House survey - are these problems serious?

Prozuzu

hi,

I am in the process of buying my first property - a 1930th two-bedroom first floor flat. The flat appeared really lovely and all the interiors seemed to be quite new when I viewed them, and I have expected that I could move in without doing any work.

Today I received the report from my surveyor and there are some problems listed in the report, I know surveyor has to list everything so a report might look worse than what it actually is. But as I have no experience in this and am quite scared by some of the things listed there, I really need some more experienced advice.

The surveyor found the living room uses artex covering for the ceiling, as the property is quite old, he thinks there is the possibility of asbestos. Although the surveyor also said " such materials do not generally present a hazard unless asbestos dust is release e.g. by damage or by works such as drilling, filling or sanding". I did some research online but still couldn't decide how bad is the situation, is it just a small "possibility" that the surveyor has to put on the paper, or is it really serious? Will this affect the property price or my health in the future? Do you think I need to ask the vendor to have it checked beforehand?

There are other small things on the report too: the boiler, although only two years old, has not been serviced since, and the surveyor recommends a service. The roof structure and covering appeared to be adequate but he also recommends some repointing and some repairs. Gutters need cleaning in parts and gulleys need repairing, cast iron downpipe to rear needs replacement as badly corroded, cast iron soil and vent pipe also corroding and deterorating.

I now need to decide which problems are serious and need to be sorted before exchanging the contract, which are things I can ignore. I would also like to know whether there is any ground for me to renegotiate with the vendor on the offer. Any adive would be appreciated. Thanks a lot.

U've_been_framed

The artex (textured paint) is not a problem unless it contains asbestos. You could ask the vendor how long ago it was done. People only became aware of the hazards of asbestos dust in the 1970s. So if the artex was put on in the 1980s or more recently, it is very unlikely that it contains asbestos.
If it does contain asbestos it only becomes a hazard if it is disturbed e.g. by drilling holes in it. It is asbestos dust that damages lungs. Specialists can remove asbestos, but, needless to say, they are not cheap.
Try and get a maintenance contract on the boiler/central heating; this should include an annual service.
Get the gulleys repaired or you could get a lot of damp problems.
It is probably a good idea to replace the cast iron pipework with plastic which won't corrode.
By all means, discuss these problems with the vendor and ask him to pay towards the cost of these repairs. You could also discuss external repairs with the other people living in the building, because these repairs are to their benefit too.

Prozuzu

Thanks a lot for your advice. I will raised these issues and discuss them with the vendor today.

There is another problem on my report though:

Brickwork needs patch pointing generally to all elevations and the property is of an age and type to have possible corrosions to its cavity wall ties. We recommend as a precaution you obtain a report from a competend contractor on the condition of the cavity wall ties before contracts.

Any advice? Thanks!

sortofok

Get a few reputable local builders to have a look and tell you if thre is a problem and if so, how much it will cost to remedy.

Then find a company in yellow pages which specialises in this sort of thing
(look for a company with a full or half page ad.).
Ask these to come round also. Their quote will be about twice as much as your builder. This is the report you show to your vendors as you renegotiate the price.

This simple technique also for works for plumbing, electrics and damp-proofing problems.

marybishop

Prozuzu - get your solicitor to check the lease to find out which items are your responsibility and which are the landlord's responsibility before you go splashing out on reports - often things like gutters and downpipes are down to the landlord to maintain. And please don't rely on Yellow Pages adverts - if a company claims to be a member of a professional body then phone that body and check. Anyone can stick an advert in the YP. Or phone your local trading standards dept and ask if they have a list of reputable companies they can give you.

sortofok

You have missed the point of my post about the yellow pages Mary.

Read it again :rolleyes:

marybishop

Sortofok - yes, I do get your point. I'm generalising really - just don't rely on a YP advert for a reputable trader.

Prozuzu

Thank you all for the input.

The property is in a purpose build semi-detached house, built intially as two flats. All the properties on that street actually have the same layout. The house has two flats, each occupy one floor, both the ground floor and the first florr flats share the front graden and the back graden, each owns one part of the garden actually. So I don't think I actually have a landlord, as I don't have to pay maintanence fee. Having said that, I don't actually know it for sure (really feel stupid about myself now).

I am going to ask my solicitor to get a copy of the lease assp. Thank you again.

marybishop

Is it being sold as freehold or leasehold?

Prozuzu

It's sold as a leasehold. But I think I might be the freeholder of the downstair flat. While the downstair flat are the freeholder of my flat. I am really not sure though as I only heard it from the vendor when I viewed the property and havn't seen anything in paper yet. And I don't really understand the actual arrangement and the responsibility of each flat.

wnb

The last time I live in flats I have to pay an annual charge which was about £450 a year to the management company. The company was run by the people on th street. The £450 was to pay for common area's, window cleaning, the extrior of the building ie painting windows and fixing or replacing gutters, roof repair etc. The £450 also paid for the buildings insurance.

You really need to ask you sol to find out if there is a annual charge and who is responsible for the exterior of the building.