Not sure on progression with house purchase

Pedain

Hi,

We had an offer accepted for a house that we liked so we progressed and got a home buyers survey completed.
Although the survey has valued the house at the offer we put in they highlighted a few issues:

Dampness detected in one of the bedrooms, affecting the ceiling and the adjacent walls. This could possibly be from loose tiles and potential defective timber

Some slates have been held together by lead tags and have stated the roof should be overhauled and repaired.
Also stated the roof has no felting whatsoever

Penetrating dampness on one of the walls in the garage suspected from roof leaks and potential defective timber . Rusted door and broken mechanism, requires a new door

No test certification for the heating/electric and also stated electric installation may not comply with current standards.

As this is the first house I'm looking at buying I'm just curious as to how I should approach this? I have been advised by a few people to just walk away but we both really like this house

Thanks for taking your time to read this appreciate all advice!

Lucky_Duck_2

I wouldn't walk away from a house purchase over a door lock mechanism nor would I expect test certificates and the electrical installation to be to current regulations unless it was a new build

Pedain

I understand they are just the minor issues but what about the roof overhaul and the damp with potential defective timber?

Cheers

AlexMac

Pedain wrote: »

Hi,
We had an offer accepted for a house that we liked ...

Dampness in one of the bedrooms...could possibly be from loose tiles and potential defective timber. Some slates have been held together by lead tags and ... the roof should be overhauled and repaired... the roof has no felting whatsoever ...

No test certification for the heating/electric ...

Don't walk away. I assume that if you like the house, you prefer older properties, as the survey points are consistent with any
50-100 year old house with an original slate roof. The lead tags are the usual way of tackling slipped or missing slates, and I've never owned a Victorian house with felting under the slates.

The roof will eventually need replacement; but could last another ten or more years with repairs, and the "potential" roof timber damage remark means the surveyor hasn't even looked in the loft (Homebuyers' don't)

And as others will say, virtually no older house's wiring or plumbing is compliant with modern regs.

Assume a few grand every few years to maintain an older house... or buy a new build; good luck

Pedain

Thanks for the reply

SG27

Cant see anything there that would concern me. Just general maintenance.

chappers

There is nothing to really bother me there either. But I am a builder.
Maybe arrange a second viewing and take particular note of the issues raised. check out the damp and then get a look at the state of the roof paying particular note of the area above the damp .
A few lead tags fixing a few slipped slates isn't too much of a problem, but if the roof is covered with them it could indicate that the nails are failing and the roof may be coming to the end of it's life.