Asbestos and other problems revealed after survey

Noneforit999

It doesn't sound like anything needs immediate attention and some stuff looks like a 'maybe' rather than a 'need'.

The roof may have another 20 years, unlikely but its possible.

What sort of outbuilding is it? Something you are going to be using regularly? Building control wouldn't bother me much but if it was falling apart, that would.

The conservatory sounds like its going to need some attention in the future, probably knocking down and rebuilding if both the brickwork and the floor need attention so something to consider.

Its difficult to advise specifically what you should do but it sounds like some money is going to need to be spent in the short term and probably more in the long term so you can either negotiate some money off now and budget for work or you can get it done in future. 

Realistically do you have spare money, savings etc normally? If you leave the roof and in 5 years time it needs recovering, would you have the funds lying around? If not, either budget for the repairs now or pull out 

desthemoaner

As others have indicated, none of the terminology indicates that the surveyor counsels urgency on any of the listed points. The word "asbestos" still represents a big red flag, but if you're willing to spend the money and put up with disruption it can be dealt with in time, and unlike dry rot or subsidence it isn't actually destroying the property. Personally if confronted by that amount of work I'd walk away, but I appreciate that sometimes the bigger picture justifies the outlay. 

Leftyness

user1977 said:

Leftyness said:

user1977 said:

As the surveyor has said, the main issue about asbestos is taking more care if you're doing anything with it - you don't need to immediately rip it all out if it's undamaged.

What is the £45k made up of? What did the surveyor value the property at?

The surveyor didn't provide a valuation. 

Never really understand why people don't instruct a valuation when they're sending round somebody eminently qualified to provide one, but anyway...the point is that the price may already accurately reflect the condition of the property (or at least do so to some extent). Deducting £45k from the agreed price doesn't necessarily make sense, especially as much of that appears to be for works which aren't immediately necessary.

It was FTB naivety.... 

Leftyness

Noneforit999 said:

It doesn't sound like anything needs immediate attention and some stuff looks like a 'maybe' rather than a 'need'.

The roof may have another 20 years, unlikely but its possible.

What sort of outbuilding is it? Something you are going to be using regularly? Building control wouldn't bother me much but if it was falling apart, that would.

The conservatory sounds like its going to need some attention in the future, probably knocking down and rebuilding if both the brickwork and the floor need attention so something to consider.

Its difficult to advise specifically what you should do but it sounds like some money is going to need to be spent in the short term and probably more in the long term so you can either negotiate some money off now and budget for work or you can get it done in future. 

Realistically do you have spare money, savings etc normally? If you leave the roof and in 5 years time it needs recovering, would you have the funds lying around? If not, either budget for the repairs now or pull out 

Thanks for the advice, I understand that some items on the list are speculation.

The outbuilding is timber built and 2 storage rooms with a bathroom. I do intend to use it because it was part of the house. 

We do have savings budgeted in the monthly spend so some of the things can be done. 

Leftyness

desthemoaner said:

As others have indicated, none of the terminology indicates that the surveyor counsels urgency on any of the listed points. The word "asbestos" still represents a big red flag, but if you're willing to spend the money and put up with disruption it can be dealt with in time, and unlike dry rot or subsidence it isn't actually destroying the property. Personally if confronted by that amount of work I'd walk away, but I appreciate that sometimes the bigger picture justifies the outlay. 

Thanks, the asbestos is the main concern for us at the moment and I understand that it can be removed. The missus and I need to have another chat but initially we liked the house because we thought there might be less work to be done (silly us, we know). I am currently leaning towards walking away due to the amount of work required.   

TheJP

Leftyness said:

desthemoaner said:

As others have indicated, none of the terminology indicates that the surveyor counsels urgency on any of the listed points. The word "asbestos" still represents a big red flag, but if you're willing to spend the money and put up with disruption it can be dealt with in time, and unlike dry rot or subsidence it isn't actually destroying the property. Personally if confronted by that amount of work I'd walk away, but I appreciate that sometimes the bigger picture justifies the outlay. 

Thanks, the asbestos is the main concern for us at the moment and I understand that it can be removed. The missus and I need to have another chat but initially we liked the house because we thought there might be less work to be done (silly us, we know). I am currently leaning towards walking away due to the amount of work required.   

The thing is and as others have said this work doesn't sound like it needs doing now or even within the next 10-20 years. A lot of what you have provided by the surveyor sounds likes if's and maybe's. Have a chat with the surveyor and ask them up front whether this all needs to be done urgently before you decide to pull out. No matter what house you eventually buy it will need something doing at some point.

FreeBear

TheJP said: No matter what house you eventually buy it will need something doing at some point.

Yup. Old houses need regular maintenance with the occasional big expenditure. New builds will have snagging issues that need sorting - These range from minor niggles & unfinished detailing through to major failings - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46454844

At least with an older property, you generally get a decent size garden with a bit of distance to the neighbours.