Survey found no support or regs for chimney breast removal. Views wanted

Dafthegreat

Hi guys! Have always used this forum to read up before I make my mind up but today I need lots of people's opinions.
I have had the results from our survey and there is a bit of damp that can be fixed easily but my main concern is the fact the vendors have no proof of building regs or that there is any support for the removal of chimney breasts on the party wall. I'm gearing up to call the agent tomorrow as personally I feel that the vendors need to pay for this to be resolved. If that means paying a structural engineer to look and find that in fact there is sufficient support then great! If the results show that this would lead to costly work then I want it done before we complete. My thinking is that if I pull out of the sale if they will not do anything then the next buyer will stumble across this issue and feel the same as me?

For your information too we are not paying less than the price it was marketed at.

Thanks!

walwyn1978

I agree with what you've said, in theory. That said, the vendor may be hoping that the next vendor doesn't get a proper full survey done and it's overlooked. Out of interest, what survey did you have done?

You can only ask. But be prepared for them to say no. We asked a vendor to drop his price by 70k as that was the (conservatuve) estimate to fix the damp through out the house (the ground floor was so damp you could put your finger through the flooring) and sort the lack of permission for the outdoor buildings, plus other things we picked up, thinking along the same lines as you. He said no.

ellie27

You can ask but do expect them to refuse to pay for a structural engineer. It is you that wants it checked so it should be you to pay.

Dafthegreat

Hi, we had a homebuyers report done and I found it very informative despite what a lot of people have said about them. I am prepared for the vendor to say no, I would hope they want to sell the house and resolve the issue. I just want to put my point across with confidence that other people have been I'm similar situations and got a positive outcome. The money I have paid in solicitors searches and the survey costs is annoying to lose but safety is vital and I will pull out if I have to.

Dafthegreat

ellie27 wrote: »

You can ask but do expect them to refuse to pay for a structural engineer. It is you that wants it checked so it should be you to pay.

Hi, if they have had work done on the property and not done to building reg standard and unsafe work surely it's their responsibility to have it out right and was only a matter of time before they got pulled up?

metamatic

Sounds like you are buying the same house as me.

I've had a verbal about the issues from my surveyor but still waiting for the written report.

Once I've got that I'm going to ask the agent to see whether the vendor will consent to a structural engineer looking at the chimney support and the damp. I'm prepared to stand the cost of this but I'm planning to be straight with the vendor and tell him that if either of the issues are serious then I will be pushing to have the cost of rectifying this knocked off the price.

If he won't consent to the structural engineer or accept that an unfavourable report will lead to a reduction in my offer then I'll walk away.

Ithaca

When we sold our house we were asked about the regs for a missing chimney breast. We'd been there nearly ten years, the previous owners hadn't removed it and they'd been there 5 years and they told us the people they bought from hadn't done it either, so as a minimum the work had been done over 20 years ago (and anything up to 80 years) with no signs of any structural problems since.

I think we ended up paying £60 for a pointless indemnity policy for our buyers but that was tactical as it was the very last query on the list before we could move to exchange so I was willing to chuck a small amount of money at it to get things finalised.

Marktheshark

Some are not brick bonded structural issues if they are built on to the wall.
If the main course work is not disturbed it is not a structural change as it is not a supporting wall.
However a structural survey as said will inform if it was a regulated task, they may need to remove plasterwork to ascertain the construction method.

metamatic

I expect my vendor will offer the indemnity option. However my surveyor has found cracks in an upstairs wall which suggests the lack of support is causing an actual problem.

Also, as far as I understand the indemnity only covers you for costs in case the council come knocking. If you have 2 tonnes of brick come crashing through your roof then its on your head. Possibly quite literally!

MartiMcfly

Personally, if I was the seller I'd tell you to do one.

If you really want the house, do a proper structural survey. Years ago I was buying a place that had scared off a lot of buyers, cracks all over the back of the Victorian house, it screamed subsidence. My homebuyer report practically wrote the place off, got a structural survey done ( yes it was expensive, but compared to the value of the house? No!) and it turned out it was all historic, even hooked me up with a firm to get the bricks 'stitched' .

Pay for a structural surveyor if you really like the house, if he/she finds anything dodgy, find out how much it will cost to fix and negotiate with the seller, simple.

Dafthegreat

Ithaca wrote: »

I think we ended up paying £60 for a pointless indemnity policy for our buyers but that was tactical as it was the very last query on the list before we could move to exchange so I was willing to chuck a small amount of money at it to get things finalised.

Pointless indeed. Doesn't give me much other than the cost of the enforcement to rectify not the cost of the work required. I won't accept this as a fix to move the process along. Thanks though as since you mentioned it I wouldn't have known about this!