Leak from the roof - is it common for new builds?

okigen

Hello, a top-floor flat I viewed recently has a large water mark on the ceiling. I'm still waiting for the agent/owner to confirm, but it looks a lot like a water leak from the roof (probably happened when it rained lately).

The building was built 11 years ago and I think the roof is either flat or just slightly pitched.

Is it common for buildings of 11 years old to have this problem, or should I take this as a red flag? The flat looks perfect otherwise.

Many thanks!

AdrianC

11yo isn't a new-build. It's over a decade since it was newly built...

But, no, it isn't common for roofs to leak. Even a bit. A leaky roof is a roof with a problem. And, yes, most roof leaks happen in rain.

Scotbot

Definitely not common for a newish roof to leak and 11 years is not old. Even a flat roof should last 25 years. There is a problem

GDB2222

It’s difficult to get this sort of problem fixed. A short term solution would be some repair sealant, but that won’t last. A long term solution may be replacing the entire roof covering, which is a big job,  and it is difficult to persuade other flat owners to pay, whatever their leases say.  It can easily be several thousand pounds per flat.

user1977

okigen said:

Is it common for buildings of 11 years old to have this problem, or should I take this as a red flag? 

I would take it as meaning no more and no less than the roof is leaking.

brianposter

Building flat roofs is not straightforward. Our recently built roof has/had at least two leaks with a third through the electricity supply, and these were not particularly incompetent builders.

The only solution is to find and fix them.

okigen

Thank you everyone for your helpful advice

Justonemorecupoftea

If you go ahead with it and get a survey then ask the surveyor if they can comment on the materials used for the roof. We have an almost flat roof and it was tiled with tiles meant for a steeper pitch. This was missed by our surveyor (who correctly identifies the type of tile, but didn't flag it was inappropriate). We had to get the roof replaced (and made the surveyor pay for half!!)

Justonemorecupoftea

If you go ahead with it and get a survey then ask the surveyor if they can comment on the materials used for the roof. We have an almost flat roof and it was tiled with tiles meant for a steeper pitch. This was missed by our surveyor (who correctly identifies the type of tile, but didn't flag it was inappropriate). We had to get the roof replaced (and made the surveyor pay for half!!)

GDB2222

One issue with a block of flats is that the surveyor may well not even have access to the roof. If it’s a flat roof he may not be able to see the roof covering at all.

 And even if he can see it and diagnose the problem, it’s not the flat owner's roof, so he can’t just repair it. It’s up to the block management to repair the roof. If it were simple, you would expect that the flat seller would have got them to repair it, and he’d have repainted the ceiling before marketing the flat. So, there’s a good chance that you would be buying a flat with a long term leak, that nobody is interested in fixing. 

AnotherJoe

GDB2222 said:

One issue with a block of flats is that the surveyor may well not even have access to the roof. If it’s a flat roof he may not be able to see the roof covering at all.

 And even if he can see it and diagnose the problem, it’s not the flat owner's roof, so he can’t just repair it. It’s up to the block management to repair the roof. If it were simple, you would expect that the flat seller would have got them to repair it, and he’d have repainted the ceiling before marketing the flat. So, there’s a good chance that you would be buying a flat with a long term leak, that nobody is interested in fixing.

^^^^^ This. Walk away. Plenty more flats.