Surveyor says house is uninhabitable

Joliates1939

I am selling my Dads house who died last year. It was advertised as needing re-wiring and we accepted an offer based on that.
The buyers intended building an extension, completely changing the whole of the downstairs including moving the kitchen and re-wiring at the same time. Their builder has already been round.
Apparently, their surveyor has said the ekectrics are unsafe and because every ceiling in the house is covered with polystyrene tiles, these 2 combined make the house uninhabitable. 

The buyers are saying they want all the tiles removed before moving in and I suggested their builder could come in between exchange and completion to do this. But now they are saying they can’t get insurance so can’t exchange.
E/A is pushing for us to remove all the tiles from the ceilings at our cost, which I am loath to do as I don’t know how much remedial work will be required afterwards. Any constructive advice appreciated. 

ProDave

It will leave the ceilings in a mess if you just scrape the tiles off, but if the buyer is happy with that, I would just pay someone to remove and dispose of the tiles.  Ask him.

user1977

Just removing the tiles shouldn't be a huge job. Though I haven't encountered them being deemed to make a property uninhabitable, not sure if another surveyor would have the same opinion.

housebuyer143

Was this the bank surveyor who said this? Did they get a mortgage on it? 

Joliates1939

The estate agent has said we should remove tiles and skim, but they are lath and plaster ceilings so not sure how bad they are going to be.user1977 said:

Just removing the tiles shouldn't be a huge job. Though I haven't encountered them being deemed to make a property uninhabitable, not sure if another surveyor would have the same opinion.

user1977 said:

Just removing the tiles shouldn't be a huge job. Though I haven't encountered them being deemed to make a property uninhabitable, not sure if another surveyor would have the same opinion.

Joliates1939

Not sure if it was a bank surveyor, they definitely have a mortgage but funds won’t be released due to survey

Joliates1939

My concern with removing the tiles is if they aren’t happy with what’s underneath they can just walk away leaving me with the cost of putting everything right before being able to put back on market. We are talking 10 ceilings here.

bouicca21

Removed polystyrene tiles many moons ago.  The problem was the (large) dots of adhesive that proved impossible to remove.  A friend fared better - the tiles in their house had been stuck up with what seemed to be ordinary wallpaper paste.

why not remove the tiles and offer the buyers a small allowance so that the buyers can organise a skim?

m0bov

Its habitable, its sold as seen so I would just decline, they can do what they want with it once its theres.

Joliates1939

We already reduced the sale price by £5000 and the sale was agreed with them knowing about the times and wiring so I’m not happy to reduce anymore 

Brie

will removing the tiles make it easier to sell should this buyer back out?  Presumably others will get the same comment from another surveyor.