Spain - main pipes leaking and no money to repair them for another 2 years

[HMC]

I've just heard from a friend in Alicante who has bought a property after many years renting and saving. She's only just moved in and discovered that the urbanisation (estate) has problems with the mains pipes and there is water leaking everywhere and they can't fix it because they don't have enough money - residents are paying extra every month and should have enough in 2 years!!!
Her neighbour has peeling plaster. Although she got a funny smell for a couple of cupboards, my friend's house isn't so bad (yet) as the previous owners had their pipes changed and claimed they never suffered damp.

In Spain there is no such thing as a surveyor - the bank sends an assessor who has a look at the place and gives a value and the bank lends on the basis of his report - he never mentioned anything about dampness.

Does anyone have any idea if she has any recourse? Is it a case of buyer-beware or should her solicitor have done checks on the property?

Thanks for any advice I can pass on to her.

 

[Ravima]

she shoudl have had th eplace cheqked by surveyor. solicitor really only looks after title etc, bank only want to ensure that the place exists. it is really a case of buyer beware. If she did not do the basic work of having her own engineer/surveyor check the place, then I fear she is on a hiding to nothing.

its a case of having to accept the responsibility for her own (in)actions.

 

[auto320]

If she has a stand-alone house, and there is just an issue with leaking pipes, I wouldn't panic about that. The prices for sorting out work like this in Spain are low, and she would be better off just getting it done and getting on with it. If the community absolutely has to be involved, it may be different, but if they are just getting involved in order to have the work done en masse, then she is better going it alone. A couple of thousand euro gets a lot of plumbing work done in Spain. No big deal.