Survey Problems - structural engineer advice

Onawingandaprayer

We have accepted an offer on our 200 year old cottage, but our buyers (and us) have been rocked by the pretty appalling Home Buyer Report they've had done. Even our EA, who's careful and very correct, called it 'aggressive' (We've subsequently learnt that the consensus is that a Home Buyer Report isn't suitable for properties over 50 years old, but that's obviously out of our hands.)

Surprisingly, our buyers are hanging on in there for the moment, but need a lot of reassurance, as their situation means they don't want a 'project' . So there's no financial haggling to be done.

Apart from the inaccuracies and actual errors in the report, which we've pointed out to our agent, and he's informed them, we've arranged for a Structural Engineer to visit - obviously at our expense - and to give us his thoughts.

My question is (and it may seem a dumb one) is what can a structural engineer give judgments on? Obviously the roof, which is apparently not 'true' (200 year old cottage, who'd have thought it).

But internal walls, one of which, between a bedroom and the landing, is clearly very old but is deemed a fire risk and should be pulled down and replaced! Will he give an opinion on this?

And the external cladding of the house, which we know from old photos has been in place for 60+ years is the wrong sort of cladding apparently - it should be lime-based - and should also be removed and replaced!

And the floors upstairs are 'uneven'. Wow, who imagined that in an old cottage?

All these were down as Red 3s in his report. He also refused to give a value for the property because of the significant and costly repairs needed. (Trust me, it's a very pretty and comfortable cottage. We did a huge amount of work on it six years ago, when we bought it.) Additionally, we had a purchase which fell through about 2 months ago and her survey was nowhere near as bad as this one.

So my question really is, is a certified structural engineer qualified to give opinions on the entire property or is his expertise just limited to the 'structure'.

And any other thoughts welcome too, natch.

Cakeguts

You have to have the kind of surveyor who is used to dealing with old houses. Surveyors who normally only deal with modern houses are not what you need here. You need a specialist.

Onawingandaprayer

Judging by his website, he is.