not sure whether to proceed with purchase

Slip5

hello all,
2 months ago my wife and i had an offer accepted on a house, and we have a building survey, mortgage offer etc in place, however a few things have made us fall a bit out of love with the place.

1. it is a corner plot and our double storey extension ideas have been shelved because we are likely to have to step in the 2nd storey where we would get little more room, however with a single storey wraparound extension we could be ok in terms of our future needs.

2. The building survey advised slight slope to the floors (it's a 30's house at the bottom of a hill at a junction with a side road, so has a retaining wall too), and didnt deem it to be of structural significance. However an architect has pointed out two cracks in opposite ends of a room (near bay window frame, and door frame)- he reckons this could be anywhere from a 3k-30k+ job depending on whether the joists simply need readjusting or a side wall will need underpinning.

Upon confronting the surveyor as to his thoughts and rationale on the slope being of no structural significance and the architects findings and thoughts - he now simply recommends having a structural engineer check thoroughly instead to be sure. A side note - i have a bit of a confidence issue with the surveyor as he mentioned there was no door between the kitchen and the main hallway and that it poses a fire escape risk. even though there IS a door AND when asked he had photos of the door. :mad:

We plan to demolish the side garage and do a single story side extension - in which case i'm advised all sloping issues could probably be sorted. However this sloping talk gives me shivers - according to searches there is moderate risk of subsidence/movement.

Part of me feels like asking for some more money off to rectify the issue and/or asking the seller to commission an investigation at their expense, or simply bailing - given that house prices seem to drop on a regular basis, and that i'm in a strong cash position perhaps in the next year something else will come up.

i've only ever lived in new build flats so houses are new to me. i'm not sure if i'm overreacting!

any thoughts?

Cakeguts

Why don't you just buy the size of house you need now? An extension on a house isn't cheap.

xsor

Uncertainty is always a bummer..

I agree with Cakeguts, find somewhere else with the size you want and need.

They quoted 3-30k based on today's time; but it may be more in the future.

This will be one of your biggest purchase, better make sure you're happy with it, than hope for the best

hazyjo

My jittery nervous buyers were worried about cracks in our upstairs bay. They sent a structural engineer round (which is what you should be doing) who said he suspected every similar house up the street would have the same and it would be easily sortable with either a small post or some ties - region of £500 (no more than a grand).


You will NEVER have a perfect survey. You should see the one for the house I'm buying!


tbh, if you're this nervy about some sloping floors and cracks, I would advise against undertaking major work (extension, etc). It can be quite traumatic. A colleague has had an extension which is showing some cracks already, and a close friend is having a major two storey extension which I'm surprised hasn't given her heart failure with all the stress and decisions!


My bedroom floor slopes too btw. It's also a 30s house, but a terrace.


Sounds like you'll be better off buying a much newer house. Don't expect a perfect survey though. My last 8 year old house had its fair share of issues. Even a new build will have a snagging list.