Advice after survey please...

norbet

Or more specifically after home buyers report....

Alongside the usual gas & electric checks the HBR recommends replacement of asbestos guttering & downpipes as soon as possible and suggests obtaining a quote prior to exchange.

We’ve had a quote for replacement guttering and disposal of old which came it at around £2.5k, which was somewhat unexpected. We’d prepared ourselves for a certain amount of remedial works and maintained and factored this into our offer (full asking btw), but this was not considered.

So the question we have is – would it be reasonable to ask the vendors for contribution towards the replacement guttering costs? We’re some way down the line with the purchase and really don’t want to delay matters by renegotiating on the asking price – we assume this would delay things since new contracts would need to be drawn up and we’d need to go back to our lender.
I suppose this boils down to a “if you don’t ask, you don’t get” but is this common practice? Does what we’re proposing sound reasonable?

BitterAndTwisted

Depends on how keenly-priced the property is right now. Asbestos down-pipes and guttering is not an urgent job. There's little risk from asbestos per se until it's disturbed and there's more than one kind of asbestos and varying degree of risk attached to them.

If I'd priced the property sensibly and a prospective buyer asked me to knock two and a half grand off the price for a job that didn't need doing I'd tell you to take a hike.

How far down the buying process are you? Who gets into contracts before they've read and understood the survey?

bmar71n

due to asbestos being potentially dangerous, the surveyor may have just given this advice to cover his back avoid any potential litigation

norbet

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Depends on how keenly-priced the property is right now. Asbestos down-pipes and guttering is not an urgent job. There's little risk from asbestos per se until it's disturbed and there's more than one kind of asbestos and varying degree of risk attached to them.

If I'd priced the property sensibly and a prospective buyer asked me to knock two and a half grand off the price for a job that didn't need doing I'd tell you to take a hike.

How far down the buying process are you? Who gets into contracts before they've read and understood the survey?

Thanks B&T - perhaps we made the mistake of signing & returning the contract before obtaining qoutes, but our solicitor informed us that we could do this as we're in no way committing to buy until exchange.
As for pricing well we felt it was reasonably priced considering area and condition, and we factored in a certain amount of remedial works and updating, but the guttering was unexpected (I guess that's what the survey is for).
We understand the relatively low risk from the gutter material, but they are showing signs of leakage at the joins so it's probably something we shouldn't ignore.
For info, we're using HSBC and Countrywide so we didn't want (and still don't) to do anything that may slow the process down further.
We wondered if it's accpetable practice to ask for a contribution towards such costs outside of the agreed purchase price?

BitterAndTwisted

It's possible to ask the vendors to accept a lower offer but that doesn't mean it would be acceptable to them. Everything depends on how keenly-priced the property is now compared to other similar ones in the same neighbourhood. You could already be getting a fantastic deal or you could be paying top-dollar. Someone who doesn't know the area and hasn't seen the property wouldn't be able to tell you. How long the property has been on the market could be an indication but not conclusive.

norbet

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

It's possible to ask the vendors to accept a lower offer but that doesn't mean it would be acceptable to them. Everything depends on how keenly-priced the property is now compared to other similar ones in the same neighbourhood. You could already be getting a fantastic deal or you could be paying top-dollar. Someone who doesn't know the area and hasn't seen the property wouldn't be able to tell you. How long the property has been on the market could be an indication but not conclusive.

Well in fairness it didn't stay long on the market, not much in the area does if it's reasonably priced. We don't believe were getting a fantastic deal or paying over the odds, ideally we'd have liked to get a bit off the asking before, but it seems there's a plentiful supply of willing buyers, so perhaps the vendors hold the upper hand.
That said - is it possible to proceed with the agreed purchase price and ask for a contribution towards the unexpected repair costs? If we did manage to negotiate and agree this with the vendor would it have to be in the form of a reduction in sale price or could we proceed as we are and ask them for a cash payment?

motherofstudents

You could ask them to get the gutters done themselves. To be honest, I doubt very much whether they would do so if the market where you are is so buoyant. There's no harm in asking of course, they can only say no. It does seem a high price for gutters. Is it a very big house ? Maybe get some more quotes.

norbet

It does seem high, but that's for gutters, downpipes, fasicas & sofits for the house and adjoining garage (we've been advised no point replacing just the gutters) and for disposal of the old asbestos ones.
We'll no doubt get more qoutes but in the meantime just needed a rough figure as to what to expect.
I think we're comining to the conclusion that while we may ask, it's unlikely that we'll get.

Thanks for all the advice.

Asbestos2012

Personally if the gutters and downpipes are in a good condition, i would leave them in situ, they wont cause you any harm.

If you do decide to remove them ensure that you use a contractor that has the correct insurance for asbestos works and that they are asbestos trained operatives. You do not require a licensed asbestos contractor to do this but you do need a competent person.
If you have any questions...fire away

norbet

Thanks Asbestos2012, the gutters & downpipes are not in good condition, there paint flaking off them and leaks at the joins (we;ve not witnessed their performance in heavy rain, but there's tell-tale damp spots at the joins). I understand sanding/drilling or breaking them is the part where they become a risk and to be honest we'd rather just replace them, but taking on board previous comments & advice it seems we'll be unlikely to get any help from the vendors towards the costs.