Worrying survey report for newly refurbed Victorian terrace - what to do!?

LemonPeanuts

We're first time buyers and had a £310k offer accepted on a 4-bed victorian period terrace 2 weeks ago. (Originally was put on for 320k but then got reduced to £310k as lots of other properties on the market). Since then, we've had our mortgage offer, the solicitors are going to be doing searches soon, and we've just got out Level 3 survey report back after carefully selecting our surveyor. The survey report has raised some serious issues and we're not sure what to do.

The property has been newly refurbished by people who are starting out their home flipping business. This is their first house they'e done up. Originally, the property was on an auction for £79k+ and they bought it for £213k and refurbed it from a 3 bed and 1 bath terrace to a 4 bed and 2 bath terrace. It's got new electrical wiring, new boiler, new kitchen, new everything. It seems a good price for the area as other 3 bed properties on this street that sold in the last year or two have been £270k (needing work) and £318k / £333k (all done up). The EA mentioned that the vendors need the property to sell to get their business off the ground and do the next one so we attributed the decent price to this. The only thing we thought was wrong was that it had 2 showers and so we'd put a bath in, but we were happy to do that ourselves.

The surveyor suggested we get proof of all the building reg compliance certificates and approvals for all the work done because there were some safety hazards with their approach:
-there are no fire doors on the first and second floor
-the windows haven't properly been done up
-the consumer unit has been blocked in so the cover doesn't fully open
-the chimney breast has been removed on all 3 floors
-electric/gas safety test cert
-kitchen to diner wall removed

In addition to this, the surveyor highlighted the following remedial works needing to be done which i've summarised (urgent and non urgent merged):
• Main walls- 1)insulation on top floor is said to be quite poor (echoed on EPC) with no ventilation so would cause damp. Surveyor suggested to remove the plastering and insulate well, then replaster. Wall from kitchen to diner removed so need to check structural safety. Chimney breast too. 2)the outside wall around the piping has gaps where the brick is which should be filled as can expose the wall to wet weather/cause damp. Some foam was used to fill it in at points but this properly needs doing
• Fire doors put in on first and second floors to allow for means of escape
• Rainwater pipes and gutters - 1) theyve added concrete slabs in the garden which are too high and would therefore reduce drainage and create damp. Qualified contractor to repair the gutters soon (front junction, adjacent to the downpipe, was leaking at the time of inspection). Connect the downpipe to the underground drainage to prevent these issues in the future as rear downpipe discharges onto the ground. This leads to splashback onto nearby walls and over time can cause dampness. Some damp detected on the wall before using a device (non visible yet but the house is very freshly refurbed). The ground may become waterlogged over time and in extreme cases cause subsidence to nearby parts of the building. 2)Unblock front bay gutters that are blocked with vegetation
• Drainage - add soil vent pipe and lower the drain slope for drainage.
• Chimney stack - 1) Mortar needs re-pointing 2)guard installed and unused flues to be capped and ventilated. 3)clearing plant growth from the stack 4)flaunching needs to be inspected and repaired
• Roof coverings - The mortar securing the hip tiles has dislodged/weathered. This can leave the roof covering vulnerable to rainwater penetration. 1)The hips should be inspected and repaired soon. I recommend installing a plastic dry system to reduce the need for maintenance in the future 2)roofer to replace the affected tiles soon to ensure the roof is watertight 3)moss/plant growth to be removed from roof covering
• Windows - not properly fitted in window frame and would need a specialist to come fix it
• Bargeboard - needs repairing as quite weathered
• Kitchen unit sealing - no sealant anywhere on the new unit or the bathrooms so would beed this added to prevent leaks
• Guard rail and door stops - second floor needs this as currently quite unsafe as it is
• Bathroom fittings - toilet not properly fitted to the wall (+sealant issue) and adding extractor fans to bathrooms

We're going to call with our surveyor today to talk through the survey findings and see what he thinks/what he would do.

We've emailed our solicitors and the EA making them aware of these issues and asked that the vendor provides certification and makes the remedial works suggested. If they can't make the remedial works, then we said we may consider renegotiating the price, based on independent quotes of what qualified specialists would charge for the outstanding work. We put on the urgent and non urgent works in the same list to see if they can do as much of it as possible, but some works (like bargeboard, guard rail) we'd be haply doing ourselves if they won't. Thought we'd aim higher. I'm hoping this is reasonable, as I'm sure they'll realise that if they don't do this now then they would probably have to go through all this for the next buyer...

We're not sure what to do as we really like the property, the location, and it offers us everything we need but we're also not wanting to go for a property that will have serious problems later down the line. It's a done up property and we feel the price reflects that so we expected there to be mainly decorative work left to be done... We'd like some guidance, if anyone has any on:

1) what if they don't have the certifications to back up their work (we fear they won't- so might be best to walk away?) - or would they be able to retrospectively do this and would this be fine to go with? Think we would definitely walk away if the chimney breast/wall removal came back negative.
2) how much might those remedial works cost? if they can back up their work so far but won't want to do the repairs, we would probably ask for this amount of money to be taken off the price and do it ourselves.
3) we are concerned that what the surveyor found was what they could visibly see, so sort of terrified of what the vendors may have hidden when doing their 'refurb'...

Also we shared the copy of the survey with the solicitor and EA and are wondering if we shouldn't have as we've seen on other forums that people hold onto it as the vendor could choose to buy it from us. EA has asked we share the survey with the sellers for full transparency - I guess we should if we want to have a chance of getting it done?

Another point - we paid our lender £100 for them to do their valuation. After we paid and refreshed the page we instantly got a confirmation that they valued it at the price we offered 'based on market data'. We're truly interested in what the value is, so seems a shame that £100 was spent only for the click of a button to give the green light. Do we have a chance in appealing so they can come and look at it properly?

Albermarle

The property has been newly refurbished by people who are starting out their home flipping business. This is their first house they'e done up.

Flippers often do not do a good job, especially when you look behind the new kitchens etc .

We have lots of threads on here from FTBs scared by what they see in their survey report. Mostly they are non issues, or things you would expect in an older house. However here there is quite a catalogue of issues, especially considering the property has just been refurbished.

I would not worry about the lenders valuation, it is not supposed to be that accurate.
You can pay for a proper valuation, but it would cost a lot more than £100.
Have you spoken to the surveyor. In writing they try and cover every little defect, but if you talk to them they should give you a more balanced view, and might even comment on the price ( unofficially).

JM68

That's a long and concerning list of things which, if it were me, would give me zero confidence that these 'flippers' know anything much about what they are doing. I too would also be concerned about what the surveyor did/could not see. If you really want the property (and there are no alternatives) then it does sound sensible to make certs for all works a minimum requirement plus money for maybe at least the urgent stuff. If you can't get then consider walking away.

Tabieth

I’d walk away. They’ve clearly done a very poor job and goodness only knows what other problems will turn up. 

Herzlos

I was already tense when you mentioned flippers. Then it gets worse when it's their first time and there's pages of issues.  Serious issues like fire safety, damp and draining, and incompetent issues like not caulking stuff.  This is nightmare stuff. 

If you're happy buying a house that's been flipped as cheaply as possible by people who clearly don't know what they are doing, then go ahead. 

But holy crap, I'd be running to the estate agents and picking somewhere else. 

Given the state of the work done, if you're insisting on continuing, I'd be looking to price it assuming you need to strip it back to brick and start again. Because that's what you're going to have to do. 

stuart45

Herzlos said:

I was already tense when you mentioned flippers. Then it gets worse when it's their first time and there's pages of issues.  Serious issues like fire safety, damp and draining, and incompetent issues like not caulking stuff.  This is nightmare stuff. 

If you're happy buying a house that's been flipped as cheaply as possible by people who clearly don't know what they are doing, then go ahead. 

But holy crap, I'd be running to the estate agents and picking somewhere else. 

Given the state of the work done, if you're insisting on continuing, I'd be looking to price it assuming you need to strip it back to brick and start again. Because that's what you're going to have to do. 

I'd agree with all of this.

Section62

stuart45 said:

Herzlos said:

I was already tense when you mentioned flippers. Then it gets worse when it's their first time and there's pages of issues.  Serious issues like fire safety, damp and draining, and incompetent issues like not caulking stuff.  This is nightmare stuff. 

If you're happy buying a house that's been flipped as cheaply as possible by people who clearly don't know what they are doing, then go ahead. 

But holy crap, I'd be running to the estate agents and picking somewhere else. 

Given the state of the work done, if you're insisting on continuing, I'd be looking to price it assuming you need to strip it back to brick and start again. Because that's what you're going to have to do. 

I'd agree with all of this.

Me too.

Plus why was it given a guide price of only £79k+ when it went into auction?  If the done up price is circa £300k then why did the vendors think £79k would be Ok if it only needed a bit of updating?  I know auctioneers guide low to sucker draw the bidders in, but that sounds excessively low.

And others have said, it is what the surveyor wasn't able to see which needs to be added to the list of concerns.

sheramber

What qualifications do these 'fippers' have? Are they builderes, joiners, plumbers etc?  Or are they DIY ers thinking to make a quick profit?

Would you trust them to  do the requested work to a good standard, or to the same standard as they have done so far?