In England and Wales, a buyer who wants to make a claim against you after you sell a house usually has six years to start court proceedings. That covers the two most common claims: misrepresentation (for example, a wrong answer on the Property Information Form) and breach of the sale contract. Promises made in a deed can be enforced for 12 years, and if a seller acted fraudulently or deliberately hid something, the clock does not start until the buyer discovers it or could reasonably have done so.
Beyond those claims, the starting point in English law is "buyer beware" (caveat emptor). You are not generally obliged to volunteer every defect, but what you do tell the buyer must be true. This guide explains each type of liability a seller can face, how long it lasts and how to keep your exposure to a minimum when selling your home. It covers England, with Wales mentioned where the rules differ. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own legislation.
Most claims against sellers start with something the seller said. English law does not impose a general duty on a seller to disclose defects in the property or matters that may affect its value. In a 2004 Court of Appeal case the court noted that because the caveat emptor rule "can work harshly on purchasers", sending pre-contract enquiries has become standard practice. Today those enquiries mainly take the form of the Law Society's Property Information Form (TA6), plus the Leasehold Information Form (TA7) for leasehold homes.
The Law Society's notes for the TA6 (6th edition), which firms in its Conveyancing Quality Scheme must use for sales instructed on or after 30 March 2026, set out what is expected:
A misrepresentation is a false statement of fact that leads the other party into the contract. Lawyers usually group them into three types:
The remedies are rescission (setting the contract aside) and damages. To succeed, the buyer has to show that they entered into the contract after the false statement was made and lost money as a result.
Misdescription is an inaccurate description of the property itself, in the sales particulars or in replies to enquiries. Typical examples are an overstated floor area, a wrong boundary, or a right of way over a shared drive that does not actually exist. If the buyer relied on it, a misdescription is treated in the same way as any other misrepresentation. Boundaries, disputes with neighbours, alterations and guarantees all have their own sections in the TA6, and our guide to what you have to declare about neighbours covers one of the areas that most often leads to disputes.
Claims under section 2(1) of the Misrepresentation Act have a six-year limitation period. The High Court confirmed in 2019 that the extended "latent damage" rules do not apply to them, because the buyer does not have to prove negligence. Time generally runs from when the buyer entered into the contract, which in a house sale usually means exchange of contracts, although the start date can be argued in some cases.
If the buyer instead sues in negligence for a careless statement, the latent damage rules in section 14A of the Limitation Act 1980 can give them three years from the date they first knew enough to bring a claim, if that ends later than the usual six years. Section 14B then sets an overall cut-off of 15 years from the negligent act.
Fraud is different. Under section 32 of the Limitation Act, where the claim is based on fraud, or a relevant fact was deliberately concealed, the limitation period does not start until the buyer discovers it or could with reasonable diligence have discovered it. A clause in the contract that tries to exclude liability for misrepresentation only works if it is reasonable, and the seller has to show that it is.
Because there is no general duty to volunteer defects, a seller who answers the TA6 honestly and accurately is in a much stronger position than one who guesses or plays things down. Actively hiding a problem is a different matter. Deliberately concealing a fact relevant to the buyer's claim stops the limitation clock running until the buyer finds out or could reasonably have found out, so a seller who covers up a known defect can face a claim many years after the sale.
Government guidance for buyers is to strongly consider a survey, and it stresses that a mortgage valuation is not a survey and does not protect the buyer if something goes wrong with the property. If a survey finds significant issues, the price can be renegotiated before exchange of contracts. Defects that a survey picks up and the buyer accepts are hard to turn into a claim against you after completion, because the buyer knew about them when they committed to the purchase.
The Defective Premises Act 1972 adds some longer-running duties:
Councils take enforcement action against the property's owner or occupier, so once you have completed, any notice over unauthorised work goes to your buyer, not to you. Your exposure is a claim from the buyer if your answers in the "alterations, planning and building work" section of the TA6 were wrong. The time limits for enforcement are therefore worth knowing, because they shape how much risk a buyer's solicitor will see in missing paperwork.
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 changed the time limits in England from 25 April 2024:
In Wales the limit for building work and for change of use to a single house is still 4 years. Where a breach has been deliberately concealed, the council can act after the normal time limits have passed. There is no time limit at all for enforcement over unauthorised works to a listed building, so if you own a listed home, check that any past alterations had listed building consent. Carrying out or commissioning such works without consent is also a criminal offence under section 9 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, and selling the property does not remove that liability. Our guide to when you need planning permission explains the consents in more detail.
If work breaches building regulations, the council can serve a notice on the owner requiring it to be removed or altered. In England since 1 October 2023, and in Wales since 1 July 2026, that notice can be served up to 10 years after the work was completed. Before then the limit was 12 months. If you know work was done without approval, a local authority building control body can consider a regularisation application for retrospective approval of work carried out after 11 November 1985.
In Cambridge city and South Cambridgeshire, planning is handled by Greater Cambridge Shared Planning, a joint service of Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council, where planning applications can be viewed online. Building control for Cambridge City, South Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire is run jointly as 3C Shared Services, which issues completion certificates.
Where a consent or certificate is missing and cannot easily be obtained, the buyer's solicitor may accept an indemnity insurance policy instead. The policy covers a specific legal risk, such as enforcement action over an extension without building regulations approval. It does not put the work itself right.
Mortgage lenders set conditions for these policies. The UK Finance Mortgage Lenders' Handbook requires them to be for the lender's benefit and, if possible, the borrower's and any later owner's, and the borrower must comply with the policy's conditions. A 2015 Law Society article notes that building regulations policies usually require that the council has not been alerted to the works, that no enforcement action has been taken or threatened, and that the survey shows no problems with the work. So speak to your solicitor before contacting the council about an old alteration. Whether you or the buyer pays for the policy is a matter for negotiation. Our guide to indemnity insurance when selling a house goes into more detail.
For most sellers, mortgage liability ends on completion day. Your solicitor or conveyancer asks your lender for a redemption statement showing exactly how much is needed to clear the mortgage, and the loan is repaid from the sale proceeds. Points to watch:
A shortfall can follow you for a long time. The Limitation Act allows 12 years to recover mortgage capital and 6 years for arrears of interest. The Financial Ombudsman Service has said that, under the Financial Conduct Authority's rules, lenders should tell borrowers within 6 years that they intend to recover a shortfall, and it upheld a complaint where a borrower was first contacted 8 years after the sale. If you are worried about a shortfall, speak to your lender before you agree a sale.
You do not pay Capital Gains Tax when you sell your home if all of these apply: it has been your only home and you have lived in it as your main home for the whole time you owned it; you have not let part of it out (a lodger does not count); no part has been used exclusively for business; the grounds, including all buildings, are under 5,000 square metres; and you did not buy it just to make a gain. In that case Private Residence Relief applies automatically.
If the property was your main home at some point, the final 9 months of ownership always qualify for relief, even if you had already moved out. Letting Relief now only applies if you lived in the property at the same time as your tenants, and is capped at the lowest of the Private Residence Relief you get, £40,000, or the gain made while letting.
Where tax is due, for example on a second home or a buy-to-let:
Your tax liability does not end when you file. HMRC can normally raise an assessment up to 4 years after the end of the tax year, extended to 6 years if you were careless and 20 years if the loss of tax was deliberate, so keep records of your purchase price, costs and improvement work. Landlords will find more detail in our guide to the tax you pay when selling a rental property.
A covenant is a promise in a deed to do, or not to do, something with the land. How long you stay bound depends on the type:
For leases granted on or after 1 January 1996, a tenant who assigns (sells) the whole lease is automatically released from the tenant's covenants. Where the lease needs the landlord's consent to sell, the landlord can make it a condition that you sign an authorised guarantee agreement, which makes you guarantee your buyer's performance until they in turn sell. For leases granted before 1 January 1996, an original tenant can remain bound by the lease covenants after selling. In either case, a landlord can only recover rent or service charge from a former tenant if it serves notice within six months of the charge falling due.
Contaminated land is dealt with under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The council first looks for whoever caused or knowingly permitted the contamination. Only if no such person can be found does it usually look to the current owner or occupier. A seller who caused contamination can sometimes be excluded, with their share of liability passing to a buyer who is also liable, if they sold at arm's length, the buyer had information that would reasonably have made them aware of it before the sale became binding, the seller did nothing to misrepresent it, and the seller kept no interest in the land.
For most homeowners the more practical risk is the TA6. It asks about:
A wrong answer to any of these is a misrepresentation like any other, with the same six-year time limit.
If you are thinking of selling in or around Cambridge, you can request a free valuation and we can talk you through what to prepare.
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Speak to a solicitor or licensed conveyancer about your own circumstances, and a tax adviser about Capital Gains Tax.
Yes, within the time limits. The most common claims, for misrepresentation or breach of contract, must usually be brought within six years. Promises in a deed can be enforced for 12 years, and for fraud or deliberate concealment time only runs from when the buyer discovers it.
There is no general legal duty to volunteer defects, but every answer you give on the TA6 must be true and complete, and you must not hide problems. If you give misleading information, the buyer may be able to claim compensation after completion.
Say so. The Law Society's notes tell sellers that if they do not know an answer they must say so, and that they are not expected to have expert legal or technical knowledge. Guessing is what creates risk.
Any action is taken against the owner or occupier, so it would be your buyer who receives a notice. In England, enforcement over building work completed on or after 25 April 2024 can be taken for 10 years (4 years if it was completed before that date), and a building regulations notice can be served up to 10 years after the work was completed. If your TA6 answers about the work were wrong, the buyer may claim against you.
You must report and pay any Capital Gains Tax due on UK residential property within 60 days of completing the sale. HMRC can normally raise an assessment up to 4 years after the end of the tax year, extended to 6 years for carelessness and 20 years for deliberate behaviour.
The policy is designed to protect the buyer and their mortgage lender against the specific risk it names. What protects you is disclosing the issue openly before exchange, so the buyer knew about it when they committed to the purchase, rather than leaving it out of your TA6 answers.
