my next house I fully expect that some drains problem or other may present itself in due course, as might appear with any house. Your sense of responsibility is to be admired but not sure there is anything you can do. Unless you build it yourself every house comes with 'baggage' and it is up to the buyer to 'beware'.

Admirable. You'd like to think that any buyer would get a survey done which would uncover these faults, and any solicitor worth their salt would uncover the planning discrepancies.

Definitely don't mention it to the auctioneer. Their interests lie with the vendor.

You could start a thread on the property on http://www.thepropertypin.com/viewforum.php?f=10. Houses for sale are also critiqued fairly harshly there. You could then come back and either post with a new username claiming to know the faults, or else say you viewed the property and mention the faults. Again, it won't guarantee the prospective buyer will find the thread, but one would have to imagine that the average buyer would google the address of a house they're interested in.

It is worth pointing out that none of these issues preclude a sale. It is likely only a very careless cash buyer that could buy this property without knowing of the issues.