Property problems

randomi15

Hi guys,

I have seen a house which I like . It is in london and upon prompting seller and saying I am going to carry out a full survey , they reveiled the following issues:


Apparently another buyer has pulled out because he couldn't complete by 31st and pushing further vendor told me the buyers solicitor had insisted chimney should be fixed as detailed below

He was an investor

Survey came back saying

The property is contaminated as it is right next to petrol station and oil from there gets to the property land

2. The chimney in the loft does not have a bracket or gallop or something . When built it was created on concreate with no bracket

3.also there is a damp on the wall in kitchen bottom wall which needs injection or something
It is due to the garden patio water not draining i think and it has to be lowered

What do you think? Does it sound like nightmare?

Do mortgage lenders reject to lend because of any critirion mentioned above?


many thanks

halifaxmortgage

Maybe someone can correct me, but I think:-

- The chimney seems to be a minor issue as the bracket costs approx £50 + labour to put it on.

- The damp in the kitchen also sounds like a easy-to-medium task and shouldn't cost too much as it's a matter of digging the garden and making sure the ground outside is not higher than inside.

- Not sure about the petrol station

if someone can confirm the petrol station is not a costly issue, then it should be worth it, especially if it's in london.

economic

if you have an issue like that with the petrol station i would not buy - there may be health issues that could arise becasue of this.

pull out now.

dc197

Your quotes from your survey are vague. Or something. Does it categorically say it is contaminated or did they say there is a risk that it could be?
Petrol stations store their fuel underground and if those tanks leak it should not have a huge effect on the land at ground level next door. It a possible that a spillage on the surface could wash over.
You can esearch about whether any recrded containation is known by the local authority.

randomi15

it is gallow bracket sorry

Re land , the owner said . He said the previous survey report has said land is contaminated because of being next to petrol station

I guess it could have been a general comment rather than a fact that they tested the land

Not sure though

davidmcn

randomi15 wrote: »

Re land , the owner said . He said the previous survey report has said land is contaminated because of being next to petrol station

I guess it could have been a general comment rather than a fact that they tested the land

Not sure though

A normal survey wouldn't have included any actual testing for contamination, I'm sure it was just a cautionary comment that it might be a risk. The more likely worry is just that petrol stations are seen as a "bad" neighbour in terms of noise/smell etc and are likely to put off buyers/lenders.

dc197

Ah sorry I see that the survey is not yours but that of the previous offerer. Difficult to treat anecdotal repprts seriously. Only way to be sure is to investigate yourself. Like I said, start with the local authority to see if they have a record of any contamination. Then possibly your own full survey.

Try not to fret too much over the word contamination. My current house failed its environmental search at first because of possible contaimantuon due to an old scrap yard near by. I investigated with the council and they explained that the developer of the house was required to remove and replace the topsoil. The council approved the work and I was happy enough to buy the house.

randomi15

I see , dis council told you the topsoil was changed or owner ?


Re environmental search, if this fails would your mortgage fail?

Would bank valuer look for and pick on such issues or they be happy to lend regardless?

bigadaj

It's not uncommon for tanks to leak from old petrol stations so being adjacent to them could be an issue.

Unless the owner or station owner has done some drilling, monitoring and testing them it won't be known for certain but it's a risk that I would expect to impact the price.

The liability for the leak would remain with the station owner, assuming they don't go bust, but they would still need to access your land, drill and extract product, potentially replace contaminated soil etc so it doesn't sound like a good buy to me.

davidmcn

The issues would be flagged up to lender. Different lenders have different policies.

dc197

Council gave me a written reply. They said the topsoil was changed as part of planing permission, under their supervision and to their satisfaction.

A search of your local council will be most enlightening I'm sure.

One should take something the owner or their agent trlls you with a pinch of salt, and ultimately you cannot rely on it. My solicitor told me I can only rely on what the owner's solicitor tells me via mine.