Vendor sealed up loft prior to surveyor coming

cymruchris

[Deleted User] said:

Pretty obvious what happened. The person doing the EPC found something expensive or difficult to fix. Vendor is hoping nobody finds out and it becomes your problem.

If they won't let it be inspected then run.

Not always 'pretty obvious' - I previously owned a top floor apartment with a loft - I put it out to rental for a period, and used the loft to store a few of my bits and pieces - I secured the loft hatch, and made the specific reference to the letting agency that the property rental didn't include access to the loft. It may be that the seller is selling as a result of getting a tenant out, and was also storing things up in the attic. There's more than one possibility why it's sealed, and not all necessarily bad, but the OP should still get access to it as they're buying it. (They could ask of course as to why it's sealed - there might be a perfectly logical explanation - or it might just contain a few dead bodies)

t1redmonkey

GDB2222 said:

t1redmonkey said:

I'm going back next Monday anyway, they haven't objected to me checking the loft (they are going to unseal it and place a ladder by the hatch) so hopefully it's all fine!

You ARE taking your surveyor with you?

Nope I’d have to shell out £400 again for that so just going on my own, I have an idea of what to check for anyway.

t1redmonkey

baser999 said:

There was a recent item on TV about ‘spray on’ loft insulation that mortgage lenders weren’t happy to lend against and sellers were having to get it removed (which was pretty costly) before they could sell. Has your mortgage been agreed or is that not an issue here? 

I don’t need a mortgage to buy it but I’ll keep an eye out for that!

t1redmonkey

cymruchris said:

[Deleted User] said:

Pretty obvious what happened. The person doing the EPC found something expensive or difficult to fix. Vendor is hoping nobody finds out and it becomes your problem.

If they won't let it be inspected then run.

Not always 'pretty obvious' - I previously owned a top floor apartment with a loft - I put it out to rental for a period, and used the loft to store a few of my bits and pieces - I secured the loft hatch, and made the specific reference to the letting agency that the property rental didn't include access to the loft. It may be that the seller is selling as a result of getting a tenant out, and was also storing things up in the attic. There's more than one possibility why it's sealed, and not all necessarily bad, but the OP should still get access to it as they're buying it. (They could ask of course as to why it's sealed - there might be a perfectly logical explanation - or it might just contain a few dead bodies)

I did ask the EA why they’d sealed it, and she called me back earlier after checking with the vendors and said it was just for ‘security’ but didn’t elaborate on that.  It might be what one of the earlier replies mentioned about there being no party wall in the loft.

diystarter7

no party wall/s in very old houses at times often cottages,

just have a look around the loft and look out as i said before. if you can see a problem/s, take pictures and ask someone about it but cracks, filled in cracks, light through roof, watermarks on joists sides of wall etc means repair costs of varying amounts

london21

Just request for access as they might be hiding something.

user1977

t1redmonkey said:

GDB2222 said:

t1redmonkey said:

I'm going back next Monday anyway, they haven't objected to me checking the loft (they are going to unseal it and place a ladder by the hatch) so hopefully it's all fine!

You ARE taking your surveyor with you?

Nope I’d have to shell out £400 again for that so just going on my own, I have an idea of what to check for anyway.

They quoted £400 just for popping back to poke their head through the loft hatch?

t1redmonkey

user1977 said:

t1redmonkey said:

GDB2222 said:

t1redmonkey said:

I'm going back next Monday anyway, they haven't objected to me checking the loft (they are going to unseal it and place a ladder by the hatch) so hopefully it's all fine!

You ARE taking your surveyor with you?

Nope I’d have to shell out £400 again for that so just going on my own, I have an idea of what to check for anyway.

They quoted £400 just for popping back to poke their head through the loft hatch?

I haven’t asked to be honest, I’ll check tomorrow.  But I assume they will want extra money for going back to the property.

youth_leader

I'd take your surveyor if he/she is free, I do think it's worth the additional fee for peace of mind. Evidence of woodworm was found in the loft here, luckily all dead and a guarantee supplied.

housebuyer143

diystarter7 said:

no party wall/s in very old houses at times often cottages,

just have a look around the loft and look out as i said before. if you can see a problem/s, take pictures and ask someone about it but cracks, filled in cracks, light through roof, watermarks on joists sides of wall etc means repair costs of varying amounts

My loft has light coming through but it's from plastic sheeting placed in the roof to allow ventilation as we have a whole house fan. I was very worried but no rain comes in. 
Not all light coming in is cause for repair.