Structural Engineer Report on house i'm purchasing

ljs_1985

I'm 2 months into a house purchase process on an 1890s Victorian semi and am having issues re works that may/may not be required. I have no experience with this and am hoping for some sensible guidance.

I had a level 3 building survey done which came back with lots of issues however the major one being 'significant cracks' above the bay window and to the rear. He recommended I get a structural engineer to survey them which i have. He's come back and said he would advise i don't proceed with purchase until certain works are carried out, which include the following

1) The bressummer beam above bay window is Timber and has at some point decayed causing movement to the floor above (windows have dropped and cracks present) - He recommends replacing with a steel beam and the brickwork being repaired with bed joint reinforcement.

2)Vertical cracks to rear walls, and bulging in the flank wall which again he recommends  repairing these issues with bed joint reinforcement.

3)A significant drop in level of the suspended timber ground floor which may be to do with a gulley located at this location externally and he suspects there has been a leak and then timber decay of the floor boards so the recommendation is to lift the floor and replace any decayed timber.


The vendor initially refused to make any further improvements as had already reduced the price to cover some damp works which need to be done however has since come back saying that he is prepared to take £7k off the price agreed but won't do much of what the structural engineer has said as he think it's unnecessary and has had a builder agree so.

He says the Bressummer beam was already replaced with a new timber one this year and he's not now replacing is with a steel one but will rebuild brick work and repoint as needed.

He will repair cracks to rear, grind out brickwork to internal corner and resin bound hellifix bars, and repoint.

He has today exposed and inspected floorboards and joists to floor and found no leak, nor issues with damp or rot. He's attached photos which to a totally untrained eye don't appear to show rot or decay,

He's said he's not having any more surveys or experts coming to check anything and will accept another offer if I'm not happy with current position. They remarketed it last week and did viewings at the weekend and have received an offer allegedly however obviously any new buyer will get a survey done too so it's in his best interest to try and get me to proceed if possible otherwise he has months more of it sitting unsold.

He bought it at auction, the owner prior had lived there for 60 years and passed away so it was in a right state and there is no history on it. He has renovated it and it's currently unoccupied

After all that ramble i guess my question is, Do i trust the structural surveyors advise to not proceed? Or do the works that the vendor is having done cover most requirements off?

horsewithnoname

I would rather a reduction in price and do the work myself (well, get my own builders in I mean) but personally, unless you are really set on this house, I’d look for another. Sounds a bit of a bodge. 

RAS

Unless you have a lot of experience dealing with and remedying defective houses, look elsewhere.

tacpot12

I agree with horsewithnoname, if you force the seller into taking on a repair they don't think is necessary, how much care will they take over it? 

However, it is unusual in my experience for a surveyor of any sort to recommend that the seller does the work. I may be worrying over nothing, but I'm wondering if the engineer is worried that there might be more problems that he can see for sure, so is advising leaving it to the current owner to take the risk of trying to fix the problem.

I've never heard of this before, but I wonder if there is scope for the sale to be agreed on the basis that you will pay £10,000 less for the property than the currently agreed price, and will put £10,000 into ESCROW that can only be released either to the contractor doing the work or to the seller of the property (no money can ever come back to you). That way, you get the repair done as well as you want it, the risk of opening a can of worms is covered (if the amount placed into ESCROW is large enough), and the seller gets the most that they can from the sale. 

FreeBear

ljs_1985 said: He bought it at auction, the owner prior had lived there for 60 years and passed away so it was in a right state and there is no history on it. He has renovated it and it's currently unoccupied

So... A flipper that bought cheap, has done a bunch of work on the cheap, and is wanting top price. A good chance that there will be bodges galore and totally inappropriate materials used in places (e.g. walls repointed in cement rather than lime mortar).

If he has replaced the Bressummer beam, is there Building Control sign-off on the job - It is structural, so BC should have been notified. If no paperwork, then assume the work still needs doing.

Section62

FreeBear said:

ljs_1985 said: He bought it at auction, the owner prior had lived there for 60 years and passed away so it was in a right state and there is no history on it. He has renovated it and it's currently unoccupied

So... A flipper that bought cheap, has done a bunch of work on the cheap, and is wanting top price. A good chance that there will be bodges galore and totally inappropriate materials used in places (e.g. walls repointed in cement rather than lime mortar).

If he has replaced the Bressummer beam, is there Building Control sign-off on the job - It is structural, so BC should have been notified. If no paperwork, then assume the work still needs doing.

^This.

Other than for a listed building I don't know why anyone would replace a bressummer beam with timber rather than steel - his story doesn't really stack up.  I'd suspect BC are completely unaware of this 'renovation'... and the place is probably riddled with building regulation breaches that might take thousands to fix.

I'd run rather than walk, and seriously consider reporting concerns about the property to building control so the next potential buyer doesn't get conned into buying a money pit.

ljs_1985

Thanks everyone for your replies. I think my gut was telling me to pull out but when you've got no idea what you're doing and you're in it alone you just need reassurance from others I guess. I think exactly what's been said above, he's bought a house without any surveys or knowledge of the history of the property. Got his builder/mate to bodge it and make it look pretty and now knows that if he does anything structural he's not going to make a profit. The structural engineer said similar hence why he recommended works are completed by the vendor as i guess maybe he's expecting there to be further issues perhaps?

I have today said that i won't proceed.

BikingBud

Excellent, there many be many dragons in here: 

I had a level 3 building survey done which came back with lots of issues

 I would consider the 2 months not as time wasted but time invested and money saved.

FreeBear

Section62 said:

FreeBear said:

ljs_1985 said: He bought it at auction, the owner prior had lived there for 60 years and passed away so it was in a right state and there is no history on it. He has renovated it and it's currently unoccupied

So... A flipper that bought cheap, has done a bunch of work on the cheap, and is wanting top price. A good chance that there will be bodges galore and totally inappropriate materials used in places (e.g. walls repointed in cement rather than lime mortar).

If he has replaced the Bressummer beam, is there Building Control sign-off on the job - It is structural, so BC should have been notified. If no paperwork, then assume the work still needs doing.

^This.

Other than for a listed building I don't know why anyone would replace a bressummer beam with timber rather than steel - his story doesn't really stack up.  I'd suspect BC are completely unaware of this 'renovation'... and the place is probably riddled with building regulation breaches that might take thousands to fix.

I'd run rather than walk, and seriously consider reporting concerns about the property to building control so the next potential buyer doesn't get conned into buying a money pit.

And no more waiting 4(?) years so that the council can no longer issue enforcement notices. The law changed last October, and councils now have up to ten years to issue enforcement notices. Fines have gone from a maximum of £5000 to being unlimited and up to 2 years in jail (as well as daily fines of up to £200). On top of that, both the home owner & contractor can be held liable and potentially face criminal prosecutions.

ljs_1985 said: I have today said that i won't proceed.

Probably the wisest choice. Another property will turn up without the inherent problems of this one, and you'll be much more at home without the worry of uncovering endless bodges.