Property under offer - blocked sewage drain

TranceNRG

Hmm I'm a bit worried but hopefully it's nothing serious. I will wait for them to fix the drain fix and then arrange a CCTV survey.

thanks guys.

TranceNRG

Yep there are 2 co freeholders and both of them live abroad (one in Australia and the other in NZ) so yeah I can understand the communication is a bit of an issue.

Could fixing the drain be expensive? (are we talking hundreds or thousands)

G_M

If the blockage was caused by, for example, someone flushing lots of tampons etc down the loo, then it's a simple matter of a man with a rod (like a chimney sweep uses!) pushing the blockage to clear it and flushing through with water. 30 minutes job done.

£30 for a local handyman. £50 for a local plumber. £150 for dynorod or similar.

If, say, a tree root has grown through the side of the drain, cracking and blocking it, the drain will need digging up and a new drain laid. £500 - £1000?

TranceNRG

OK so the potentially biggest issue isn't going to cost more than a thousand.So not too bad.

Should I ask the EA to show me the quotes/report from the plumbers and show any receipts? Or will they tell me to !!!! off since I haven't bought the property yet?

eddddy

TranceNRG wrote: »

Could fixing the drain be expensive? (are we talking hundreds or thousands)

A couple of the worst case scenarios might be:

The drain has collapsed (The drain is a round pipe possibly made of clay. The weight of earth has crushed the pipe). So a new section of drain has to be laid. This might cost a thousand+.

Roots in the drain. (Are there any trees, bushes, hedges nearby?) It might be possible to remove the roots with a root cutter, and line the drain (which would be cheaper than relaying). This might cost high hundreds.



Collapsed drains may be covered by the freeholder's buildings insurance. But that would need to all be clarified and resolved before you agreed to exchange.

mrschaucer

Are you sure your particular mortgage co is going to be happy with a FREEHOLD flat? Normally they don't like them at all.

G_M

mrschaucer wrote: »

Are you sure your particular mortgage co is going to be happy with a FREEHOLD flat? Normally they don't like them at all.

Although you could be right, OP said "share of freehold" - which in ignorant estate agent speak translates as:

* you are buying a lease and
* you are also buying a share of the freehold (commonly owned jointly by each flat-owner)

TranceNRG

eddddy wrote: »

A couple of the worst case scenarios might be:

The drain has collapsed (The drain is a round pipe possibly made of clay. The weight of earth has crushed the pipe). So a new section of drain has to be laid. This might cost a thousand+.

Roots in the drain. (Are there any trees, bushes, hedges nearby?) It might be possible to remove the roots with a root cutter, and line the drain (which would be cheaper than relaying). This might cost high hundreds.



Collapsed drains may be covered by the freeholder's buildings insurance. But that would need to all be clarified and resolved before you agreed to exchange.

As far as I remember there are no large trees near the train. It's on to the side of the building.

I will make sure the problem is resolved before exchange and will possibly arrange a CCTV survey.

TranceNRG

G_M wrote: »

Although you could be right, OP said "share of freehold" - which in ignorant estate agent speak translates as:

* you are buying a lease and
* you are also buying a share of the freehold (commonly owned jointly by each flat-owner)

Yeah it's a share of freehold which I thought was more desirable than a leasehold flat as you only have to deal with the other co freeholder (1st floor flat) and share the costs of the building with them. No ground rent/service charges and also don't need to pay a fee to freeholder to extend the lease.

EAs around here always seem to talk up share of freehold flats. One of the flats I looked at before also had a share of freehold and the EA told me the vendor paid about 30K to buy the share. Now EA probably was lying about the the fee but I do think it's not cheap to buy the share.

My MA confirmed before the application, that the lender (Halfax) is happy with 71 years left on the lease since it's a share of freehold flat.

mrschaucer

Sorry, just got back. Yes, apologies, missed that it was "share of" freehold (that's what you get when you skim read. Slaps hand.) Good luck with everything, OP.