Home Buyer Survey - Denied Access

Rufus1987

Hello,

During our recent home buyer survey our surveyor was denied access to the roof void as access was above the bed of the main bedroom.

The surveyor has a minimum fee of £250 for site visits, so we would have to pay this in addition to the £500 for the survey.

Who should be liable to pay for the extra £250? The vendor who denied access or the buyer who commissioned the surveyor?

I know its not a lot of money but its a real pain that access was denied and we are now in this situation.

Thanks for any help.

R

Ithaca

The vendor is under no obligation to allow access for a survey. Ultimately if you're unwilling to take the risk of progressing the sale without the roof void being surveyed all you can do is walk away.

You could ask them to pay, or to reduce the purchase price by £250, but if they still say no there's not a lot you can do about it apart from pulling out (or initially threatening to pull out).

Rufus1987

Yeah, I don't think we would buy a house without checking the roof void.

The survey noted that there was a slight sagging of the roof visible from outside and there was evidence of previous insect attack on the upstairs flooring. I want to ensure there is no underlying issues (rot, woodworm etc) with the roof before we spend this much buying a house.

csgohan4

walk away, seems the vendors are hiding something

moneyistooshorttomention

What is the vendor playing at to deny loft access? What are they trying to hide?

It's not "standard" (as far as I can see) to expect loft access - but I took the view personally that "If they want it - they get it and I'll tell them how" when it came to selling my last house. It was one of my viewers of last house that wanted a look at the loft. My EA rang me up in astonishment about it - and I just told them how to do it and left it at that - ie they had their look. I just regarded it as being "Take a blinkin' look for yourself and see I'm telling the truth when I say that the roof has been replaced pretty recently by me. BTW - there's loads of storage space up there".

So - in your position - I'd be wondering what they're up to to deny access.

cooltt

probably didn't want mucky feet on the bed but also>>>>>>

Sagging roof and denied loft access. Says it all.

Rufus1987

The EA even highlighted that there was lots of storage up there too so it seems strange that they denied access.

I'll see if they will pay for the return visit of the surveyor. Bottom line is, if we don't get access then we won't buy it.

Thanks for all your help!

AdrianC

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

What is the vendor playing at to deny loft access? What are they trying to hide?

Unless it's a very unusual place to put a bed, they may not be "trying" to hide anything. That's where the bed just happened to be. It's not uncommon to find the loft hatch in a bedroom ceiling, and it's not uncommon to have the bed directly beneath it.

Surveyors will never move any furniture. It's a standard caveat.

moneyistooshorttomention

I get your point - but vendor might just as well "say yes" and then its up to buyer to decide whether vendor has reduced the price enough to allow for any visible problems.

Well - that's what I did personally - and then the "ball is in their court".

Imo - the house being mid price range for that size and area of property = yep....there are problems and I've just given you (ie the buyer) access to check for yourself just why the house hasnt been priced at highest price range for that area. Down to you now...(ie potential buyers given full access to see for themselves that there is a bit of a damp problem and the house has been done up to "starter house standard" rather than "lifetime house/totally finished" standard and duly priced accordingly).

Horses for courses - and personally speaking my own current house would be priced at the absolute maximum - because I'm doing everything "just right" by lifetime house standard. But would still take the view "Have a blimmin' good total look for yourself - and then it's down to you what you offer for it" if I sold it.

knightstyle

Some people use he loft to grow recreational stuff, you may need to give them time to move it away!

Chanes

We had a survey on a house and they had wallpapered the ceiling where the loft access was, they offered to pay for the surveyor to re-visit but it was the final straw with that house and we walked away.

See if they will pay for a re-visit if you really like it?