Q It has just been confirmed that a serious structural defect is present in a former council house bought four years ago under the right-to-buy scheme. The notice that the council served at that time under section 125 of the Housing Act 1985 was undoubtedly misleading. Since the council would be hard-pressed to show that they had reasonable grounds for believing that the house was sound, can the buyer bring proceedings under the Misrepresentation Act 1967?
A No: see Rushton v Worcester City Council [2001] EWCA Civ 367; [2001] EGCS 41, holding that no contract as such had arisen between the council and the buyer, whose claim, if any, could be brought only for breach of the statutory duty, imposed by section 125(4A) of the 1985 Act, to describe known defects.
