Have the choice between a newer build and a Victorian terrace - help!

Myci85

The house has obviously been done up nicely inside, but if they've used cement to repoint and injected chemical DPC in a period property, I'd be wondering if they've also plastered and painted in non permeable materials too, not understanding how these houses need to breathe to avoid damp. Such a shame when these lovely old houses are damaged due to lack of knowledge. 

A0911

Myci85 said:

The house has obviously been done up nicely inside, but if they've used cement to repoint and injected chemical DPC in a period property, I'd be wondering if they've also plastered and painted in non permeable materials too, not understanding how these houses need to breathe to avoid damp. Such a shame when these lovely old houses are damaged due to lack of knowledge. 

To be honest you'd be extremely hard pressed around here to find one of these houses where this isn't the case. A lot of them are BTLs and poorly maintained, and the owner-occupied ones are usually young skint FTBs (like me!) trying to solve damp problems and falling straight into the clutches of the chemical DPC and cement strap pointing rogues.

I was hoping the pointing hadn't been touched so I could at least get that redone without having to dig out cement. But alas.

FreeBear

Myci85 said:

The house has obviously been done up nicely inside, but if they've used cement to repoint and injected chemical DPC in a period property, I'd be wondering if they've also plastered and painted in non permeable materials too, not understanding how these houses need to breathe to avoid damp. Such a shame when these lovely old houses are damaged due to lack of knowledge. 

If they've done the chemical injections, they've probably slapped the waterproof render/plaster on inside - The two usually go hand in had. On the bright side, the internal rendering is usually only done to a height of ~1.2m.

ThisIsWeird

A0911 said:

Myci85 said:

The house has obviously been done up nicely inside, but if they've used cement to repoint and injected chemical DPC in a period property, I'd be wondering if they've also plastered and painted in non permeable materials too, not understanding how these houses need to breathe to avoid damp. Such a shame when these lovely old houses are damaged due to lack of knowledge. 

To be honest you'd be extremely hard pressed around here to find one of these houses where this isn't the case. A lot of them are BTLs and poorly maintained, and the owner-occupied ones are usually young skint FTBs (like me!) trying to solve damp problems and falling straight into the clutches of the chemical DPC and cement strap pointing rogues.

I was hoping the pointing hadn't been touched so I could at least get that redone without having to dig out cement. But alas.

Argh, indeed.
Did you recognise the cement pointing yourself, or did you have someone with you for this?
Anyhoo, that is now a 'known' issue 'likely to substantially affect the value of the property'. As such, the EA should be upfront about this with any other potential buyer - yeah, right. As, should the vendor, if asked.
If you have a reasonably accurate estimate for redoing this, then try a punt at the EA, making it clear that it's an issue that's well known, will need sorting by whoever buys the place if it isn't going to cause serious long-term issues to the stone, and that it's serious enough to be declarable to all subsequent buyers. And do this in a manner that's recordable.
Revise your offer - if you still wish - to take into account this work.