Leasehold maisonette - damage to outside of property

LaurenB_2

Hey, I'm currently in the process of buying a leasehold ground floor maisonette and would love some advice.
The property is amazing but one issue, the upstairs neighbour who has lived in the property 20 years, who's door and garden is to the right side of the house, has ivy growing all up the side of the house, the only cut outs are for her door, my kitchen window and bathroom window which are on that side.
The ivy has grown all up their side (the right side), is all in the guttering on that side, up the roof and is growing across the front of the property.

The people I am buying off said they have lived there 8 years, the ivy has been growing the whole time (I found the photos online from when they bought it) and they have had no issues at all but I am very doubtful of that as my understanding is ivy can get in all the brick work etc. and cause serious damage, I also spotted a dehumidifier in the front right room (where the ivy is on the outside). 

I'm waiting to hear back from my solicitor, who is waiting for the freeholder to complete their forms to state who is responsible for the upkeep of the outside of the building as I thought it should be the freeholder.
My worry is that I will move in and will have to pay for a replacement roof / damp issue / any other issues this ivy has caused. 

I plan on getting a full survey and damp report done and if there are issues, either withdraw or drop my price but I wanted to understand a bit more around if the ivy has / is causing issues, what rights have I got to refuse to pay costs and make them remove it as it is their doing and has been going on for years before I would move in? 

Below is a photo of the ivy in question - is it a smart idea to just walk away and save myself the hassle? 

Brie

Yikes!  I suggest you show that photo to someone who specialises in ivy removal or at least a gardener to see how much it will cost to remove it all.  Then it will need repointing likely and the guttering fixed/replaced.  Roof fixing?  And then you can worry about the internal damage it may have caused.  

And you'll have to pick your time to do the work as I would bet there's a whole army of birds etc living in it as well.  

teaselMay

I'd walk away

Grizebeck

Tell them to remove it before you exchange....

Slinky

The property probably seems 'amazing' by comparison with what else you've looked at, as they've priced it to shift it due to that ivy. Anybody in their right mind would not have let it get that bad. There's something going on that you need to be exceedingly cautious about. I'd be concerned about that upstairs neighbour, and wouldn't trust a word of what the vendor tells you about their relationship with them.

Wouldn't touch it with a barge pole personally.

PennysIntoPounds

It's not necessarily as bad as feared but I'd get a professional (or ask your sellers to) and check if the risk factors can be adequately assessed

https://www.rhs.org.uk/prevention-protection/ivy-on-buildings

Grumpy_chap

That's too much ivy.  Walk away.

NameUnavailable

That looks a bit out of control. I'd worry about what if any maintenance has been carried out on the property and how good the relationship is with the neighbour.

There's also going to be a lot of wildlife of various sorts living in that which may be an issue if you want to have windows open.

DullGreyGuy

LaurenB_2 said:

Hey, I'm currently in the process of buying a leasehold ground floor maisonette and would love some advice.
The property is amazing but one issue, the upstairs neighbour who has lived in the property 20 years, who's door and garden is to the right side of the house, has ivy growing all up the side of the house, the only cut outs are for her door, my kitchen window and bathroom window which are on that side.
The ivy has grown all up their side (the right side), is all in the guttering on that side, up the roof and is growing across the front of the property.

The people I am buying off said they have lived there 8 years, the ivy has been growing the whole time (I found the photos online from when they bought it) and they have had no issues at all but I am very doubtful of that as my understanding is ivy can get in all the brick work etc. and cause serious damage, I also spotted a dehumidifier in the front right room (where the ivy is on the outside). 

I'm waiting to hear back from my solicitor, who is waiting for the freeholder to complete their forms to state who is responsible for the upkeep of the outside of the building as I thought it should be the freeholder.
My worry is that I will move in and will have to pay for a replacement roof / damp issue / any other issues this ivy has caused. 

I plan on getting a full survey and damp report done and if there are issues, either withdraw or drop my price but I wanted to understand a bit more around if the ivy has / is causing issues, what rights have I got to refuse to pay costs and make them remove it as it is their doing and has been going on for years before I would move in? 

Below is a photo of the ivy in question - is it a smart idea to just walk away and save myself the hassle? 

Isn't a maisonette a two story dwelling? Not sure where the upstair neighbour above a maisonette is in that picture unless they are in the roof space with no windows?

Ivy divides opinion massively, it certainly can be very destructive and problematic but many think it looks good too. My childhood home was covered in it at the back but it never caused any significant issues there. At the front it was mainly other plants but the little ivy there had grown between the window frame and wall and significantly damaged the frame. 

Its not clear from the photos that its all a single plant still or if its definitely "hers". It's certainly grown wild and I'd argue needs to be cut back or removed before it causes significant damage. The question is if the price is good enough to take that on 

MEM62

I wouldn't go near that.