Understanding home buyers report

es5595

Irishpearce26 said:

es5595, I believe they will be in a lot of trouble if they knowingly lie. 

There is no legal requirement to tell anyone buying your house if it has issues.

No, but if you read the rest of the thread, the suggestion is to share the survey and then to put specific questions to the seller. 

If you as a seller are asked specific questions and knowingly lie, then there is plenty of comeback. Of course, they may bean dip or not answer, but then you’d be wise to carry out further investigations. 

Irishpearce26

es5595 said:

Irishpearce26 said:

es5595, I believe they will be in a lot of trouble if they knowingly lie. 

There is no legal requirement to tell anyone buying your house if it has issues.

No, but if you read the rest of the thread, the suggestion is to share the survey and then to put specific questions to the seller. 

If you as a seller are asked specific questions and knowingly lie, then there is plenty of comeback. Of course, they may bean dip or not answer, but then you’d be wise to carry out further investigations. 

No there isn't any comeback unless its stated in the TA6. If a buyer asks a seller if they are aware of any of the issues listed in the survey they can say whatever they want. Homebuyer surveys have no legal standing, they are all might dos or maybes. 

As a seller myself i have integrity and will always be open and honest but I also don't trust the findings of a homebuyer survey especially on my last sale were the surveyor got many things wrong.

davidmcn

es5595 said:

Irishpearce26 said:

es5595, I believe they will be in a lot of trouble if they knowingly lie. 

There is no legal requirement to tell anyone buying your house if it has issues.

If you as a seller are asked specific questions and knowingly lie, then there is plenty of comeback.

What are the specific questions which you think might be useful? You can ask the seller whether they know about any rot under the floor - if they answer "no we don't", that's likely to mean nothing more than they haven't sent a surveyor under the floorboards either, not that a guarantee that there isn't any rot.

Drem1992

So I've now spoken to the surveyor directly for some more information. His overall view of the property is that it's in a decent condition for its age. 
He has advised that given there is a high damp reading we should get a damp and timber survey.
The thing that he is still very unsure on is the flooring issue. The report stated that it was more unlevel in the downstairs reception rooms (a sort of open dining and lounge area that was once upon a time 2 rooms) than expected in a house of this age and type. He believes that this is a timber floor but was at a bit of a loss as to explain what would cause it. He stated that the camber and unlevelness was most significant around the 2 fireplaces (no longer functional but the chimney breasts are present) he felt that this is particularly unusual and not something he's seen before. He thought it could be damp within the timber floor support but wasn't able to really comment further. He advised either a damp and timber survey or (if money was no object) he would consider a structural engineer survey of the floor.

Our current thought is to get the damp and timber survey first, particular as he advised this for the damp issue anyway, see if they can find the cause, and if they can't we'll have to consider whether we go for a structural engineer, although I'm becoming very wary of the costs of all these additional specialists!

AdrianC

What's the floorcoverings?

Is the vendor happy for you to be lifting carpets and floorboards pre-purchase?

Drem1992

AdrianC said:

What's the floorcoverings?

Is the vendor happy for you to be lifting carpets and floorboards pre-purchase?

It's carpet.
 This is a question I've yet to ask, I'm trying to get some quote for the survey and then I'm going to get in touch with her and explain what we need to do and why. To be honest if she's not willing to allow it we likely will pull out, I'm too risk averse to take on a house with a dodgy floor and no understanding of the cause.

Irishpearce26

Drem1992 said:

AdrianC said:

What's the floorcoverings?

Is the vendor happy for you to be lifting carpets and floorboards pre-purchase?

It's carpet.
 This is a question I've yet to ask, I'm trying to get some quote for the survey and then I'm going to get in touch with her and explain what we need to do and why. To be honest if she's not willing to allow it we likely will pull out, I'm too risk averse to take on a house with a dodgy floor and no understanding of the cause.

Be prepared to pull out or have a carpet fitter to come and fit the carpet back properly. I wouldn't let anyone lift up the carpets to do a survey unless they was a professional fitter coming in to refit it.

ele_91

This same issue came up when my partner sold his house. They were quoted £5k for a ‘worst case scenario’ of replacing joists and floor coverings, without any additional obtrusive survey. 5is was split 50 50 between my partner and the buyers which seemed the fairest way. Any chance you can do similar? Most vendors won’t allow a survey that lifts carpets without you paying for them to be put back professionally. I certainly wouldn’t.