Survey Results Advice

xtra_time

Hi,

We have had a survey on the house we are buying and it has some level 3 points.

Main Walls ; The main walls to the property are brick cavity in construction. You should be aware that cavity wall
tie failure is common in properties of this age and type. This usually manifests itself in regular
horizontal cracking either to the mortar pointing or the rendering.

Fireplace: There is a coal effect gas fire which is located in the living room and this has a marble hearth and 3
inset with polished wooden surround. There is no evidence that this gas fire has been recently
serviced or checked and this is a safety hazard.

Electricity : There is a mains electricity supply with the meter and modern consumer unit with circuit breakers
being located in the cupboard to the foot of the stairs. This system appeared to have been last
inspected in 2007 and although all the wiring is PVC clad with earth bonding, there is no current
inspection and testing certificate. This is a safety hazard

Water : There is an independent mains water supply to the property and the pipework within the property is in 3
copper.
However, neither the internal stop tap nor the external stop tap could be located

Heating : The property has both central heating and hot water and these are provided via a Halstead Eden 3
CBX32 condensing combination boiler which is located in the under stairs cupboard and which vents
through the gable wall via a fanned flue which has a protective grill around it. This boiler serves
individually thermostatically controlled radiators throughout the property.
Although the system and especially the boiler is relatively new, there was no evidence that they have
been recently been serviced. This is a safety hazard



Are these anything to be majorly worried about. I don't have these certificates in my current house really and the walls one seems to be a this could happen warning.

Thundercat_2

Think this is all pretty standard Surveyor-speak for "I'm covering my backside in case anything happens to go wrong in the future, as I won't be liable for anything". None of it sounds dangerous and in my opinion I wouldn't take any of it any further, unless you can already see horizontal cracking in the walls etc. Very few properties on the market have a full gas safety and electrical safety certificiate. If you're really worried then you could get independent inspections done, but based on what you've written I would be happy to just proceed with the purchase.

Mrs_Z

Hi, I agree with the above - the surveyors always cover their backs.

Just double check the main walls that they haven't got cracks and if they have, you can ask for those to be investigated further.

For the fireplace and heating - you can easily arrange an annual service for these and get a certificate (or better still, ask the vendor to do it before completion).

Electricity - you would not get these checked yearly in a normal household unless you had problems.

Water - you can ask vendor where the stopcocks are located - handy to know in an emergency if you need to turn the water off for any reason. They could be outside the property (on the road)

Sounds like a normal house to me. The surveyor will ALWAYS find something - they will have to justify their fee.

Good luck with the purchase!

dizziblonde

Backside covering - they're just advising you they've got no evidence that the boiler, eleccy or fire's been looked at recently. Ours had very very similar comments.

What helped us (surveys tend to read like horror novels) was that the surveyor rang us prior to sending out the report to give us his verdict out of surveyor speak, and we subsequently rang him up after we'd got the survey to clear up certain issues in our minds. Talking to him - it was nowhere near as apocalyptically bad as the written report had made out!

We had more red bullet points than you if it's a competition (joking)! Ours looked like a red light district - but it was all stuff we knew about plus the mandatory "gas/electric/wheres the stopcock" clauses you had.

xtra_time

After taking a month to get my mortgage offer through they have now said its dependant on having reports on all these things so that delays things for a further 7 days possibly and costs me more so not having a good time with this house buying lark

xtra_time

Seems we are stuck now. The vendor doesnt want holes drilling in the wall for the survey and the mortgage wont be given without the report Grrrrr

twokcc

xtra_time wrote: »

Seems we are stuck now. The vendor doesnt want holes drilling in the wall for the survey and the mortgage wont be given without the report Grrrrr

Why would the vendor be worried about holes in the walls of the house that he is selling, sounds as tho he knows more than what he is letting on. Just pull out of deal no point pursuing it if vendor is so short sighted.

andy208833

Surveyor Justifying his fee it sounds to me.

The only thing i would ask is that the gas boiler is serviced and cert provided in case there is anything wrong with the boiler and it needs replacing.

xtra_time

andy208833 wrote: »

Surveyor Justifying his fee it sounds to me.

The only thing i would ask is that the gas boiler is serviced and cert provided in case there is anything wrong with the boiler and it needs replacing.

Thats what i took it to be and thought nothing more of it but its the fact that the YBS mortgage offer now states we need to do this or else no mortgage thats the problem.

tim_n

twokcc wrote: »

Why would the vendor be worried about holes in the walls of the house that he is selling, sounds as tho he knows more than what he is letting on. Just pull out of deal no point pursuing it if vendor is so short sighted.

I agree, you can't continue with the deal if you've no finances, so he looses his offer, it's not negotiable if your mortgage offer is reliant on it.

Has the owner been asked directly by yourself or the agents? I know I have problems with communicating by solicitor to solicitor (they vendors solicitor is cheapest of the cheap and they just say no to anything), so I go for the direct approach.

xtra_time

tim_n wrote: »

Has the owner been asked directly by yourself or the agents? I know I have problems with communicating by solicitor to solicitor (they vendors solicitor is cheapest of the cheap and they just say no to anything), so I go for the direct approach.

They have been asked by the agents as they are currently abroad so I couldnt even go round to ask them. Looks like I could be looking for somewhere to rent fast to keep my buyer.