In July 1975 the claimants purchased a house with the aid of a mortgage from the defendant local authority, relying on a mortgage valuation which had been carried out by one of the defendants' employed surveyors. Shortly after moving in, the claimants discovered signs of structural movement and notified the local authority, whereupon the same surveyor reinspected the property and assured the claimants that all structural movement had ceased. Early in 1982, having failed in their attempts to sell the house, the claimants obtained expert advice and discovered that the property was seriously affected by subsidence. When the claimants, in June 1983, started an action for negligence arising out of the mortgage valuation, the defendants raised a defence of limitation. However, it was held that the conduct of the surveyor on his return visit amounted to 'deliberate concealment' and that, in consequence, the limitation period did not start until 1982.
