Purchase regret or reason to worry?

Marleysmummy99

ReadySteadyPop said:

Can you just sell the house, to an investor/BTL landlord maybe?

Not an option sadly. We can't afford to sell at a loss. The house also needs work.

tooldle

Marleysmummy99 said:

tooldle said:

Did you did you have a drainage survey?

No, it wasn't suggested if you mean a cctv survey before buying? The sellers wouldn't have allowed this anyway.

Surveyor should have suggested it, but regardless he should have seen the cracks and dropped concrete. He has said to me in a text "no subsidence" and said no signs of subsidence in his level 3 survey report.

Yes, I did mean before purchase. Check your level 3 report careful as recommending a survey for the bits the surveyor is not qualified to assess (electrics, drainage etc), is usually a standard clause.
I’ve owned a few fixer uppers over the years and one of those did have subsidence. Subsidence is an ongoing movement. 

How big is the window with the masonry crack, and what type of window was there before?
Was the word ‘settlement’ used anywhere in the survey? 

Marleysmummy99

tooldle said:

Marleysmummy99 said:

tooldle said:

Did you did you have a drainage survey?

No, it wasn't suggested if you mean a cctv survey before buying? The sellers wouldn't have allowed this anyway.

Surveyor should have suggested it, but regardless he should have seen the cracks and dropped concrete. He has said to me in a text "no subsidence" and said no signs of subsidence in his level 3 survey report.

Yes, I did mean before purchase. Check your level 3 report careful as recommending a survey for the bits the surveyor is not qualified to assess (electrics, drainage etc), is usually a standard clause.
I’ve owned a few fixer uppers over the years and one of those did have subsidence. Subsidence is an ongoing movement. 

How big is the window with the masonry crack, and what type of window was there before?
Was the word ‘settlement’ used anywhere in the survey? 

He did say a drainage survey as pipes are old. However as part of my complaint I got a reply that said dropped concrete on the left hand side of the building (opposite side to that window with cracks)


Window isn't very big, this is a single story there as is next to the attached garage (converted) with a sloping room

This is what it looks like from the front of the building, with the sloping roof - window with cracks and the window next to it that are cracked are on the side of that garage 

I have this text from him (Also report itself said no damp, but reading that again he's saying there is damp.)

tooldle

The extra info above reads to me as issue with concrete slab has covered by the original survey. To me  it doesn’t read as though there are concerns around dampness.
The question I asked about the window with cracking, was to establish if perhaps, the UPVC window is the cause I.e. the window is unable to support the weight of the brick work above. Another query if I may, you mention something about no gate /  issue with gate meaning you were not able to gain access or had limited access to side of garage when viewing? What level of access did the surveyor have?
In my limited experience, I’d not call this house a ‘lemon’. Important to remember this is not a brand new house and older houses do come with issues I.e. paths crack, slabs drop, idiots replace things on the cheap without thought of consequence etc. I would advise getting a drainage survey asap. We’ve recent had a ‘non draining’ chamber. Unfortunately, the issue was not on our property and we suffered 48 hours of high volume back flowing sewage before our water  provider decided  to declare it a major fault and to over pump, until such time as it could be fixed. Every party attending the fault, initially claimed the blockage to be on our property. My point here is that what you see on your property is not always the complete story.

Marleysmummy99

Thanks for your reply. Hopefully your sewage issue all sorted now. 

Drainage survey Friday on all downpipes (6 of them) and the sewer. Sewer rings along this side of the house below. We've noticed some cracking on that red window, that wasn't blocked up properly and a shower is not in front of it inside! Lots of bodge jobs by previous owners.