Homebuyer survey general advice

ncfc1980 · 9 August 2015 at 2:57PM

Hi all,

Please bare with me, as I'm a FTB, so I realise the answers to these questions may be blindingly obvious to the more experienced among you, but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

So, I've just received my homebuyer report, it has one level three rating and 5 level two ratings, but I think on the whole is ok.

The level three rating, is related to the electrics. It states "There is no recent test certificate available for the electrical installation. Although the consumer unit does incorporate some safety protection devices, as a precautionary measure, it is strongly recommended that a more detailed inspection be carried out by a qualified electrician." Would I be correct in assuming this would be a pretty standard statement from a surveyor if they don't have visibility of safety cents etc, and it is a case of them just doing their job correctly by erring on the side of caution? Is it reasonable to ask the vendor to get this inspection carried out prior to sale? Or is that me just being pedantic and unreasonable? I'm just concerned that there is the potential for something to be wrong and I would have no course for redress after sale.

Of the level 2 ratings, the only one that seems significant is around the roof structure. The report says "The main house roof comprises a series of preformed TRADA roof trusses set at appropriate centres. The roof trusses were noted to be in satisfactory condition. However, there is a lack of diagonal bracing across the roof trusses. In addition the roof trusses are not effectively secured into the gable and party walls. Upgrading in respect of these particular aspects would be beneficial in the near future.
Current building regulations require insulated and under-felted roofs to be ventilated to prevent condensation within the roof void. In severe cases the lack of ventilation can result in decay to timbers. At present there is no effective ventilation of the roof space and upgrading in respect of this would be beneficial." I presume this is not as serious as it sounds, I.e. It's not fundamentally unsafe, or it would be rated as a three, and is is something I could look at in the future once I've got through the stress and cost of an initial house move? In fact is the ventilation aspect something I really need to even consider?

I presume there's nothing to be desperately worried about with either of these, but Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

amnblog · 10 August 2015 at 7:08AM

The best thing to do would be to go back to the provider of your report and address your questions to them. You have paid them for their expertise so use it.