Who pays for any required building work identified in the survey - buyer or vendor?

glitterjunkie

Hi all,

Apologies if this is a silly question - confused FTB here! Did try and do a bit of a search for this, but wasn’t sure what to search for? Would really appreciate any advice!

Me and OH are buying our first house, and we got our survey done last week. The surveyor came up with a list of things that we should get ‘investigated’ before exchanging contracts - mainly some technical builder-y thing to do with the roof and chimney, which I don’t really understand, but anyway! A builder went round last week and has quoted £550 to get the required work done. My question is just really, who pays to get this done - us or the vendors?

We are paying £5k less than the asking price (which had already been dropped £5k from its original price) - so part of me thinks we’ve got a good deal and should not rock the boat for the sake of £500. BUT the vendors paid £24k less than we are paying just 4 years ago - so the other part of me thinks ‘they’re getting a very good deal, especially in a recession, so they should pay for it!’.There was quite a long list of general maintenance items in the survey which we're quite happy to do ourselves once we've moved in, it's just this roof/chimney thing we'd like to have done before exchanging contracts. Just wondered what the ‘done’ thing was - do the buyers usually pay for things like this, or maybe go halves with the vendors? It’s obviously a really expensive time buying a house, and I think if we have to pay for the work then we’ll have to ask if we can complete a month later than we would have otherwise, so that we can afford it!

Thanks so much in advance x

Soot2006

The vendors don't have to pay for anything.

If it was a deal breaking problem/mortgage retention/etc, then you'd be in a position to negotiate, but ....


If you're paying for it, you should have it done AFTER completion ....

nobblyned

There is no rule book for this kind of thing. It's a free and open commercial agreement. Anyone can pay for anything, it's up to you to negotiate a deal that suits you, and the same for the vendor.

try your luck, play hardball, cave in......it's entirely up to you!

glitterjunkie

Thanks you two We've just been to see the estate agent, as we needed to pick
up a gas safety report anyway, so she is going to ask the vendors if they'd pay for the work which needs doing. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't really cheeky to ask them - but we figured that if you don't ask, you don't get, so worth a try! Fingers crossed, I'll let you all know how we get on!

Scot - oh thats a good point, I didn't even think of that! If we do end up paying for it, we'll do it after completion

elsien

I had something similar when I bought my house. We ended up splitting the cost between us, but if it had come down to it I'd have paid. Not worth losing a house over if it's what you want.

PasturesNew

A survey is a list of things that might need looking at. Whether they need doing, or need doing now, or need doing at the rate you've been quoted is individual choice.

Nobody "has" to pay for anything.

The survey is so the lender knows if the house is a bag of old nails and so you're not surprised if a few years down the line something falls off.

If something is major/worries you, then you can bring it up with the seller and try to get them to reduce their price, but they're under no obligation to. So, it's your shout, no house will be perfect, what do you want to do ...?

glitterjunkie

elsien wrote: »

I had something similar when I bought my house. We ended up splitting the cost between us, but if it had come down to it I'd have paid. Not worth losing a house over if it's what you want.

Thanks Elsien and PasturesNew If it comes down to it then we'll pay too - we love the house, and like you said, it wouldn't be worth losing it over £500. Just thought I would try and negotiate a bit - am secretly hoping we'll be pleasantly surprised and they will agree to pay for it or go halves, given that they've made money on the house anyway, so fingers crossed!

Typically OH's car needs a new clutch and my car needs new tyres very soon - why is it everything starts falling to bits all at once?! lol... so it would be great if the vendors would pay for the building work, save us an extra bill. But if they won't then I won't be heartbroken, we'll just have to get it done ourselves!

Richard_Webster

It depends a bit on what the work is - surveyors have to be careful so in some cases they recommend work which the average person would feel is maybe a useful precaution, but particularly with older property something that is pretty common and par for the course. If it is like that you may find resistance.

cherry76

I would be delighted if it is only £500 I have to spend after post survey's report. I do not think I would bother asking the sellers to pay for the work. I have to spend loads on mine, the sellers took 5k off the asking price and I have to spend another 5k and possibly more. The builder is asking me more than 5k to remove one chimney's breast and supporting the other. I have asked an electrician to do a PIR and as the house is over 100 yrs, will have it rewired as well. Then there is damp proof and roof etc. You are lucky your works will only cost £500.

david29dpo

As above but just because they have paid less than you for the house is not a reason they should pay.

SandC

I agree it's worth negotiating, nothing to lose on that score.

If the BS are prepared to lend you the money after the survey and they haven't turned round and said the house is worth loads less than what you have offered then anything that comes up is recommended and not essential. It's clearly not a deal breaker so I think you are doing the right thing.