Survey report - valuation and re-wire

inkydolphin

Hi,

The buyer of our house has had the survey report back and the two main points are that the house is worth less than their offer and an electrical re-wire is needed.

They offered £320k but the surveyor valued it at £310k. The report says the house (small 2-up 2 down) needs a complete re-wire as the current electrics fail current requirements.

They raised a few other issues that would seem to come into the "deal with at some point" category.

I had a rewire done on a similar property and it was c.£4k. Does reducing the price by £14k to cover this and the valuation sound sensible or is that rolling over too easily? 

user1977

"Not coming up to current requirements" doesn't equate to "Needs a complete re-wire". The only properties which meet current regulations are those which have just been built or rewired, and presumably you didn't market it as having perfect new electrics.

Did you get any further detail about what any issues actually are?

inkydolphin

@user1977 Not much detail - just that there are are no circuit breakers fitted and the sockets don't comply with current regs.

inkydolphin

Just FYI I found a thread from 2011 which probably covers it can I lower price for electrical wiring — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Would still welcome any thoughts, especially on the valuation aspect.

propertyrental

Re Valuation. do you know if the buyers are getting a mortgage, and if so what LTV? If no M or large deposit, it's up to the buyers what they are prepared to pay, and clerly they thought it was worth £320.

How much interest did you get when marketing. If you went back on the market (or threatened to...) would you get other offers? Your buyers obviously like the property and won't want to throw awy the £500? £1000? they have already spent on survey, legal work etc.

Re electrics, Again up to you whether to reduce price or say 'take it or leave it', Circuit breakers and/or new consumer unit can be added without a fiull rewire, so more info needed. Current building regs are not the same as 5, 10 years ago, but the millions of houses with 'non current complisnt' sockets, or electrics, or foundations, or insulation, do not have to upgrade unless there is actually a danger. Is there?

inkydolphin

propertyrental said:

Re Valuation. do you know if the buyers are getting a mortgage, and if so what LTV? If no M or large deposit, it's up to the buyers what they are prepared to pay, and clerly they thought it was worth £320.

How much interest did you get when marketing. If you went back on the market (or threatened to...) would you get other offers? Your buyers obviously like the property and won't want to throw awy the £500? £1000? they have already spent on survey, legal work etc.

Re electrics, Again up to you whether to reduce price or say 'take it or leave it', Circuit breakers and/or new consumer unit can be added without a fiull rewire, so more info needed. Current building regs are not the same as 5, 10 years ago, but the millions of houses with 'non current complisnt' sockets, or electrics, or foundations, or insulation, do not have to upgrade unless there is actually a danger. Is there?

@propertyrental

No mortgage AFAIK. Thanks for thoughts on that

I'm no electrician but we've been here for 10 years with no issues. The electrics do have a single circuit breaker, just not one for each individual circuit, and that has tripped I would say about 5 times in 10 years. I'd be very surprised if the electrics were dangerous. Need to dig a bit more into what the surveyor actually said.

There was interest from other potential buyers so would hope for other offers if it went back on. Might offer a small reduction to show willing but certainly not averse to backing out. The comments received certainly confirm I shouldn't be rolling over and dropping the price as if the house was actually on fire... 

Bigphil1474

We had a new consumer unit fitted in our house, on wiring that is at least 30 years old. Electrician was happy that we didn't need a re-wire. Cost us £400. Replacing plug sockets is pretty cheap as well. Maybe offer them a good will reduction of £5k, but I don't think you have to. Have the buyers made any noises? 

inkydolphin

Bigphil1474 said:

We had a new consumer unit fitted in our house, on wiring that is at least 30 years old. Electrician was happy that we didn't need a re-wire. Cost us £400. Replacing plug sockets is pretty cheap as well. Maybe offer them a good will reduction of £5k, but I don't think you have to. Have the buyers made any noises? 

@Bigphil1474 Thanks for the info. Haven't gone back yet - just digesting everything before I do.

MultiFuelBurner

I would wait for them to revise their offer, they light just meet in the middle.

What exactly have they said?

Albermarle

Bigphil1474 said:

We had a new consumer unit fitted in our house, on wiring that is at least 30 years old. Electrician was happy that we didn't need a re-wire. Cost us £400. Replacing plug sockets is pretty cheap as well. Maybe offer them a good will reduction of £5k, but I don't think you have to. Have the buyers made any noises? 

Same here. Had a loft conversion, which meant had to have a new consumer unit for the whole house. Rest of house wiring is a mixture of ages but I think some is more than 40 years old. Electrician said it was no problem as long as the cabling was coloured PVC and not just black or rubber. 

FreeBear

Post a photo of the consumer unit (with the front flap up), and we can quickly tell you if it should be replaced or not.