Surveyors comments on the roof?!

MJMum

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zipwen1

i think if it would last 10-15 years if you asked for a reduction the seller would probably say no, when we bought ours the roof was given 5 more years of life and we were refused a reduction . take a look at other houses on the street if they have been re-roofed the seller might do a deal. you never know if you dont ask

MJMum

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zipwen1

you could always remortgage in a few years to raise the funds for a new roof.
id get a roofer in to check it out and see if the surveyor is correct there always going a bit ott anyway the surveyor didnt even look in my roof and came to his conclusion solely on the fact that my neighbours had had theirs re-roofed

BFJ

Just had a very similar experience.

Survey on house we're buying said roof in 'very poor condition'. Surveyor priced it at £1000 short term fix, £8500 long-term (i.e. new roof in few years time).

I got a quote from a roofing contractor who talked me through replacing the roof (not trusses, but stripping tiles/felt/battons etc and relaying new felt, batons, and using reclaimed tiles to replace those of no use). Quote was 3-3.5k. Made me feel much better, and reaffirmed my thoughts about surveyors always giving worst case scenarios.........

Will take this to vendor's EA and seek renegotiation....

roswell

I would assume you will have building insurance so that should cover the short term if its got 10 - 15 years of life i wouldnt worry to much you may find in 7 years you want to move again.

courtjester

An original tile roof (1930-40's houses) has a life-expectancy of around 50-60 years and a slate roof (Victorian) 80-90 years after which time you can expect to have to regularly deal with falling slates /tiles and other maintenance on possibly a yearly basis. It gets to the point where the roof is not in danager of collapse, but ongoing costs and leaks increase.

A bit like second-hand cars, eventually you have a situation where it is cost-effective to replace the roof covering complete rather than keep repairing.

Also, if the tiles /slates are constantly slipping, this makes the property less saleable when you come to sell.

Is the house priced according to its condition compared with other properties (with new roofs say). If not, then an offer to reflect the 'old roof' would be appropriate and certainly worth a try.

Building insurance does NOT cover the cost of maintaining old roofs - unless you have a substantial storm as per a week or so ago, where the cause is not in question, most insurers would decline paying for repairs to old roofs as these repairs are not due to 'accidental' damage but failure to maintain or replace.