Mortgage lender has requested a roof report

atstreetlevel

Hi all

Quick question that I was hoping someone could help with. I'm a first time buyer and our house surveys have come back positive with the exception of the roof. The roof has been described as in a poor condition and the lender is unwilling to progress our application until a roof report is completed.

We don't have responsibility for the roof within the terms of our lease (ground floor), so assuming the report comes back negative I can't influence any change on my own terms.

Should I be asking the vendor to pay for the roof survey or is it down to me? If the latter, should I seek reassurance that the vendor or freeholder will conduct the repairs if the report comes back negative?

Any help would be massively appreciated.

foxy-stoat

If you are 100% positive that the terms of the lease exclude any responsibility for the roof then explain this to the lender, you may still need a survey which you will have to pay for if you want to continue with this lender.


If the terms of the lease exclude the roof then the vendor will not be repairing it as its not in his lease either. The freeholder needs to have a maintenance schedule to take into account external repairs.


If the roof is not in a good state of repair and is not going to be fixed in the near future as part of the maintenance then I would not be comfortable in buying into this flat.

atstreetlevel

Thank you, much appreciated.

Hoploz

If the roof is in poor condition then it's likely you're going to have a big bill landing on your doorstep when it eventually does get repaired.

Lender lends according to risk vs value. If the roof is in poor condition then the property is worth less, due to the inevitable work due.