Hello,
I am looking for some advice: we bought an old schoolhouse which was advertised as a potential summerhouse/office garden/gym.
It was made clear on the advert that the buyer was responsible for dismantle and transportation.
I emailed the seller before I bid and he confirmed that he was okay to wait for weeks for us to arrange collection.
Once we bought the building, we regularly updated the seller with our plans to engage builders/hauliers etc and our initial discussions with trades people were promising.
However, when it came to it, various builders advised us that the project was untenable: because of the age of the building, once it was dismantled, much of it would be unusable again (electrics, insulation, rotten woodwork). The cost of disposing the unusable materials was likely to be more than the value of the materials kept.
So, we have explained to the seller that the costs have spiralled to the extent that we no longer want the building. Taking account of the fact that he has had to wait for weeks (about 7 weeks), we asked for a partial refund of our £1,500.
He has responded by saying that he will readvertise the building and, if he sells it quickly, he will give us a partial refund.
Is this fair? What are we entitled to?
Thank you,
Mary
