Buyer asking for us to fix things following survey

NickBane27

Hi,
we’ve recently accepted an offer on our 1930s house, and the buyers have had their survey done. We’ve just received an email with some issues the survey has found, with the buyers saying “Ideally the vendors will fix these before exchange, but we can have a discussion regarding price if preferred.”

I think they are all fairly minor, and probably always show up in old properties, so don’t really want to pay to fix them/give a price reduction. Who is right?! Issues below - thanks in advance.

· The loft conversion's dormer roof is covered with bituminous felt, which the survey says has a lifespan of 15 years. The conversion was done in 2008 so replacement is overdue, but can they send over a guarantee showing otherwise please?

· Repairs are required around the loft conversion side window due to damp. It has been recommended that remedial works are completed (either the window should be re-sealed or replaced).

· Ventilation needs adding in the loft conversion (either grilles or ventilated slates) to prevent condensation/damp which is currently present.

· Some remedial damp-proofing works are needed to the ground-floor right-hand side of the house, due to high damp meter readings in this area. We understand that this would be in the form of DPC injection.

· Some roof tiles need repointing and some slipped tiles need fixing.

· There are rusty (and leaking) downpipes by the kitchen that should be replaced.

· Can the vendors confirm how high the glazing is from the bottom of the internal doors that have it? These do not have safety glass which is a hazard and does not meet regulations if the glass is under 1500mm from the bottom of the door.

· As with the above, neither external door is fitted with safety glass either.Can you confirm the height from the bottom of the door to the glazing on both please.

· The valleys of the roof have some debris that needs clearing.

· There is a rainwater downpipe that discharges at the front directly into the garden. This needs to be connected to the drainage installation.

· The downpipe running diagonally across the side of the kitchen wall requires refixing to the wall.

· The gutters need cleaning. There are quite a lot of blockages and some leakages shown, particularly to the rear of the property adjacent to the back kitchen window. There is debris and vegetation particularly to the front guttering as well which need clearing. It's possible these may be contributing to the damp items above.

· The door and the lock require adjusting to the loft conversion balcony door, as it was noted that the door is difficult to open/close.

· Please can they send the guarantee for the injected damp proof course to the front elevation?

· The boiler's external condensing pipe is noted as should be insulated to avoid freezing in winter months, as this would result in the boiler potentially shutting down.

· A carbon monoxide detector should be fitted near the boiler.

Stubod

I would have thought quite normal to have a bit of a "negotiation" post survey, but up to you whether you fix them, reduce the price, or do nothing and potentialy lose the sale...how desperate are you to sell??

nicmyles

Most of this is standard and you should probably just say the property is priced as seen. 

On the damp, have you actually noticed or experienced any damp? There was a similar line in the survey for my c.1900 house, but there was no obvious damp in the location specified and still hasn't been 8 years later.

The one I don't really know enough about to comment is the drainage and whether the current situation is normal/adequate. Sounds a bit odd to me that it doesn't go anywhere except the garden.

But felt roof due for replacement, non-obvious damp readings that amounted to nothing, lack of carbon monoxide detector, blocked gutters and some pointing needed were all true of my house. I didn't ask for a price reduction. I bought a carbon monoxide detector, unblocked the gutters, did nothing about the damp readings and did the pointing a few years after purchase. The felt roof does need doing, it's on the list for 2026 unless it actually fails or water starts pooling.

If the door lock can be opened, it will be up to them after purchase whether or not they want to replace it. 

Are they first time buyers? Welcome to home ownership would be the gist of my response.

ciderboy2009

NickBane27 said:

· The loft conversion's dormer roof is covered with bituminous felt, which the survey says has a lifespan of 15 years. The conversion was done in 2008 so replacement is overdue, but can they send over a guarantee showing otherwise please? Is there any sign that the felt is at end of life or is leaking.  If not then there's no point in replacing it.

· Repairs are required around the loft conversion side window due to damp. It has been recommended that remedial works are completed (either the window should be re-sealed or replaced).This is possibly something I would be willing to give a small discount for.

· Ventilation needs adding in the loft conversion (either grilles or ventilated slates) to prevent condensation/damp which is currently present.  What ventilation is there already. Is there actually a condensation/damp problem? 

· Some remedial damp-proofing works are needed to the ground-floor right-hand side of the house, due to high damp meter readings in this area. We understand that this would be in the form of DPC injection.  What is the cause of the damp? This is what needs to be fixed rather than treating the symptoms with a chemical DPC injection. The "damp meter" readings are normally pretty meaningless and can be easily skewed.   

· Some roof tiles need repointing and some slipped tiles need fixing.This is possibly something I would be willing to give a small discount for.

· There are rusty (and leaking) downpipes by the kitchen that should be replaced.  This would have been obvious when they viewed the property and their offer should have reflected it.  It should be some maintenance that they plan for.

· Can the vendors confirm how high the glazing is from the bottom of the internal doors that have it? These do not have safety glass which is a hazard and does not meet regulations if the glass is under 1500mm from the bottom of the door. Why is it a hazard?  Do the "regulations" apply to older doors or just new ones that are added?

· As with the above, neither external door is fitted with safety glass either.Can you confirm the height from the bottom of the door to the glazing on both please. See above

· The valleys of the roof have some debris that needs clearing.  This is routine maintenance which they should plan for.

· There is a rainwater downpipe that discharges at the front directly into the garden. This needs to be connected to the drainage installation. Why?  A number of properties of this age discharge into the garden.

· The downpipe running diagonally across the side of the kitchen wall requires refixing to the wall. This is routine maintenance which they should plan for.

· The gutters need cleaning. There are quite a lot of blockages and some leakages shown, particularly to the rear of the property adjacent to the back kitchen window. There is debris and vegetation particularly to the front guttering as well which need clearing. It's possible these may be contributing to the damp items above. This is routine maintenance which they should plan for.

· The door and the lock require adjusting to the loft conversion balcony door, as it was noted that the door is difficult to open/close. This is routine maintenance which they should plan for.

· Please can they send the guarantee for the injected damp proof course to the front elevation?  See my comments above about injected DPC's. 90% of the time the guarantees are meaningless anyhow as the company has gone bust. 

· The boiler's external condensing pipe is noted as should be insulated to avoid freezing in winter months, as this would result in the boiler potentially shutting down. This is routine maintenance which they should plan for.

· A carbon monoxide detector should be fitted near the boiler. This, whilst a good idea, is their choice.

Se my comments after each point. Are they first time buyers by any chance?  They're coming across like it as they're expecting a 100 year old house to be in the same condition as a brand new one.

I would probably offer a £1k discount but no more than that.

NickBane27

Thanks all - really appreciate the comments.
 
They aren’t first time buyers but are coming from a new build flat so I think they aren’t used to a 100 year old property.

On a few specific points:
- not had any problems with the dormer roof, with no leaking etc
- the loft conversion has an en suite in that has an extractor fan. I don’t think there is anything else, but never noticed any damp in the loft - just normal condensation when using the shower etc.
 - there is a small amount of damp visible on the wall at the right side of the ground floor. There is evidence of DPC being drilled into the bricks but I don’t know anymore than that - we haven’t done anything about it.

Overall we aren’t that desperate to move urgently - but also don’t want to lose the property we have had an offer accepted on, so may offer a small discount as you have suggested.

thanks again! 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Funny they mention DPC injection and then go on to mention leaking pipes, blocked gutters and rainwater not being discharged correctly..... 

Makes you wonder what you are really paying for with these surveys. 

I echo the answer above, depends how likely they are to walk away really.  

penners324

Just go back and say the property is almost 100 years old. It met building regulations at that time.

None of these are major issues. 

No price negotiation. Or a little bit

Albermarle

ciderboy2009 said:

NickBane27 said:

· The loft conversion's dormer roof is covered with bituminous felt, which the survey says has a lifespan of 15 years. The conversion was done in 2008 so replacement is overdue, but can they send over a guarantee showing otherwise please? Is there any sign that the felt is at end of life or is leaking.  If not then there's no point in replacing it.

· Repairs are required around the loft conversion side window due to damp. It has been recommended that remedial works are completed (either the window should be re-sealed or replaced).This is possibly something I would be willing to give a small discount for.

· Ventilation needs adding in the loft conversion (either grilles or ventilated slates) to prevent condensation/damp which is currently present.  What ventilation is there already. Is there actually a condensation/damp problem? 

· Some remedial damp-proofing works are needed to the ground-floor right-hand side of the house, due to high damp meter readings in this area. We understand that this would be in the form of DPC injection.  What is the cause of the damp? This is what needs to be fixed rather than treating the symptoms with a chemical DPC injection. The "damp meter" readings are normally pretty meaningless and can be easily skewed.   

· Some roof tiles need repointing and some slipped tiles need fixing.This is possibly something I would be willing to give a small discount for.

· There are rusty (and leaking) downpipes by the kitchen that should be replaced.  This would have been obvious when they viewed the property and their offer should have reflected it.  It should be some maintenance that they plan for.

· Can the vendors confirm how high the glazing is from the bottom of the internal doors that have it? These do not have safety glass which is a hazard and does not meet regulations if the glass is under 1500mm from the bottom of the door. Why is it a hazard?  Do the "regulations" apply to older doors or just new ones that are added?

· As with the above, neither external door is fitted with safety glass either.Can you confirm the height from the bottom of the door to the glazing on both please. See above

· The valleys of the roof have some debris that needs clearing.  This is routine maintenance which they should plan for.

· There is a rainwater downpipe that discharges at the front directly into the garden. This needs to be connected to the drainage installation. Why?  A number of properties of this age discharge into the garden.

· The downpipe running diagonally across the side of the kitchen wall requires refixing to the wall. This is routine maintenance which they should plan for.

· The gutters need cleaning. There are quite a lot of blockages and some leakages shown, particularly to the rear of the property adjacent to the back kitchen window. There is debris and vegetation particularly to the front guttering as well which need clearing. It's possible these may be contributing to the damp items above. This is routine maintenance which they should plan for.

· The door and the lock require adjusting to the loft conversion balcony door, as it was noted that the door is difficult to open/close. This is routine maintenance which they should plan for.

· Please can they send the guarantee for the injected damp proof course to the front elevation?  See my comments above about injected DPC's. 90% of the time the guarantees are meaningless anyhow as the company has gone bust. 

· The boiler's external condensing pipe is noted as should be insulated to avoid freezing in winter months, as this would result in the boiler potentially shutting down. This is routine maintenance which they should plan for.

· A carbon monoxide detector should be fitted near the boiler. This, whilst a good idea, is their choice.

Se my comments after each point. Are they first time buyers by any chance?  They're coming across like it as they're expecting a 100 year old house to be in the same condition as a brand new one.

I would probably offer a £1k discount but no more than that.

I would agree with nearly all these comments but just to add.

The reason for the issue with safety glass in doors, is mainly to protect children. To stop them banging into a door, and then getting showered with broken glass. So it is something that should be addressed in any case.

If a rainwater downpipe discharges directly down into the garden/close to the house, it can cause problems with damp or even some localised subsidence. There should be a soakaway to take the water deeper, and farther away from the house wall. 

dander

I feel your pain, this is infuriating. I had very similar when selling my house - they got a level 3, then got spooked when it was full of similar observations about carbon monoxide alarms, banisters, door hinges, demanding extra ventilation in a totally bone dry and problem-free loft, moss on roof, trip hazards in garden etc etc. Suvey even had the lack of mains operated carbon monoxide alarm in as an urgent safety risk demanding hundreds of pounds to fix - despite the fact I've got a perfectly normal battery alarm. My buyers wanted 10k off an already giveaway price (I'd originally wanted a fast sale). It was like I they think I'm a developer and they should get all their snagging done by me. Unfortunately for them they timed it just as I lost my onwards purchase and they made the decision to pull out and not move now really easy.

I feel like estate agents ought to be pushing back harder on these people - telling them a survey is designed to find all this stuff and that it's normal for older houses which do not have to comply to modern building regs.

propertyrental

This is all minor stuff. A very useful 'to do' list for the new owner mostly as part of normal ongoing maintenance.

Some items are improvements which the owner may or may not wish to do (eg adding safety glass which was probaly not available, or not standard, when installed)

I can't see anything there that warrants you spending money or lowering the purchase price.

FTBs?

Bigphil1474

Agree with everyone else really. We're selling a 100 year old house - first buyer pulled out after the survey. Most of it was stuff like this. It mentioned damp quite a lot as well as saying we had woodworm in the kitchen floor. We got our own damp and timber survey done, and came back with a couple of small jobs, and it wasn't woodworm. Surveyors seem to chuck every little thing in the report and it can easily put the uninitiated off. They also appear to struggle to use a damp meter properly - they are calibrated to check damp in wood, so no point just sticking them in a wall and saying high damp if it beeps. They need to be used by someone who knows what they are doing.

We've got the same on the survey on the house we are buying. About 20 'issues' with the roof - showed it to a roofer mate of a mate and when he'd stopped laughing he basically said that there wasn't anything wrong with the roof.

For me, depends on what the asking, selling, and your required price is/was - if you've already come down £10k, then no go, priced accordingly. If you got marketed price and you can afford to, I'd maybe come down a few £k if it eases the process. Main cost for me would be the flat roof - roof replacement cost has basically doubled in the last 4 years from what I've seen, so won't be a cheap job if they need scaffolding.