Published: 2013 February 08 20:34:24 (3424 Views)

A  retired British police officer Sue Diamond surely regrets the day she bought a house over the phone without viewing it.

Ridgemont House in Torquay, Devon was bought at auction without being seen or surveyed by the buyer has started to collapse after the latest in a series of devastating landslides.

It lies just yards from the edge of a cliff and has now begun to crumble and sag.

Miss Diamond, who is disabled, made a telephone bid of £154,500 for the house in February 2010, without viewing it or having a survey done.  Eight days later, a landslide left the 1930s house just 50 yards from a drop into the sea, and a lengthy legal battle began between her and the builder who sold it to her, Matthew Taylor.

At the time Miss Diamond, who suffers from dyslexia, impaired hearing and restricted mobility, said the house was uninhabitable and worth only £3,500.

The auction particulars had warned buyers that the house was severely structurally damaged and might be beyond economic repair, and a judge in 2010 ordered Miss Diamond to pay Mr Taylor what she owed.

Mr Taylor has a legal charge for the money, plus eight per cent interest annually, over Miss Diamond's home in Chiswick, West London, which she says is worth over £1million.

Explaining her decision to buy the house in Torquay, she said her Chiswick home had been flooded by burst pipes and she thought the ground floor of the seaside property would be ideal for a disabled person.



- Daily Mail

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