The principle of caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) is well-established in English property law. It means the onus is on the buyer to find out everything it needs to know about the property before buying it. The seller is not obliged to volunteer information, other than hidden title defects.
So, if a house is reputedly haunted, must the seller inform a prospective buyer?
Mark Robertson, senior associate in the real estate team at Stevens & Bolton LLP, comments on this seasonal conundrum, in an article featured today in Property Industry Eye.