Building survey shows £9.5k of urgent repairs required

sgun

Your solicitor is working for you - just tell them that you are not sending any deposit money until you have decided what to do about the repairs. They shouldn't be hassling you, exchange is only imminent when you are happy with the purchase (as long as you aren't being flaky). Don't forget you are paying them to ensure the purchase is sound.

Ignore the EA. They are working for the vendor. Of course, they will want the purchase to keep on track but really, a quick email from you saying how you are planning on proceeding is fine.

If you have only just got your survey results back then you cant be very far into the purchase surely?

davidmcn

I'm not sure how seriously to take the surveyor's comments if they think "serious or urgent" problems include things like "there's a pond in the garden". Some of those costs look rather arbitrary and quite a few of the issues are ones which ought to have been obvious before you made an offer.

MovingForwards

That all?

It's pretty standard with a home report.

If you want the house negotiate with the buyer, see if you can get a reduction in the price for the chimney related things.

The rest is also standard surveyor findings and things you probably should have noticed, but not urgent.

billy2shots

Nothing helpful to add but I thank you for making me laugh. I love these reports where the person has to justify their fee by being overly anal in certain areas.

The pond issue is a cracker. My personal favourite is

There is a gas meter on the outside. There is a boiler in the kitchen.
Faulty gas appliances can be lethal.

No !!!! Sherlock lol.

Thanks again.

phill99

Just seen your post with a summary of the works.


I have worked in construction all of my life. There is absolutely nothing here that is an issue. these are all routine maintenance issues. In terms of the electrics the surveyor is stating the obvious - that it isn't up to current regs. 98% of houses in the UK are not up to current regs. it doesn't mean that they are dangerous or likely to burn down the minute you exchange contracts. The only thing that may give you some bargaining clout is the damp issue.


I would be inclined to ask then to reduce the price by the cost of the dampwork. Other than that, this is the surveyor protecting his backside.

need_an_answer

OP..how do you feel about the pond in the garden?

Perhaps I've picked up on the trivial side but you could well be viewing it as something you want to continue with,or you could want children and decide when the time is right it needs filling in...that's your choice and by no means is it quite a serious issue.

I've a pond in my garden,its been there many years and saw children well supervised around it.

I've also dealt with the decommissioning of a pond in another property and I can honestly say it was nowhere near the surveyors estimate to fill it in...

The gas situation can easily be investigated by getting a gas safe engineer around and asking for a gas safety check to be carried out...its called a CP12 and costs around £60 google it and you'll find its a common document needed for a rental property...potentially there may need to be a few adjustments made but the tone of the language used in the report makes it very "life threatening" rather than the reality of it all just needing a good looking over and service,similar to the type of thing you would expect from an MOT for your car

sgun

We had all that work done to the chimneys and flashing when we moved three months ago. All in it cost £450 so no idea where they got their 2k plus figures from. I think their assumed costs are ridiculous.

Davesnave

Quite a good report on an older house that needs quick attention to the chimney and flashings. In the short term, removal of inappropriate paint finishes to walls is advisable and a EICR will tell you more about the electrics, which need upgrading



I wouldn't be too concerned about the kitchen or other ceilings or most of the other stuff as they are of limited importance and the house isn't seriously damp. If the boiler hasn't been serviced with an annual record that's pretty much what many people find. You could get a gas safe engineer to look at it to be sure it's not dangerous, but any old boiler has the potential to break down without warning, any time.


There's certainly things here that might warrant some re-negotiation and they're very typical of older houses, but till you tell us whether the surveyor said it was worth what you are paying, we don't know if a certain amount of work was perhaps factored into the price.

ProDave

Re the pond. We have a burn (stream for the southerners) running through our garden and the surveyor gave it a "repair category 2" I said well just what do you expect me to do? His reply was to erect a fence along both banks of the stream so nobody can get to it. What a load ob b******s

cherryduck

Davesnave wrote: »

Quite a good report on an older house that needs quick attention to the chimney and flashings. In the short term, removal of inappropriate paint finishes to walls is advisable and a EICR will tell you more about the electrics, which need upgrading

I wouldn't be too concerned about the kitchen or other ceilings or most of the other stuff as they are of limited importance and the house isn't seriously damp. If the boiler hasn't been serviced with an annual record that's pretty much what many people find. You could get a gas safe engineer to look at it to be sure it's not dangerous, but any old boiler has the potential to break down without warning, any time.


There's certainly things here that might warrant some re-negotiation and they're very typical of older houses, but till you tell us whether the surveyor said it was worth what you are paying, we don't know if a certain amount of work was perhaps factored into the price.

The building survey doesn't state how much they value the house at, and neither did any of the paperwork from M&S who are supplying our mortgage.