Does this sound right? Surveyor/buyer query?

owsaboutthatthen

I accepted an offer on my house for the asking price subject to survey. The survey has revealed certain "essential" repairs to be done, one of which I totally disagree with. Fair enough some lintels and some sagging brick work needs to be dealt with - however for the second essential repair, the front garden wall which is approx 6m x 1m needs to be knocked down and rebuilt (slightly leaning over towards the pavement)?! Apparently the survey has revealed some other work such as damp/timber rectification, but not classed as an essential repair for mortgage purposes.

Surely I would've thought damp/timber and the structure of the property would be more important than a garden wall (which the buyers would be attending to anyway as they want a new driveway etc - the work for which has been reflected in the purchase price as we had reduced the property by just short of £8k).

The quote for the two essential repairs the buyers have said they will not contribute to (£2195) after saying they'd go halves now saying there is too much work to deal with. The surveyor has said that the wall doesn't have to be rebuilt and this has knocked £400 off the original price of £2595. This leaves us contemplating knocking a further £2195 off our purchase price when the driveway/wall has already been reflected in the price. A quote for the damp/timber work etc which the buyers have to deal with but not essential is cheaper.

cattie

A garden wall would be considered essential as it could injure somebody should it collapse, which would leave somebody wide open to a compensation claim.

owsaboutthatthen

That is something I would be inclined to agree with however why do my estate agents think it is not an essential repair? It is making me believe it isn't! Are my estate agents talking rubbish?!

jonewer

What is the ask for your house? Are you sure you arent fiddling with peanuts while the price of your house is eroding? According to RICS, we have had two consecutive months of falls in house prices. How much is this money in the grand scheme of things?

As to if your EA is lying..... is the pope catholic?..... Do bears crap in the forest?.....

Doozergirl

A wall bowing out does need to be sorted out. It is structurally unsound. I'm amazed that people can leave some walls standing when they are quite clearly ready to fall!

Replacing lintels and sorting out sagging brickwork is quite a job! There's nothing much I'm scared of, but missing lintels can really affect the integrity and the aesthetics of the building. Also you don't know how much of the brickwork is likely to fall once you've removed whatever little support there is beneath. I would agree to a reduction, personally. It's quite a major thing.

owsaboutthatthen

Ok ok I get the gist of what you're all saying! First house i've sold so suppose trying to save every penny with the buyers knowing exactly what they were buying/agreed with us then backed out on paying for the repairs! In the meantime being fed a load of bullsh*t by my estate agents etc etc.

Doozergirl

I hate to generalise, but unless they are a surveyor themselves then EAs, on the whole, know very little about actual buildings. If they do, then I'd expect it to be the top dog that knew their stuff not just one of their negotiators.

I'd tread very carefully with your buyers as this is the sort of thing people will walk away from

Debt_Free_Chick

A dangerous wall need only be demolished.

Rebuilding it is surely not "essential"

owsaboutthatthen

To get the repair quote given for the wall reduced, I have asked that it not need be rebuilt when I and buyers agreed that we had already reduced the value of the property due to the nature of the front garden etc.