Steps to take after bad survey report

SMT1985

Hi

We're half way through purchasing an end-of-terrace Victorian house.

We had a full building survey done, which highlighted a potential issue with the roof.

We therefore instructed a roofing surveyor to inspect it and the news was not good. Essentially the whole roof needs replacing and even some work on the ceilings where there has been some deflection.

The surveyor estimated costs of around £12,500.

We have passed this on to our solicitors and the estate agent and we assume we would should try to have this knocked off the value of the house?

If the sellers agree to this, will the bank reduce the valuation despite having already done their own survey and agreed on the value of the house and therefore the mortgage?

If they did still reduce the mortgage offer we would therefore have the find the money for the works ourselves and I imagine a personal loan is likely our best/only option?

If anyone has been through a similar situation and has any further advice it would be much appreciated as this is essentially our first house (we bought a flat previously).

Thanks
Steve

eddddy

SMT1985 wrote: »

If the sellers agree to this, will the bank reduce the valuation despite having already done their own survey and agreed on the value of the house and therefore the mortgage?

Even if they don't reduce the valuation, you'll be stuck anyway.

e.g. If you mortgage is a 90% 'loan to value' product - it's 90% of the valuation or 90% of the price you are paying, whichever is the lower.

i.e. They'll only lend 90% of whatever you end up paying.


One route you can investigate is a retention of funds by your solictor...

i.e. Leave your offer price unchanged, but your solicitor retains, say, £15k of the price to pay for repairs.

Then after you've bought, you get the roof fixed, and your solicitor pays the roofer out of the £15k. Whatever money is leftover goes to the seller.

Ask your solicitor and lender (and seller) if this would be an acceptable arrangement.

kinger101

£12,500 sounds like a rather excessive amount of re-roof an end of terrace. If I was selling it, I'd be rather dismissive of your survey.

dramaticat

kinger101 wrote: »

£12,500 sounds like a rather excessive amount of re-roof an end of terrace. If I was selling it, I'd be rather dismissive of your survey.

Not if the entire roof structure needs replacing. I had the same issue with a Victorian end of terrace I bought in 1999. The roof structure was designed to take the weight of slate tiles, but had been reroofed over the years using heavier modern tiles, which had gradually weakened the supports. There had been attempts to strengthen the supports, but my roofing expert said there was nothing more that could be done in this respect, so the only option was to replace the whole structure. If I remember right, it cost me around £11,000, which included boarding over part of it to provide easy access to the water tank and some storage, installing a light and installing a proper loft ladder.

SMT1985, one thing to watch out for if you go ahead is the condition of the brickwork at the top of the walls. I decorated my bedroom some time after having the roof done and there was a small area where a couple of bricks at the top had crumbled. I'm not sure if this was just expected wear and tear of if they had somehow been damaged during the roofing process. But better to keep an eye out so it can be fixed at the time.

SMT1985

eddddy wrote: »

One route you can investigate is a retention of funds by your solictor...

i.e. Leave your offer price unchanged, but your solicitor retains, say, £15k of the price to pay for repairs.

Then after you've bought, you get the roof fixed, and your solicitor pays the roofer out of the £15k. Whatever money is leftover goes to the seller.

Ask your solicitor and lender (and seller) if this would be an acceptable arrangement.

Thanks for the tip, I'll certainly look into that!

dramaticat wrote: »

Not if the entire roof structure needs replacing. I had the same issue with a Victorian end of terrace I bought in 1999. The roof structure was designed to take the weight of slate tiles, but had been reroofed over the years using heavier modern tiles, which had gradually weakened the supports. There had been attempts to strengthen the supports, but my roofing expert said there was nothing more that could be done in this respect, so the only option was to replace the whole structure. If I remember right, it cost me around £11,000, which included boarding over part of it to provide easy access to the water tank and some storage, installing a light and installing a proper loft ladder.

SMT1985, one thing to watch out for if you go ahead is the condition of the brickwork at the top of the walls. I decorated my bedroom some time after having the roof done and there was a small area where a couple of bricks at the top had crumbled. I'm not sure if this was just expected wear and tear of if they had somehow been damaged during the roofing process. But better to keep an eye out so it can be fixed at the time.

We suspect this is exactly what has happened. We believe the tiles have been replaced with concrete tiles, which are significantly heavier than the original tiles. It appears as though a cowboy builder or amateur has attempted to resolve this issue and, in doing so, have damaged some of the hangers that support the ceiling below, which has caused to the ceiling to deflect (bow/sag).