How bad is my survey report

Fingers_Crossed_3

Just to quickly fill you in on the situation, as no doubt I'll be on here a lot from now on!! I live in a four bed semi in the NE and have been hankering for a detached for some time now but couldn't afford/ didn't want to pay the going rate up here of 200k+, but then one came up belonging to a family friend. They agreed that we could have it for 175k + 5k cash on completion and they were prepared to wait for us to get ours up for sale and get a buyer and a mortgage etc. That was 7 weeks ago and in that time we've had 9 viewings, but no offers, this week I've decided to go dual agency and agreed to my EA's req to reduce my asking price from 165k to 160k in the hope of encouraging more interest.

The mortgage is sorted and is valid till mid-March (I know it's not leaving us with much time but I don't think the vendor will be able to wait any longer than that anyway) but I'm concerned about the survey that we had to get as part of the application process, I've no idea how important/costly the following things that were highlighted on the survey are;

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1 The ridge tiles will require rebedding in the future.
2 Slight movement was noted in the brickwork over the lounge window frame in the form of diagonal cracking. A steel lintel was noted over the opening. The crack may have incurred when the replacement window was installed or the lintel may be inadequate. The crack should be repointed and monitored. If it reopens a more substantial lintel will need to be installed.
3 The electricity installation is original (1980) and will not comply with current regulations. The whole installation should be tested by a qualified electrician prior to exchange of contracts. Some upgrading is likely.
4 The foul drainage chambers couldn't be lifted. A builder should be instructed to lift the chamber covers and make an inspection.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

DVardysShadow

Fingers_Crossed wrote: »

1 The ridge tiles will require rebedding in the future.

All ridge tiles will ultimately require rebedding

2 Slight movement was noted in the brickwork over the lounge window frame in the form of diagonal cracking. A steel lintel was noted over the opening. The crack may have incurred when the replacement window was installed or the lintel may be inadequate. The crack should be repointed and monitored. If it reopens a more substantial lintel will need to be installed.

Probably A55 covering. A second opinion from a builder may be useful

3 The electricity installation is original (1980) and will not comply with current regulations. The whole installation should be tested by a qualified electrician prior to exchange of contracts. Some upgrading is likely.

Old installations may be perfectly serviceable and in accord with their contemporary regulations. There is no need to upgrade to present requirements.

4 The foul drainage chambers couldn't be lifted. A builder should be instructed to lift the chamber covers and make an inspection.

A55 covering, but worth a look

Pigmy

Agree with DVS but in the worst case you might have to pay for some of this. I'd budget for:-
Ridge tiles - £500 to rebed. Possibly cheaper but working at heights regs means they may need scaffolding which could be pricey
Repointing - £250. I'm guessing how big the area is but the same guys doing the ridge tiles should be able to do it
Rewiring - I'd have a good think about this. Just because the copper war run in the 1980's doesn't mean its "bad". A rewire will be somewhere around £2-3k and its a fairly standard thing for surveyors to pick up on. If the distribution board is in good shape and has an RCD then I'd probably leave as is.
Foul drain - if the surveyor couldn't be bothered to lift the cover then he can't have been that worried about it. Check that you can actually get the cover off (eg that someone hasn't welded it shut or build a wall over it). As long as it looks alright then leave as-is

Good luck