Issues roof structure within the loft shown up in our Homebuyers Survey

Pinky2019

Good afternoon. 

My partner and I are in the process of buying our first home together, when we viewed the property we were told it had, had a new roof 2 years ago, we’ve recieved the paperwork from the solicitor stating that this is the case etc, so we thought that that would be the one thing that wouldn’t show up on the survey, however after recieving our survey report the surveyor has stated that duing the roof replacement the structure in the loft should have been strenghthened to support the roof was sagging due to the weight of the tiles and before proceeding we should get a structural engineer in to assess what needs doing. We are first time buyers and clueless we’ve sent the survey to our solicitors asking for the sellers to fix the issue before completion if this needs doing and waiting on the response.  Should we instruct the structural engineer or leave it with the sellers to do and are we within our rights to ask the seller to complete any work that needs doing or are we being unreasonable?

lincroft1710

You can of course ask the seller, but they may say no, or agree and do a poor job. It may be preferable to get a structural engineer's report, negotiate an appropriate reduction in price and have the job done by a builder of your choice.


Or walk away.

RAS

Have they changed the roof from slates to tiles, which are much heavier, for example? Check google maps for previous years to see if the roof covering has changed.

Hoenir

You might wish to look for other properties. Might not be a quick fix. 

daveyjp

Very common when owners want the cheap job.  Swap light slates for cheaper but much heavier tiles without changing or strengthening the rafters and purlins.  My local area has lots of Victorian properties with saggy rooflines due to this cost cutting.

Bigphil1474

If you still want to go ahead with the purchase, get your own survey done by a structural engineer. Could be an expensive fix. Once you've had that done you can contemplate whether your original offer needs adjusting. It might be a cheap fix. We sold a house last year that needed some support work on the upper chimney as the lower chimney had been removed years ago. We were thinking it would be £thousands. We got it checked and fixed for about £400.