Survey issue - rising damp & mortgage retention

scooter_chick

I am selling a 1930s ground floor flat, and my buyers’ survey has come back with some rising damp issues & a subsequent mortgage retention of £3000. I’m wondering if anyone has any advice on the best way forward.

My buyers are FTBs and while they seem nice & sensible so far, they don’t have a great deal of cash to splash around, so this retention is an issue for them. My understanding is that this money would be released on satisfactory completion of the work (whether before or after completion of the sale) – is that right?

I have read the numerous threads on here regarding the usefulness of damp meter readings, and the lack of impartiality by damp-proofing contractors looking at required work. So I understand the issues around obtaining a sensible view of the work required & costs involved. I also am not aware of where this supposed damp is (I haven’t noticed any), but lets assume that the actual cost of the work is less than £3k – it’s not a big flat!

As far as I see it my options are
1) Get the problem fixed now (with whatever negotiation on who pays) & hope that the mortgage company’s surveyor agrees that it’s done. Problems being of course, that this could hold up the sale and that the mortgage company may not be satisfied with the work to release the retention. So doing this may not actually resolve anything.

2) Me & the buyers renegotiate price now & they do the work post-sale. Renegotiation based on the £3k, or whatever quotes we obtain. But then suppose we agree that the cost of fixing it is e.g. £2000, and we go halves (just as an example), then that still leaves the buyers short of £2000. So while this may be agreed as ‘fair’, it may not be practical for them.

I’m not really sure what the best way forward is. My EA says that he thinks it’s the retention that’s the problem for the buyers, rather than the actual need for work, so that’s the key issue that needs dealing with.

Fire_Fox

You don't normally see rising damp unless the problem is very severe. Have you read your long lease? Chances are rising damp is the responsibility of the freeholder to rectify and the costs will be shared between all the flats if that is the case. :j Have you had an independent damp specialist look at the problem, or have a damp proofing company done a [STRIKE]free survey[/STRIKE] quote?

David_Aldred

The surveyor has taken nothing more than a guess at the problem being rising dampness and if the house was built with a damp proof course (dpc) then widespread failure of it is highly unlikely. Before yourself and the buyer cave into nothing more than guess why don't you both agree to have an independent specialist sureveyor in these subjects have a look at the problem and fight your corner because if it turns out that the problem is not rising dampness you could save all parties a lot of expense. Please have a look at my other posts on this forumregarding dampness and timber problems which may be of assistance. Kindest regards, David Aldred independent damp and timber surveyor

littlesnuggy

Fire_Fox wrote: »

You don't normally see rising damp unless the problem is very severe. Have you read your long lease? Chances are rising damp is the responsibility of the freeholder to rectify and the costs will be shared between all the flats if that is the case. :j Have you had an independent damp specialist look at the problem, or have a damp proofing company done a [STRIKE]free survey[/STRIKE] quote?

I think you'll find that most damp proofing companies do not do 'free quotes' for pre-purchase surveys. They will charge a fee as it is known that often their report is only a bargaining tool for price reduction etc and not always a serious prospect of work. Also, just because a firm offers a free survey does not mean that the report contents are invalid. Not all damp-proofers are cowboys, you know.