Home survey/mortgage lender query...

Anne25_2

Hi everyone... i wonder if someone could offer some advice please?

So i was a first time buyer and have just bought my first property. I bought in an unfamiliar area far from my friends and family so i had very little help and support through the process. I have also lived abroad for many years so i’m pretty much clueless on the UK property/mortgage procedures.

I bought a 1920’s semi at a reasonable price. My mortgage lender gave me different options regarding the home buyers survey. I chose the Basic Survey (first mistake!). Survey came back with a few things highlighted but worded loosely like “there may be damp in this wall”... “there may be no planning permission for the extension” etc etc.... on the bottom of the report it stated “All surveys must now be obtained”.

So i called my lender (bank card in hand) to request and pay for a further, more in depth survey be carried out. My lender advised me that no further survey was required, he didn’t know why that was written on my survey and that they were more than happy to proceed with my mortgage. So I guess i trusted in my lender and solicitor - to flag any potential problems with the house. Second mistake!!

So i have been in my new house now for approx 2 months and can confirm that there definitely is damp in one of the walls, so much so that the floorboards are now coming away from the skirting board!!! This is going to cost an arm and a leg to rectify!! Although I take responsibility for buying the house and for not being more thorough I can’t help but feel annoyed at my lender too. I requested a further survey after all (thinking i was doing the right thing) and was basically discouraged from doing so! A more in depth survey would surely have uncovered this problem, and would have allowed me to weigh up my options e.g. pull out of the sale completely or negotiate a better price!

So my question is... is there anything I can do about this? Can I complain to my lender for dismissing my request for a further survey? Should my solicitor have flagged the potential problems highlighted in the survey and advised me to negotiate with seller on the price? Was that not their job to do that??

Any help and advice, or a point in the right direction would be great thanks!

Anne.... x

G_M

Anne25 wrote: »

....... My mortgage lender gave me different options regarding the home buyers survey. I chose the Basic Survey (first mistake!). Survey came back with a few things highlighted but worded loosely like !!!8220;there may be damp in this wall!!!8221;... !!!8220;there may be no planning permission for the extension!!!8221; etc etc.... on the bottom of the report it stated !!!8220;All surveys must now be obtained!!!8221;.

That is the surveyor saying he is not sure (eg about the damp) so it is up to you to either check further or take a risk. He is covering himself.

So i called my lender.... to request and pay for a further, more in depth survey be carried out.
Wrong.
Employ your own specialists if you choose.

My lender advised me that no further survey was required, he didn!!!8217;t know why that was written on my survey and that they were more than happy to proceed with my mortgage.
That is your lender saying that they don't need further checks. They are happy to lend the money.

Whether you are happy, only you can decide.

So I guess i trusted in my lender and solicitor - to flag any potential problems with the house. Second mistake!! Yes. It's you buying the house!

So i have been in my new house now for approx 2 months and ... there definitely is damp.... Although I take responsibility for buying the house and for not being more thorough I can!!!8217;t help but feel annoyed at my lender too.
Sorry - not there fault!

I requested a further survey after all (thinking i was doing the right thing) and was basically discouraged from doing so!
A more in depth survey would surely have uncovered this problem, and would have allowed me to weigh up my options e.g. pull out of the sale completely or negotiate a better price!
If you wantd an indepth survey (or electrical report, or anything else report) you should have called a surveyor, or electrician, or other specialist.

So my question is... is there anything I can do about this?
Yes. Pay a builder or other specialist to fix the problem
.
Can I complain to my lender for dismissing my request for a further survey?
Yes you can complain but
a) you have no real grounds and
b) you will get nowhere

Should my solicitor have flagged the potential problems highlighted in the survey and advised me to negotiate with seller on the price? Was that not their job to do that??
No. A solicitor is respnsible for legal matters. Not building or construction. And not price, either.

The bank is responsible for protecting their loan. So long as they are happy the property is good security for their mortgage, they are happy.

Whether you want to buy the property is up to you. And whether you want more information is up to you too.

You need to find out what is causing the damp.

Often it is soething simple, cheap and easy to fix, followed by time (to allow the wall to dry out.
eg a leaking gutter or downpipe; or raised external ground level.

That is your first step.

davidmcn

Anne25 wrote: »

A more in depth survey would surely have uncovered this problem

Eh? I thought you said even the cheap valuation had uncovered it? A more in-depth survey might have given you a bit more detail but still probably wouldn't have given you the full story and would just advised you get a specialist in if you wanted to cost it. You don't have a case against anybody else.

Anne25_2

Thank you for your replies. But the point I was making was that I called to request ANOTHER survey as of course I was concerned about the first one - and i was advised not to bother. Should they not have processed this request regardless???

Thrugelmir

No. The basic valuation survey is for the benefit of the lender not you. Onus was on you to employ your own specialists to review the items highlighted prior to proceeding with the purchase.

A 1920's house is likely to need maintenance work undertaken. After all it's nearly a 100 years old. My 1930's property continually needs small items rectifying. Addressed promptly they pose no major cost burden.

davidmcn

Anne25 wrote: »

Thank you for your replies. But the point I was making was that I called to request ANOTHER survey as of course I was concerned about the first one - and i was advised not to bother. Should they not have processed this request regardless???

Maybe some misunderstanding involved, if you thought the first surveyor was requiring a further inspection to pass it for the mortgage (or if that's how the lender interpreted your query). Not really up to them to advise you on whether you ought to get further reports for your own peace of mind. You could also have instructed your own survey without going via the lender anyway.

Lauralou79

What the surveyor has written was meaning to you. Not your bank or solicitor. They were advising you to undertake further surveys eg damp, electrical check and so on. It!!!8217;s very typical in a survey. That!!!8217;s all the buyers responsibility.
The mortgage company only need the valuation from the surveyor to check the house is worth what they are lending ( minus deposits etc)

Anne25_2

Ok well thank you all for your replies... i guessed as much but thought i would ask online for some opinions. As i said I am on my own and really had no clue what I was doing. I guess i have leaned my lessons the hard way. Thanks guys.

eddddy

Unfortunately, it sounds like you contacted the wrong people.

You should have contacted a property surveying company.

As others say, the damp might be a relatively straightforward problem to fix.

The next challenge will be getting a trustworthy diagnosis of the problem. You will find many companies that advertise 'Damp Surveys' etc, but they generally offer repairs as well. So some of them will vastly exaggerate the problem and the repairs required, in the hope of making more money.

One approach might be to ask an RICS accredited building surveyor to take a look. If you explain that you want somebody to take a quick look, and give you verbal feedback - you might find a local independent who will charge a reasonable fee.

hazyjo

Anne25 wrote: »

Thank you for your replies. But the point I was making was that I called to request ANOTHER survey as of course I was concerned about the first one - and i was advised not to bother. Should they not have processed this request regardless???

Another survey would have said the same as the first ('there may be damp...'. They are not specialists, they merely would have said (in so many words) 'get a timber and damp specialist in'.