Survey - Roof Strengthening and Floor issue

kvhatkar80

Hi All,

We just have a received a homebuyers survey on period property and there are three serious issues i.e no 3 points.

- Roof needs strengthening as the roof is undulating , there was cannabis grown so cannot rule out modification to the roof due to this activity.

- first floor flooring is not of good quality ,chipboard damaged in areas , underlying joists might be rotten - again cannabis was grown in the first floor rooms

- rising and penetrating damp to the external walls

there are current tenants living in the property who were not involved the cannabis growth , the previous tenant who were involved have been prosecuted in jail ( this happened 2 years back) - i am

Can you all give me a ball park figure in terms of effort and cost for the above issues

we are first time buyers and want some more information so that we can get services of structural engineer to find out the damage or decide to opt out of the deal( writing of the home surve fees and solicitor inital payment ! )

Also what should our approach be with the seller , re negotiate the price , but we think the vendor will use the survey report against us as the surveyor has valued the house to what we have offered

or we ask the seller to do the repairs , but in that case what will be the proof that he has done the repairs?

confused but hope you can help?

Thanks and Regards,

KVHATKAR80

Chelsea__Thomas

Personally, I would advise that your offer if based on all works being completed to an acceptable standard... or negotiate the price down whatever is needed to sort the issues. These issues are not cheap - no one can tell you how much they will cost and the effort needed without being an expert... but By getting a structural engineer / professionals with each second - how much would you be paying out for their quote? Factor this into your costs!

Regarding the surveyor value - Is this an independent survey? If so, then just disclose about the roof, damp and floors.

By way of an idea, we had joists replaced and it was quoted around £500. Found someone to do them for £200 in the end but it was only 1/4 of joist replacement.

You better be getting this house for a very very good price as these aspects (roof & damp) would put me off!

AnotherJoe

Can you all give me a ball park figure in terms of effort and cost for the above issues
======
I'd say exactly zero, as given all these issues, I'd say this is not a house a FTB should be proceeding with.

eddddy

Bear in mind that as soon as you hint at renegotiating the price, the first question an EA (or savvy BTL LL) will ask is : "What was the valuation?"

The valuer is saying that the house in it's current condition is worth what you are paying for it.

Also, asking the seller to do repairs would get very complex and messy.

In fact, if the owner decided to do repairs, I suspect they would withdraw from the sale, repair it, and put it back on the market at a higher price.

Hoploz

Is the property priced lower than similar houses?

If I was looking at a house used for growing cannabis I'd be nervous because i think it needs very hot and humid conditions and this is bound to cause issues as you have found. I would think the roofing felt would all be mouldy and need replacing and all the timbers would be in poor condition, roof and joists, and as you've been warned, they could even have cut out timbers from the structure which you can't be sure about.

It seems to me that unless you are getting a very cheap price and are confident in getting the work done yourself (which could go on and on with uncovering one thing after another when you attempt to do so) it's best left alone.

Certainly I wouldn't ask the seller to do the works as they are likely to cut corners as it could get v expensive and disruptive kind of work.

If you do decide to pull out then try to consider your survey costs as a saving against a big expensive headache you could have found yourself with.

Nobbie1967

Most of those points could be just ar*e covering by the surveyor.

Uneven roof - it's a period property, many have uneven roofs. Is there any evidence that timbers have been removed? I doubt the cannabis growers would have been to subtle in their removal methods. Not expensive to install more bracing timbers.

Poor state of flooring - replacement chipboard is cheap enough, but the worry would be the amount of damp inside the property while growing cannabis could have led to some rotting. Any idea how long cannabish was in cultivation? Need to lift the chipboard to find out. May just be wonky old timbers.

Rising and penetrating damp - Rising damp is a much disputed condition, but generally diagnosed when no DPC is present as in many period properties. Often the fault is that earth levels around the properties are raised such as a patio. Penetrating damp sounds like a faulty wall covering such as render that has failed or faulty guttering allowing water to stream down walls.

A lot depends on what the mortgage company say and if they put a retention on. The first two points could be addressed by a good joiner. The last by a specialist surveyor who is not selling DPCs;)

Essentially, you're going to have to invest a fair bit of time and money to ascertain what work needs doing and the vendor may not be interested in dropping the price given the valuation. If you are already financially stretched, then you're best advised to give it a miss.

Rotting timbers would be the worst scenario and likely be expensive to replace depending on the extent.

kvhatkar80

Thanks for your replies and advice

We were not disclosed that the property was used for cannabis growth , it only came out in the survey that it was probably used for cannabis cultivation , on further googling we got to know that the previous tenants were the culprits. for the past 2 years new tenants are living there

§the surveyor could not explore more in the roof as there were linings

some additional info i got from the surveyors is that it has concrete tiles on roof which might have put pressure on the structure.

it was build in 1880s so does it mean it has no DPC?
and rendering looks like an issue.

G_M

1) how can we give you a balpark figure without seeing the work required. Get a builder round to give you a costing. Better still, two.

2) Do NOT "advise that your offer if based on all works being completed to an acceptable standard". Who is to judge the "acceptable standard" and when? Before exchange? What if an issue arises with the work after that?

The seller has no incentive to do a thorough job. Negotiate on price and do the work properly yourself later

3) the valuation figure is none of the seller's business. Do not divulge it. If the seller wants to see the survey, show only the bits referring to the work required (and any estimate for that work).

4) why on earth are you wasting money on a survey (and solicior? mortgage application?) whilst tenants are still in the property? Unless you plan to keep the tenants and become a landlord, do nothing more till the tenants are out AND the tenancy has ended AND you've re-visited to check

camptownraces

Concrete tiles on a roof designed for slates? believe me, from personal experience, that can be a very expensive mistake to fix. The roof timbers will have been designed to support a much lighter load.

Is the house terraced, end of terrace or what? If mid terrace you may have support from adjoining houses which could stop the roof deflecting the party walls.

Quite possibly there is no DPC in an 1880s house, but these houses survived a long time without rising damp. Is there earth up against the outside walls?