Will they take my new flat from me?

AngelEyes91

Hello,
This process is driving me to insanity! I wrote a post a couple of days ago but I will recap.
So myself and my partner broke up in December and we have had to sell our house, offer went in at the end of January. The sale has actually been going well, buyers have their mortgage offer, enquiries are answered, searches are back, we have signed the contract and TR1 and sent it back.. all going pretty smoothly.. or so we thought until my EA called me on Monday stating they have booked a full structural survey to be done on the house and now I am in panic mode, now as far as I'm aware there aren't any major issues with the house but its hard to say I guess since I'm not a surveyor. The house is 55 years old so there is likely some wear and tear and I've seen two cracks which are less that 1mm in the artex wall and plaster wall and a bit of what looks like movement in the artex by the window but that's really it I think. There is also some slight repointing that would need redoing at some point on the side exterior wall but there are no cracks on the outside, the roof has been completely re felted, all brand new windows 5 years ago, timber in the loft looks good so I'm not sure what will come up but knowing my luck this year something may do and its making me feel ill thinking about it.
I guess I'm a bit annoyed as I am currently in the process of purchasing a shared ownership flat and I have spent money on valuation, mortgage adviser, solicitors and the reservation fee as well as sale fees aswell! I have received my mortgage offer and I am just waiting on 2 searches. However when I reserved the flat they stated that they wanted me to exchange by 27th March or they will re-market the property, they said as my house sale is going through they may be able to be slightly flexible with this date as long as everything is progressing.
Legally where do I stand if my house sale falls through, I know it may not and it may be fine but I am a natural worrier and I think the worst case scenario of everything, I have a little boy and all the other flats are gone so I am getting quite concerned about where I stand with this and I would be so upset to loose it.

I know its their right to have a survey and that is fine but I would have just preferred if they done this a month ago before I spent so much money!

[Deleted User]

Legally, if you haven't exchanged, then anyone can pull out at any time. It's still the current owner's new flat to do with as they want until you actually buy it. 

There's not much you can do until the survey has been done.

GDB2222

Your sellers are not going to drop you. They just give a date, because they want to keep you in a panic. If they start with a new buyer that will set them back several more months.

hazyjo

Okay, the usuals that come up:

Is there a chimney? Buy or borrow a dehumidifier to put near it. Damp nearly always gets pointed out (especially in this wet weather) in chimneys. Keep it as dry as you can!

Do you have any bay windows? Any cracks at the top or bottom?

Any blocked damp proofing, or ventilation points in the brickwork outside? 

Has the boiler been serviced/maintained? How old is it?

Any misted windows?

Any doors or windows that don't close properly?

Spongey or squeaky floors?

Personally, I think you're worrying too much, but have been in your shoes and know it's hard not to.

Good luck

princeofpounds

"it may be fine but I am a natural worrier"
You aren't kidding. 

Your buyers wanting a full survey is quite normal. From what you say there is no obvious reason to be concerned. Most problems that arise can be fixed through price negotiation, if it comes to that.

Your own vendors are highly unlikely to drop you. 27th March seems a bit tight but surveys normally only take a couple of weeks to come through. Even if they do re-market the property, you have a huge head start over any other buyer, so as long as things progress normally there is little to worry about.

We can't give you a guarantee but there's nothing here that would make me worry about cancellation above a 'normal' house transaction.

AngelEyes91

hazyjo said:

Okay, the usuals that come up:

Is there a chimney? Buy or borrow a dehumidifier to put near it. Damp nearly always gets pointed out (especially in this wet weather) in chimneys. Keep it as dry as you can!

We do have a chimney so I will do this thank you

Do you have any bay windows? Any cracks at the top or bottom?

We don’t have any bay windows

Any blocked damp proofing, or ventilation points in the brickwork outside? 

I can see the damp proofing in the brickwork and I think it looks okay

Has the boiler been serviced/maintained? How old is it?

We have just had the boiler serviced and all was good thankfully 

Any misted windows?

All the windows look good and none are misted

Any doors or windows that don't close properly?

All the door and windows open and close fine

Spongey or squeaky floors?

None of the floors are squeaky or sponges 

Personally, I think you're worrying too much, but have been in your shoes and know it's hard not to.

You're very right I am worrying a lot! It’s so difficult isn’t it! 

Good luck

Thank you very much for your informative and helpful reply!  

AngelEyes91

princeofpounds said:

"it may be fine but I am a natural worrier"
You aren't kidding. 

No I’m not kidding you’re right!

Your buyers wanting a full survey is quite normal. From what you say there is no obvious reason to be concerned. Most problems that arise can be fixed through price negotiation, if it comes to that.

there is no room for negotiation, we already went down on price originally and we won’t make enough off the house if we go any further 

Your own vendors are highly unlikely to drop you. 27th March seems a bit tight but surveys normally only take a couple of weeks to come through. Even if they do re-market the property, you have a huge head start over any other buyer, so as long as things progress normally there is little to worry about.

Thats very true, I guess they say this to try and move it along quicker

We can't give you a guarantee but there's nothing here that would make me worry about cancellation above a 'normal' house transaction.

I know, wouldn’t it be great if you could! But that’s reassuring to hear so thank you very much for your reply!

GDB2222

If you get a dehumidifier, put it out of sight before the survey or any viewings.

AdrianC

If there really is damp in the chimney, then a dehumidifier is going to do nothing over the course of a few days or even a couple of weeks. Especially not in this weather if the damp is due to an actual problem causing ingress.

hazyjo

Definitely hide it when anyone's visiting! Should've said.

Have known a dehumidifier make a big difference within a couple of weeks, but perhaps Adrian's right with the chimney. In not an expert

AngelEyes91

I don’t see any damp around it so hopefully it will be fine but thank you