Is 'damp' something I -have- to tell prospective buyers about?

Tancred

t1redmonkey wrote: »

So long story short, I accepted an offer on my property about a month ago. The buyers pulled out after a survey where some evidence of rising damp was found to the front of my house on one of the walls.

I'm wondering now, because I have further viewings coming up, is this something I need to disclose to buyers? If not, should I tell them anyway to avoid the possibility of them pulling out for the same reason?

Thank you!

Sounds like these people were just time wasters. Do you live in an old house? If so, damp is not unusual and any prospective purchaser should accept this - if not, they should be looking at a new build.

paddedjohn

Rachylou1981 wrote: »

I have damp in my fire breast walls and it eventually cracks the walls open and looks a mess. I usually re-plaster and paint and it sorts it for a while. I would hate to keep this from potential buyers but I don't think I have much option. As a buyer, if someone told me the house had faults before I had even made a decision then I think it would sway me towards a 'no'...I think its best to let them get a professional opinion and make their own decision from that.

I will probably have the cost of the re-plaster/paint job and a damp proof course quote ready to hand to show potential buyers...after survey if they are still interested and I wouldn't be adverse to reducing the house price by that amount either.

I must be honest though this damp is stressing me out and I am worried it will stop a sale . I am getting a builder in to give some advice this week.

If the chimney isn't used you should get it capped to stop the rain getting down and have an airbrick fitted in to keep it ventilated

anselld

Rachylou1981 wrote: »

I did wonder if that was worth a buy when I paint over the re-plastering

Not really. It will stop the paint discolouring but it won't stop the plaster crumbling.

Surely if you keep replastering anyway it would not be much more expensive to treat the area with a chemical injection and damp-proof render.

witchy1066

Yorkie1 wrote: »

If someone asks the question then you cannot lie.

But buying a house is caveat emptor so there is no legal duty to disclose it up front.

I'd perhaps consider getting an independent damp expert in to do me a report and so you know whether a) it's true, and b) it's worth fixing before sale.

this is your best option ^^^^, at least then you will know,
it could save you a lot of stress and time in the future
if its come up on one survey ,its likely to come up on another,

in most cases its nothing much but as another poster has said , any mention of damp on survey tends to scare buyer off

theartfullodger

The decent British way of doing things is to be open & honest about things.

If you want to hide matters & cheat the purchaser can you guess what sort person that makes you?

What goes around comes around.

Cheers!

macman

You simply have to be truthful. If they ask, 'is there any damp?', then you have to disclose it. You don't have to otherwise tell them anything at all.
Which is why the savvy buyer will always ask if there are any known faults.

Fuzzyness

i bought a house with damp in one of the rooms. cost 380 quid to have it damproofed on one wall and then replastered. i'd look at getting done if you're concerned it'll put purchasers off but as was the case in ours we liked the house, it was old and we knew that it would need certain remedial work so we were happy to make an offer on it in the knowledge that it had damp.

motherofstudents

Definitely good advice from Yorkie, get an independent damp surveyor so that at least you know what is causing it. You can't really go off someone else's survey. It would make life much easier if you can put it right yourself but at the very least you will know exactly what the problem is.

vet8

I read a very interesting article from a building expert who lectures in colleges and writes articles in papers last week. He states that rising damp does not actually exist and that those meters the surveyors use are not meant to check damp in bricks etc. but just wood. He said that some materials show up as damp when they are not.

Now I am no expert so I do not know if he was talking b****ks but I would certainly not take the opinion of the buyer's surveyor as gospel.

t1redmonkey

Thank you very much for all of the opinions. I think I will take some time over the next few days to call some damp proofing companies in my area and see what they quote me to get the damp sorted out (if it truly does need sorting out!). I'm still annoyed at myself for not getting a proper survey done before I bought the place last year, but hey, you live and you learn I guess.