Renegotiating house price after survey

firsttimebuyerABC

I recently had an offer accepted on a 3 bed Victorian semi-detached house in London. Looked to be in good condition and I was hoping that the only work required would be cosmetic (redecoration and new kitchen).
Sale progressing well... mortgage accepted, searches all good. However, we recently had the result of the survey come back and there were lots of issues raised. There are beams in the roof that need replacing, damp, potential rot and potential subsidence. We love the house and still want to proceed with the purchase, however, we are worried about being able to afford to fix these issues. We don't want the house to become a money pit that we can't afford to maintain.
The surveyor is estimating that the cost of the works is in the region of £15-30k. We are getting an estimate from a structural engineer to confirm the cost of fixing the roof to give us a more firm estimate. I think we are going to have to go back to the vendor and ask for a price reduction to reflect the issues raised in the survey.

My questions are:
a) assuming that we are able to back these estimates up with quotes from surveyor and structural engineer, would it be reasonable to ask for price reduction of £30k? The current agreed price is £490,000.
b) are we best to renegotiate through the estate agent or our solicitors?

Any help gratefully received!

davidmcn

What did the surveyor say about the current value?

hazyjo

What was it actually valued at on the valuation/ survey?

firsttimebuyerABC

We didn't get a valuation done. We just did a full structural survey. Our surveyor told us that in the current climate he would be putting a large error margin on any valuation (+- 10%) so we didn't think it would be helpful. 

hazyjo

firsttimebuyerABC said:

We didn't get a valuation done. We just did a full structural survey. Our surveyor told us that in the current climate he would be putting a large error margin on any valuation (+- 10%) so we didn't think it would be helpful. 

So you're not getting a mortgage?

The word 'potential' to me indicates there may be future problems rather than current ones. I wouldn't say that's reason to drop.

You'd have to give us exact wording and issues for us to guide you. The amount you're proposing to drop sounds huge to me. I'd have remarketed.

SpiderLegs

If I had a surveyor who couldn’t put a value on a property I had employed them to inspect then I may be tempted to think they weren’t much cop.

greatcrested

a) sounds excessive. As a seller I'd probably react badly -  to the extent of re-maketing

b) estate agent. Solicitors in Eng don't negotiate. Just inform your solicitor of whateer new price is agreed

davidmcn

SpiderLegs said:

If I had a surveyor who couldn’t put a value on a property I had employed them to inspect then I may be tempted to think they weren’t much cop.

I think it's because they weren't instructed (or paid) to provide a valuation rather than because they're incapable of doing it, though I would have thought most of the point of getting a survey is so that you do get an objective value. In this case, we've no idea whether the asking price reflected that there would probably be work needing done.

AskAsk

that is very cheap for a house in london.  where in london is that?
the most worrying thing out of that survey report is the potential subsidence as that will be the biggest cost factor.
you could try knocking £30k off and see what the seller come back with.  he may work you down from this.
you will have to negotiate with the estate agent.  the solicitors won't be dealing with the haggling.

firsttimebuyerABC

The lendor for mortgage did a valuation and it came out at the same as our offer price, but, they didn't attend the property and seemed to do the valuation virtually. Because of this I'm not taking it as gospel. 
We specifically didn't pay for a valuation from our surveyor and just got the structural survey. 

hazyjo

firsttimebuyerABC said:

The lendor for mortgage did a valuation and it came out at the same as our offer price, but, they didn't attend the property and seemed to do the valuation virtually. Because of this I'm not taking it as gospel. 
We specifically didn't pay for a valuation from our surveyor and just got the structural survey. 

With nothing in writing from a valuation saying it's worth less, I would not drop a significant amount and would remarket.