Survey report delivered and there's a couple of issues.

stu1892

Edit: I know i cocked the thread title up.

Evening everyone.

I'm a FTB, I've agreed a price on a flat. A little more than i wanted but it's worth it as it's great, totally done out and nothing that needs done to it. Or so i thought.

The property is in acceptable condition for lending purposes. My valuation reflects the fact that there is wear and tear to some items and that maintenance, repair or upgrading will be required.

There is inadequate support above the landing window opening. Strengthening is required and you may need specialist advice.

Trees close to the property could cause damage and specialist advice is recommended.

Pitched roofing to the rear stairs requires repair or replacement.

Defective boundary walls / fencing should be repaired or replaced.

Some aspects of the design and construction may not comply with current planning and building regulations. You need specialist advice about the loft conversion.

Basically i don't know how serious these things are. Getting someone to have a look will cost me money i don't have and i have no idea how much to fix a small part of the roof would be and what kind of work you're talking to fix the support above the landing window.

There's another offer on the table but they're struggling to get a mortgage apparantly.

The house is through Halifax EA.
My mortgage is through Halifax.
The survey was through, you guessed it, Halifax (Colley's)

I just need some advice as to who to speak to, what to do, what the above may cost etc.

The next step was to get the ball rolling with the solicitor. Is it worth starting with him with this going on or would he be able to help?

Any help advice appreciated

adr0ck

is this a conversion stu?

also how many other flats in the property?

stu1892

Hi adr0ck.

I don't know if it's classed as a conversion. It's just called a loft room and it has a window in the roof. (i really can't remember what they're called, my mind has went blank )
It's a 1st floor flat in a semi block (1 downstairs, 2 to the side).

Premier_2

Maintenance, repair, upgrading - standard waffle, nothing to worry about. Any home will need ongoing maintenance to keep it together

Support above landing window - not sure here? Is there some sort of cracking evident? It could suggest there is a lintel missing.

Trees - the surveyor looked out of the window & saw a tree! They are scared stiff of trees because of the slight possibility they might cause damage. Trees drink lots of water and so could cause subsidence, especially on a clay soil. Or the roots could damage the foundations if the tree is large & close. If the height of any tree is less than the distance it is away from the property you won't have a problem with roots.

Roof - get a roofing expert to investigate & advise on cost. Then negotiate on sale price of property.

Boundary walls/fence. If it's fencing, forget it. If it's a wall then it's only a problem if it's so bad it could collapse on someone.

Current building regs/planning. - Nothing not new probably meets current building regs. Planning permission should be checked by your solicitor - point this out to the surveyor that it was mentioned in the survey to make sure.

scousethife

These surveys are rubbish!

Its all maybe's and possibly's. I wouldnt pay £200 for one of them.

stu1892

Cheers Premier, Scousethife.

Pretty reassuring!

Ok, so tomorrow morning i'm going to make an appointment with the solicitor to get things moving. Making fully clear my concerns about the planning permission for the loft with it's velux window (i remembered ).

However, what do i do regarding the roof and the possible lintel problem? Do i explain to the EA that i'm worried about it and would like to know if they're going to fix it?

Or do i demand money off the price so i can fix it or what?

I don't want to lose out on the house and on the first line it says;
"In it's present condition and with the current state of the property market my valuation of the property is 89k. "

This is my offer, so is he saying that it's worth 89k with these problems?

Airwolf1

Premier has it wrong re the trees. It depends on the type of tree, but with some trees you generally need the height of the tree to be approx the same distance as the tree is from the building - this was in part of a course I'm doing and this was mentioned last week!

The surveys aren't rubbish - they are highlighting possible problems/future expenses that could be incurred. If you read this and the relevant links, you'll realise what surveys are for.

Airwolf1

Airwolf1 wrote: »

Premier has it wrong re the trees. It depends on the type of tree, but with some trees you generally need the height of the tree to be approx the same distance as the tree is from the building - this was in part of a course I'm doing and this was mentioned last week!

The surveys aren't rubbish - they are highlighting possible problems/future expenses that could be incurred. If you read this and the relevant links, you'll realise what surveys are for.

Sorry - re the trees, this is due to the tree roots, as they could reach the building and cause damage to the foundations of the property.

Airwolf1

stu1892 wrote: »

Cheers Premier, Scousethife.

Pretty reassuring!

Ok, so tomorrow morning i'm going to make an appointment with the solicitor to get things moving. Making fully clear my concerns about the planning permission for the loft with it's velux window (i remembered ).

However, what do i do regarding the roof and the possible lintel problem? Do i explain to the EA that i'm worried about it and would like to know if they're going to fix it?

Or do i demand money off the price so i can fix it or what?

I don't want to lose out on the house and on the first line it says;
"In it's present condition and with the current state of the property market my valuation of the property is 89k. "

This is my offer, so is he saying that it's worth 89k with these problems?

Yes, he is saying in it's present condition, it is worth £89,000. You can highlight the problems to the EA, and maybe try to knock a thousand from the price, up to you. Some people use a survey to try to bring the price down if there are areas for concern.

Wig

stu1892 wrote: »

Edit: I know i cocked the thread title up.

Double click on the thread title (from the forum home page) to edit it. If you really want to, not many people know about this editing feature.

Wig

Re: the landing window

What does it look like? Inside and outside, is the wall rendered or bare brick/stone

How about a picture taken of the window from the outside for us to look at. And the inside if you can get inside easily enough.

Your local planning office should be able to tell you quickly if they applied for planning for the loft conversion. If they didn't there is no guarantees it was done properly. If it was applied for it's going to be reasonably inline with regulations. A lot of them even with planning do not use the correct grade of timber but it's not going to fall down any time soon.