Survey Issues - Cost to fix? What to do?

LWCARAB

We are in the process of buying a 1908 Mid Terrace 3 Bed property in Essex.

In a strange set of circumstances we managed to get hold of a homebuyers report on the property just after having had our offer accepted as my mother in law knew the person who had tried to buy the property a couple of months earlier (They pulled out as things weren't moving quick enough). We opted to get a basic valuation from the bank because of already having the homebuyers report, we received this through today and the 2 do seem to conflict a little. The issues that are coming up are as follows:

• Cracked Chimney Fillet (No sign of leakage)
• Evidence of wood-boring in the roof timbers (No record of it having being treated)
• The basic valuation report states some sagging to the roof whilst the homebuyer report states that the roof structure is in good order.
• Rising damp in lounge and dining room. We saw no sign of this from inside the property.
• Blown render to walls (I’m guessing this might be the cause of the damp?)

We’re first time buyers and maybe being over cautious but we can’t afford to do any major repairs when we move in so we want to be confident about what we’re getting into.

We are currently waiting to get a quote for our own survey to check over the above again, is it worth it?

Can anyone give estimates of costs for the above? What is anything should we try to get the seller to pay for? So far friends have said that the above will cost 4-5k and get the seller to pay half...

Thanks.

Southend1

£5k sounds a bit on the pessimistic side.

I would imagine that the blown render is a result of the damp not the cause of it. There could be nothing at all wrong with the roof it could just be normal minor undulations however you need to investigate this further because there could potentially be a problem that developed between the homebuyers survey and the banks mortgage valuation. Ditto with the wood boring- needs investigation to see if it is historic, which is likely. The cement fillet won't cost much to repair, just a man and a ladder for an hour with a bucket of cement.