Damp in roof timber

F37A

Hi 

I got a survey saying high damp reading in roof timber. Then I got damp survey and they saying i need to spray the roof timber. But the lease says i need authorisation to do works to roof. 

If i don't fix roof issue then roof replacement is on the cards. I am top floor flat.

Any views on whether i can manage the damp issue over a number of years if I purchase the place. Is damp to roof timber really that bad? Obviously don't want there to be no works done and then me having to pay for the roof and nobody else bothering to contribute.

Thanks

eddddy

As a starting point, according to the lease, who is responsible for maintaining and repairing the roof?  And who is responsible for covering the cost?

FreeBear

F37A said: I got a survey saying high damp reading in roof timber. Then I got damp survey and they saying i need to spray the roof timber. But the lease says i need authorisation to do works to roof.
Thanks

Spraying the timbers with a preservative will slow down any rot for a few years. But the source of the damp needs to be fixed - Once that is done, the timbers will dry out naturally, and there won't be any need to spray nasty chemicals around.

Minor repairs to the roof shouldn't be excessively expensive, but a complete new roof would be very expensive - Depending on how these repairs are funded (i.e. shared cost between all leaseholders), you might want to reconsider buying this flat. You could be exposed to some hefty bills in the near future.

demontfort

Can you look at the timbers yourself? Most damp and rot is superficial and won't effect the structural integrity of the wood. I bought a house with damp and rot in the roof timbers due to a leaking roof, this was flagged as a red on the building survey. When I finally had the roof fixed, they replaced the worst rotten rafter for £150, the others then dried out over summer with no more rain coming in. I then cleaned off any remaining mould from the timbers with a £1 bottle of white vinegar and it's been fine ever since.

F37A

eddddy said:

As a starting point, according to the lease, who is responsible for maintaining and repairing the roof?  And who is responsible for covering the cost?

The landlord i.e all flat owners own the roof. So its the landlord responsible for maintaing and repairing the roof. Landlord has to cover cost but one of co-freeholders can object if they want to. If no agreement then i have to stump up the cost. 

F37A

FreeBear said:

F37A said: I got a survey saying high damp reading in roof timber. Then I got damp survey and they saying i need to spray the roof timber. But the lease says i need authorisation to do works to roof.
Thanks

Spraying the timbers with a preservative will slow down any rot for a few years. But the source of the damp needs to be fixed - Once that is done, the timbers will dry out naturally, and there won't be any need to spray nasty chemicals around.

Minor repairs to the roof shouldn't be excessively expensive, but a complete new roof would be very expensive - Depending on how these repairs are funded (i.e. shared cost between all leaseholders), you might want to reconsider buying this flat. You could be exposed to some hefty bills in the near future.

Addressing the root cause of damp issues seems expensive and complicated here and so it just looks like i will be putting a plaster on and then problem resurfaces later down the line.

F37A

demontfort said:

Can you look at the timbers yourself? Most damp and rot is superficial and won't effect the structural integrity of the wood. I bought a house with damp and rot in the roof timbers due to a leaking roof, this was flagged as a red on the building survey. When I finally had the roof fixed, they replaced the worst rotten rafter for £150, the others then dried out over summer with no more rain coming in. I then cleaned off any remaining mould from the timbers with a £1 bottle of white vinegar and it's been fine ever since.

Thanks. Yeah i will have to have a look. But i'm no expert and don't want a roof replacement to land on me as soon as i buy. Have no way of telling when the roof would need replacing. Yeah the surveys has lots of reds. 

eddddy

F37A said:

The landlord i.e all flat owners own the roof. So its the landlord responsible for maintaing and repairing the roof. Landlord has to cover cost but one of co-freeholders can object if they want to. If no agreement then i have to stump up the cost. 

So I think you're saying...

• The property is what estate agents call 'Share of Freehold' - i.e. all the leaseholders (flat owners) jointly own the freehold of the building - i.e. they are joint freeholders.

• According to the lease, the freeholder(s) is responsible for repairing the roof, and charging the leaseholders

• But somebody has warned you that the joint freeholders / leasholders might be anti-social, and unlawfully refuse to pay their share.

If so, was it a hypothetical warning that the joint freeholders / leasholders might be anti-social, and unlawfully refuse to pay their share?

Or do the joint freeholders / leasholders have a history of being anti-social, and unlawfully refusing to pay their share of repair costs?

Unfortunately, this can be a big risk with 'Share of Freehold' properties. If you don't trust your future joint-freeholders to act honestly and fairly (and pay what they owe), maybe you should decide that you don't want to jointly own a building with them, and move on.