Mortgage Application - Damp

bf22

Hi, I'm new here and looking for a little advice from your own personal experience.

I am in the process of buying a house, before explaining I must emphasise that the house isn't vacant but the person who own's it is very rarely in it and therefore doesn't turn the heating on.

I noticed small bits of damp in it myself when inspecting - some spots in a couple of corners and a couple of ceilings. I also noticed a little bit of bubbling on the paint here and there and whenever the good weather came I noticed condensation on the insides of the windows.

The bank done its valuation and the valuer placed the following note:

"during inspection we noted evidence of damp penetration on some internal walls, we would recommend investigation and treatment by an approved damproof specialists"

They placed a retention of £3,000 on the house.

Does this seem like a serious problem or is it most likely a little bit of damp from lack of ventilation which can be easily treated and the valuer is just covering himself with this?

Leon_W

The valuer has done his job and pointed out a potential problem so now the ball is firmly back in your court.


I would advise you to get a damp specialist in to look at it and give his opinion. Any speculation here is probably pointless without seeing the problem first hand.

bf22

I am going to request the owner get a damp specialist in before I proceed. Am I right in saying I am within my rights to expect the current owner to solve the problem before I proceed? In other words, its not really my problem?

amnblog

Yes, it is not your problem.

Let him pay for the report.

kingstreet

I would have my own inspection/report done and pay for it.

At least you can rely on the results and if there isn't much wrong, as there probably isn't, let the lender have the report and the suggested retention will be reduced, or perhaps lifted altogether.

"Rising damp" is usually moisture picked up by a surveyor's meter which can be caused by leaky rainwater goods, uncapped chimneys, soil bridging the damp course etc.

http://www.independentdampsurveyors.co.uk/