Sellers Building Survey failed to pick something up 2 years ago..

Wolfsbane2k

Hi.

Posting this as a question for my own interest and the affect it might have on our purchase more than anything...

We've had our offer accepted on a 1970's property where a subsequent Valuation Survey picked up a roofing issue, which could be a £10k bill (possible new roof required), which neither I or the seller have the money to fix. It's a known problem in the area for local business men, as the moment the problem was mentioned to 2 contractors on the phone they asked " are you living in a house of x type in either x or y estate?, Yes? Then we know the problem"....

The seller, when they moved into the house 2 years ago, had a full building survey done, which failed to pick up the problem. In the attempt to expedite things, i'm wondering the surveyor from 2 years ago is liable for the cost to fix as they didn't pick up the problem then, it's not mentioned in the report at all.

And it's not something that would have developed over the last 2 years, as it's an ongoing structural problem.

Thanks!

hazyjo

If it was just a valuation, nope. I doubt it very much. Some won't even set foot inside the property. If it was a full structural (or maybe even a homebuyer's), maybe, just maybe, they'd have a case.

My opinion, anyway.

Jx

electrodent

Friend's of mine had a survey done on their purchase which failed to pick up a roofing problem. They got compensation but only in the form of a reduction in the interest rate they were paying on their mortgage (guess survey was done through the bank). They paid for the roof to be fixed themselves.

But presumably the seller would have to pursue any possible claim. And I doubt it's going to be quick.

hazyjo

electrodent wrote: »

Friend's of mine had a survey done on their purchase which failed to pick up a roofing problem. They got compensation but only in the form of a reduction in the interest rate they were paying on their mortgage (guess survey was done through the bank). They paid for the roof to be fixed themselves.

But presumably the seller would have to pursue any possible claim. And I doubt it's going to be quick.

What sort of survey did they have done though...

Jx

AdrianC

Wolfsbane2k wrote: »

The seller, when they moved into the house 2 years ago, had a full building survey done, which failed to pick up the problem. In the attempt to expedite things, i'm wondering the surveyor from 2 years ago is liable for the cost to fix as they didn't pick up the problem then, it's not mentioned in the report at all.

The seller MIGHT have a claim against the surveyor - depending on the Ts & Cs of his contract and the exact wording of the survey report - but the purchaser this time around certainly doesn't have any claim against that surveyor.

I'd be asking myself if this was related to the seller wanting to move on so quickly...

teneighty

If the owner could demonstrate that the original surveyor was negligent in failing to identify the roof defect then they are entitled to pursue a claim for compensation for any financial loss that they have suffered.

That may be the cost of the remedial work or the reduction in value of the property with the defect, which ever is the lower.

That is the basic principal of liability for all surveys and most mortgage valuation reports that are paid for and given to the customer.

cattie

If a loft is full of storage items, most surveyors will refuse to check out the loft when carrying out a survey. So of course if a defect was apparent from the roof space, then the surveyor might have never even ventured up there.

getmore4less

Wolfsbane2k wrote: »

Hi.

Posting this as a question for my own interest and the affect it might have on our purchase more than anything...

We've had our offer accepted on a 1970's property where a subsequent Valuation Survey picked up a roofing issue, which could be a £10k bill (possible new roof required), which neither I or the seller have the money to fix. It's a known problem in the area for local business men, as the moment the problem was mentioned to 2 contractors on the phone they asked " are you living in a house of x type in either x or y estate?, Yes? Then we know the problem"....

The seller, when they moved into the house 2 years ago, had a full building survey done, which failed to pick up the problem. In the attempt to expedite things, i'm wondering the surveyor from 2 years ago is liable for the cost to fix as they didn't pick up the problem then, it's not mentioned in the report at all.

And it's not something that would have developed over the last 2 years, as it's an ongoing structural problem.

Thanks!

If it is that well known I would expect everyone on the estate and all EA to know about the issue.

I would not believe the sellers have no clue about this unless they talk to no one in the area.

Building_Surveyor

Personally I think you should walk away from this... What the sellers surveyor failed to pick up isn't your issue to follow up, any claim against the original surveyor is for the seller to pursue and may be a lengthy process. And as someone else mentioned, access to the roof space may have been an issue.

If the vendor is unwilling to budge on price and you or the seller have no funds to fix the issue then I personally would not proceed with the purchase (providing the scale of work is as you say)

AlexMac

The advice to 'Walk Away' might sound harsh, but at the moment, this isn't your problem but the vendor's. If the house really will cost £10k to put right, then its worth £10k less than you offered. If the vendor doesn't agree that, or even if they do and if you can't lay your hands on £10k liquid cash (as it's far from certain that your mortgage lender will advance it?) are you prepared to proceed, then live with a dodgy roof and a potentially unsellable house?

It might be a sellers market now in your area if (like ours) there's a shortage of properties to buy, but think forward to when you might be desperate to sell and your buyer toughs it out and negotiates the price down, or worse, walks away!

So unless this is the only house in the world which meets your needs.....?

Wolfsbane2k

Thanks for all the feedback, it's a somewhat varied response as expected but answered some questions, but lead to more.

We're trying to get an idea of the full costs for the work which is currently ongoing with a roofing contractor on site today to draw something up. The Roofing contractors original opinion is the new surveyor was being a bit picky, and the original surveyor stands, and the roof is safe for at least 5 years but we are where we are.

We're looking at our options regarding the sale price, in some ways the current valuation saves us the 250k stamp duty hike and £10k, whereby we'll probably strip it back and extend into it anyway in 5 years time, but i don't think the vendors want to go down that path.
That way, the originial surveyor would be liable for the 10k difference directly to the seller, and we, the buyers stay clear of that transaction.

I'm loathe to walk away from the property as it's the only house in the area that meets our needs at a cost we can afford, and i really don't want to lose our FTB who want's a quick move on our house at a reasonable price.



Sorry, this is all going on right this second so it's a moving picture...