| House purchase advice 11:29 - Oct 30 with 903 views | MrPotatoHead |
I'm in the process of selling and buying, the place I'm moving to is vacant as the previous owner passed away and is being sold by family.
Its currently on Oil and the vendor has contracted me via the agent to say the oil is running low in the tank, and whether I wanted to order some more. Feels a bit cheeky to me as we are some way through the chain but haven't exchanged any contracts yet. Obviously its in my interests to keep oil in there as I don't want pipes freezing over winter etc, and I appreciate his transparency, but given its still his house I would've thought its up to him to keep it maintained until its sold?
I think I've been generous the other way on my sale which makes it a bit more annoying, I've had the chimney's swept and boiler serviced which I wasn't legally obliged to do (I don't think) and an electrical certificate which I think was a legal requirement.
Anyhoo, any thoughts? |  | | |  |
| House purchase advice on 11:38 - Oct 30 with 855 views | DJR |
Oil is unusual in the sense that it is not like gas or electricity, where a meter can be read to split costs.
As you haven't exchanged contracts (and who knows but your sale might fall through), I would have thought the answer is for the vendor to pay for the oil, and for you to reimburse part of the cost on completion, depending on how much oil has been used. That could probably be be done through the solicitor, and is not dissimilar to the apportionment of things like service charges.
Of course, it might be that the vendor wouldn't want to fill the tank but enough to tide things over for a few months ought to do the trick.
As an aside, have you investigated the likely cost of oil central heating which will fluctuate with the price of oil? [Post edited 30 Oct 11:47]
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| House purchase advice on 11:38 - Oct 30 with 851 views | NedPlimpton |
Yes it's cheeky, but I wouldn't have thought they were under any obligation to keep oil in the tank (someone else may know otherwise)
I would politely say to the agent that you're reluctant to pay as feel like it should be their responsibility, if they refuse then how much are we talking here, £100 or so? Not really worth kicking up much of a stink about I guess |  | | |
| House purchase advice on 11:58 - Oct 30 with 760 views | MrPotatoHead |
| House purchase advice on 11:38 - Oct 30 by DJR |
Oil is unusual in the sense that it is not like gas or electricity, where a meter can be read to split costs.
As you haven't exchanged contracts (and who knows but your sale might fall through), I would have thought the answer is for the vendor to pay for the oil, and for you to reimburse part of the cost on completion, depending on how much oil has been used. That could probably be be done through the solicitor, and is not dissimilar to the apportionment of things like service charges.
Of course, it might be that the vendor wouldn't want to fill the tank but enough to tide things over for a few months ought to do the trick.
As an aside, have you investigated the likely cost of oil central heating which will fluctuate with the price of oil? [Post edited 30 Oct 11:47]
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Thank you for taking the time to reply, and for your suggestion. I would be willing to pay for any oil still left in the tank when I move in, I think that's a good idea and feels like a compromise.
My first house was Oil so I have some experience of it. I had a 1,200L bunded tank (I think the one I'm moving to is the same). Cost wise it has generally shaken out similar to Gas, I tried to buy the dips if I can. Covid was nice, I filled the tank for about £300 in the March and it lasted most of 2020. The payments are lumpier though as its 1 big fill up then a few months of £0, but has broadly worked out the same as Gas from my experience. | | | |
| House purchase advice on 12:00 - Oct 30 with 735 views | MrPotatoHead |
| House purchase advice on 11:38 - Oct 30 by NedPlimpton |
Yes it's cheeky, but I wouldn't have thought they were under any obligation to keep oil in the tank (someone else may know otherwise)
I would politely say to the agent that you're reluctant to pay as feel like it should be their responsibility, if they refuse then how much are we talking here, £100 or so? Not really worth kicking up much of a stink about I guess |
It would be £700 to fill it right up, which I wouldn't expect. I might suggest they put 1/4 tank in to see through to the new year (presumably the usage is very minimal too as the house is vacant) and if / when we exchange & complete I'll pay them back.
I just don't really want to pay for something I don't own yet if you know what I mean, but you're right we're not talking thousands. | | | |
| House purchase advice on 12:00 - Oct 30 with 732 views | FrimleyBlue |
| House purchase advice on 11:58 - Oct 30 by MrPotatoHead |
Thank you for taking the time to reply, and for your suggestion. I would be willing to pay for any oil still left in the tank when I move in, I think that's a good idea and feels like a compromise.
My first house was Oil so I have some experience of it. I had a 1,200L bunded tank (I think the one I'm moving to is the same). Cost wise it has generally shaken out similar to Gas, I tried to buy the dips if I can. Covid was nice, I filled the tank for about £300 in the March and it lasted most of 2020. The payments are lumpier though as its 1 big fill up then a few months of £0, but has broadly worked out the same as Gas from my experience. |
You could perhaps offer to go 50% with them, that way you're helping with the situation but you don't want to fully cover it as they could effectively pull out of the deal and you've paid for their oil. |  |
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| House purchase advice on 12:02 - Oct 30 with 726 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
I've never heard of a house that runs on oil. How many miles to the gallon do you get?! |  |
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| House purchase advice on 12:02 - Oct 30 with 722 views | football |
Oil is quite cheap at the moment so if the purchase is nailed on, I'd get some now before it ramps up in price |  | | |
| House purchase advice on 12:11 - Oct 30 with 675 views | MrPotatoHead |
| House purchase advice on 12:02 - Oct 30 by The_Flashing_Smile |
I've never heard of a house that runs on oil. How many miles to the gallon do you get?! |
Generally a couple of thousand litres per year for an average sized home. Depends on insulation and usage etc like anything.
Currently £0.55p per litre, so somewhere in the region of £100 a month on average. | | | |
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| House purchase advice on 14:39 - Oct 30 with 433 views | tetchris |
Annual safety certificate isn’t a requirement for an oil boiler like it is for a gas boiler. However a yearly inspection by an OFTEC registered engineer would be prudent. Wouldn’t pay to re fill the tank until the inspection has been completed to ensure it is compliant, doesn’t have any leaks, meets fire safety requirements. Did you get a building survey? | | | |
| House purchase advice on 14:52 - Oct 30 with 419 views | wrightsrightglove |
If you’re not at contract stage yet, ask the vendor to fill up the tank (by 1/4, 1/2, whatever you think it’ll need until completion) and then increase your offer by an agreed amount (half the cost of the oil for example). That way you’re not out of pocket if it falls through but it also keeps things ticking over | | | |
| House purchase advice on 15:08 - Oct 30 with 379 views | MrPotatoHead |
| House purchase advice on 14:39 - Oct 30 by tetchris |
Annual safety certificate isn’t a requirement for an oil boiler like it is for a gas boiler. However a yearly inspection by an OFTEC registered engineer would be prudent. Wouldn’t pay to re fill the tank until the inspection has been completed to ensure it is compliant, doesn’t have any leaks, meets fire safety requirements. Did you get a building survey? |
I did get a full structural survey, it was only conducted on Monday though and while I've had a chat with the Surveyor 'top level', we didn't talk about the tank and I haven't received the full survey document yet. I was told via the property information form that the tank was put in relatively recently (last few years) and I did have a peek when I viewed, it does look pretty new although I don't really know what I'm looking for in all honesty.
I have replied today to say I appreciate the transparency and maintaining a level of usage in the colder weather would be appreciated, to help prevent issues when I move in, which is expected in mid-December all being well. I have asked that they stick a couple of hundred quid in and I'll tie it into a fixtures & fittings agreement I have with them where I'm taking some of the furniture at an agreed price. Thought that sounded more simple than adjusting the sale price, and only pay when I complete. Hopefully they're OK with it. | | | |
| House purchase advice on 15:43 - Oct 30 with 324 views | DJR |
| House purchase advice on 15:08 - Oct 30 by MrPotatoHead |
I did get a full structural survey, it was only conducted on Monday though and while I've had a chat with the Surveyor 'top level', we didn't talk about the tank and I haven't received the full survey document yet. I was told via the property information form that the tank was put in relatively recently (last few years) and I did have a peek when I viewed, it does look pretty new although I don't really know what I'm looking for in all honesty.
I have replied today to say I appreciate the transparency and maintaining a level of usage in the colder weather would be appreciated, to help prevent issues when I move in, which is expected in mid-December all being well. I have asked that they stick a couple of hundred quid in and I'll tie it into a fixtures & fittings agreement I have with them where I'm taking some of the furniture at an agreed price. Thought that sounded more simple than adjusting the sale price, and only pay when I complete. Hopefully they're OK with it. |
That sounds sensible. | | | |
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