Inaccurate survey lost us our sale - can we do anything?

Metermaid

Our buyers pulled out of sale at the 11th hour because of a Homebuyers survey. This flagged up several 'problems' - (we weren't present for the survey as house is empty and we're renting away). We were told by our Estate Agent that the surveyor seemed very ill informed and unprofessional. One of the problems flagged was damp in the kitchen. We have since had a company in which specialise in Rising damp etc to conduct a survey and have been told categorically that there is no damp whatsoever. My question is - do we have any recourse at all open to us over this survey ?

zappahey

Nope, you didn't pay for it and the surveyor has no obligation to you. In any event, I suspect that any comments would have been couched as recommendations for further investigation rather than statements of fact.

silvercar

The only thing you could do is speak to your (ex-)buyers and show them a copy of the report saying there is no damp.

[Deleted User]

Surveys are always bad news, they always find things that need investigating like damp, electrics, chimneys, repointing, the usual stuff and an inexperienced FT buyer will run a mile thinking the house is a mess when in fact it isn't. That's why it is important to keep the communication flowing between Vendors and Buyers (and EA). I'd ask your EA to contact your Buyer and explain that damp is not really an issue and you can prove that, if that doesn't work then there must another reason why they pulled out (and they are not telling you!). Best of luck!

Tahiti

I'd ask the Estate Agent to phone the buyers (with your supporting evidence) just to make sure they are definite about pulling out.

What else was pulled up? A Lot? It seems a bit strange to to me to pay out for a Homebuyers Report and pull out (or at least try to negotiate price again) unless there was a fair bit more noted, or the indication was that it was severe.

Maybe they just bottled it. Either way, I hope you find another buyer soon. I feel for you.

Metermaid

Thanks for replies. It's been a strange situation all round, buyers were older couple who were downsizing, didn't need mortgage so said they weren't bothering with survey as didn't need it for mortgage.(house is only 8 years old, we bought a year ago and had full survey, which he knew) -

Then in the last week he decided to have a survey - didn't use a local surveyor - we were told the chap that came looked very old and doddery! he phoned the EA to ask him what he thought about the house! He did flag up other 'problems' such as the boiler being old - it's only 8 years old as is the house and has been serviced. We have an oak tree at bottom of the garden a good 50 feet from the house - he said this may have caused structual damage to the property.

Other things were the usual, bit of pointing etc - the damp one was the one we had investigated as it seemed most serious. The buyers pulled out and the EA just couldn't convince them that there was nothing serious in the survey.

Reading between the lines we think his wife wanted the house more than him and he used the survey to convince her it was a bad buy - who knows, wish I was a fly on the wall though - it's so frustrating!

Thanks for good wishes