125k valuation and damp found! Need advice

Road_Hog

dotchas wrote: »

Its most often misdiagnosed by surveyors using moisture meters which are only intended for use on timber and not plaster walls.

I'd go with that. I lived in a house for 6 years that never had any damp issues. Yet when the tenants had it it had damp in the front bedroom and the bathroom at the rear.

Since they left the property it is as dry as a bone. The surveyor didn't pick this up, but the missus spotted it as soon as we went in the garden. Next door had had their guttering replaced, it was obvious that the old guttering had come away and was drainging onto the chimney stack that run up the side of the house past the bathroom.

hazyjo

StuC75 wrote: »

Stamp duty liability and the valuation are 2 distinct matters. its only because it is on the threshold that you claim it wouldn't be worth 128k .. So where do you think values over 125k come back in at and where its ok to pay the stamp duty then. Is 130k only worth 125k to avoid the 1%...

The simple fact is it was valued at 125k based upon its current condition and deemed suitable for security on the mortgage - for which the surveyor has noted the dampness, and suggests getting it checked out by a professional to know what is required.

Any damp specialist would most likely be angling towards giving a quote for what work is required (so there impartiality is in question)..

But get a full idea of what the cost is likely to be - but do consider if you want to take on that work, and whether its best to start looking elsewhere..

I previously sold a house where buyers survey suggested work required - but I wasn't going to undertake that work since all was ok, and they could pull out at anytime anyway - so we settled on a part reduction on my part..

Nearly 2.5 years later I went past the house and can tell that work hasn't been done...

Also its the buyers survey that says the damp, not the vendor so they wouldn't be able to rely upon anything in it anyway as it hasn't been prepared for them..

The two matters do tie in. The valuer will obviously take account of the stamp duty threshold too. If the OP had agreed to pay £128k, I bet my bottom dollar the valuer would have downvalued it to £125k.

IMO, yes, it is worth paying £125k when something's up for £130k (and sold prices generally indicate that too).

Still disagree that it's worth more if the work's done. It was valued as a property which could be lived in. If the works were considered absolutely essential, there'd be a retention or whatever they do these days and it would say £125k after the works had been undertaken. IMO they're saying it's worth £125k now and when the works have been undertaken - they don't expect the price to increase if someone did absolutely everything mentioned on a survey.

Jx

Vintageryan

Rising damp is very rare chances are the damp course is fine.

The problem is most houses are now so well insulated that the air becames stale so it is most likely condensation or an outside chance its coming from above maybe leaking gutters or the flat above you leaves the bath on to long.

AlexMac

Almost everything's been said, and the 50/50 advice above is reasonable, but looked at another way, I don't think this should be a deal-breaker if you like the house.

I own an identical sounding 1960's ex-council maisonette, and I think it very unlikely that a house of such vintage would have been built with an incompetent damp-course, or that the DPC would have failed. So I'd bet its condensation or spillage/leakage, unless earth is piled up against external walls and/or there is obstruction to the air bricks ventilating the subfloor. If indeed it has a suspended timber floor ; mine's solid. (If there are no concealed subfloor timbers your surveyor has cut n pasted the wrong para in!).

The problem is, if you get a timber/damp firm in to fix it, they'll assume the damp plaster has become hygroscopic and want to replaster before giving you a 25 year guarantee- at a likely cost of a few£k. A general builder could repair it for a few hundred quid. And the external bin store and shed is trivial too.

So, assuming the survey is one you comissioned, and the lender isn't keeping a retention, its your call whether haggle a realistically small further sum off the price- or just move in and see if iy dries out, on the 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' principle.

EMcG

Seems to me that it isn't actually 'damp' but condensation. Get a dehumidifier, vent any tumble dryer, get some ventilation which will cut down the humid air which is settling on cold surfaces and causing condensation. Plenty of companies will gladly sell you a damp proof when condensation caused by poor ventilation is often the real issue.

I_have_spoken

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