AIBU to pull out of house purchase due to roof issues?

[SocksOnTheLoose]

Hi!

It’s a long story… My partner and I are first-time buyers, and we have a mortgage advisor. We found a house that we fell in love with and also really liked the vendors. We made an offer (£5,000 less than the asking price), which they accepted on the same day.

We’ve been in this process for about two months now. Around two weeks ago, we received a phone call saying that the vendors had lost the house they were buying and now need to find another one (their survey also revealed some serious issues). This happened just before our survey. Then, when our survey came back, it also highlighted serious issues with the roof and walls.

We’re feeling disheartened and unsure about what to do. Our mortgage advisor suggested getting some quotes, as surveyors sometimes exaggerate the severity of issues. We’ve contacted a few professionals, but no one has gotten back to us.

Are we just wasting our time and energy on this… or not? I’m really just looking for opinions and maybe some advice from anyone who has been in a similar situation.

Rant over.

P.S.: I don’t know if anyone will make it to the end of this, but if you did, thank you for taking the time to read it. I’ll attach some photos of the report.

So the house needs a new roof, how old is it? Any house will need some work whether immediately or in a few years time
Unless you buy a new build, expect to have some red on the survey tbh
It just depends whether you can afford to sort it out or not. And if it's not leaking it's not urgent.

It’s from the 1950s. The vendors said they have never experienced any damp, but the report mentioned that there might be some. They did have a leak in the bathroom and replaced some piping, but other than that, nothing major. The house itself needs updating inside, which we were prepared for, but not for a full roof replacement. I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew.

I think a surveyor is less likely to over play it than a mortgage advisor, who stands to lose the mortgage, is to underplay it.

You don't need to pull out, unless you dont want to move into a house that needs work, but the price does need to reflect the work needed.

After a survey is usually where negotiations start as the house is valued by an estate agent and anything obvious like a 30 year old kitchen will have been taken into consideration. The survey has now flagged up potentially needing a new roof or at least repairs, you get quotes, then go back to the vendor and try to reduce the price by the cost of the new roof so you are not at a loss financially

You have the survey to back up that it needs doing, you show that to the estate agent for proof meaning if the vendors say no to you and put their house back on the market they will have the same issue for the next buyer. The estate agent wants the sale so is likely to advise them of the above.

Homeowning will always mean updating things either because it is essential or because cosmetically you want to change something. It isn't biting off more than you can chew because you are not doing the work. Do you know anyone through family, friends or work colleagues who have had building work or roofing work who can recommend someone? My roofer was originally through my extension and then has been back 2 more times for issues with leaks. My house is 25 years old but we are on an exposed elevation. Just like yours, my ridge tiles needed repointing.

Keep on at the people you contacted but put feelers out through people you know. From the roofer's perspective, this isn't a house you own yet so might not come to any work but he/she is expected to come out for free and quote.

I am not suggesting you fix the roof but this chap is amazing, so have a watch of his videos but also lots of renovation stories on youtube of people doing things themselves. We are competent DIYers and have learned a lot from researching on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/@FixmyroofCoUk

If you’re worried, ask a roofer to visit and quote for the work. But reading the actual words on the roofing section - they wouldn’t be worried by that. It will just need some maintenance in the next few years

I don't trust reviews of tradespeople on checkatrade but their blog is very useful for giving ball park figures for how much almost anything is likely to cost eg
www.checkatrade.com/blog/cost-guides/roof-replacement-cost/

Every house I have ever bought for the last 30 years the survey has said it needs a new roof.

It never needs a new roof and if anything new roofs can be worse than the ones they’re taking off
Every single time a Roofer who one might argue has invested interest in replacing the roof has gone onto the roof and said no there’s about £600 worth of repairs need doing and we’ve done those.

My brother knocked 10 grand off his house sale two years ago. Because of the new roof issue. I live around the corner from the house.
They have not put a new roof on

Where does it say it needs a new roof? It needs repair. I’d want around £10,000 off. It’s not a massive issue in my view. The timbers are ok and so are the tiles. It needs ventilation and that helps keep it dry when it’s insulated. I would not say it’s a deal breaker but price matters. As they don’t have anywhere to go, you could look around again.

This just knock something off the asking price to reflect that

I'm struggling to read it all but it's an old , 1950s slate roof? My house is well over 100 years old with a slate roof. The slates last forever. When we moved in the roof hadn;t been touched in 100 years, we had the odd slate slippage but nothing major.

ten/15 years ago we had it reroofed. They took all the slates off, put a membrane down, put the original slates back on with new nails. Cost 3k. Been perfect since.

I would not worry about that survey but yes to getting a roofer to look at it.

Our only issue with roofers is that we’ve contacted many, but only one responded—and they said we’d need to pay £400 just to get a quote. Is that normal? We don’t have any roofer contacts, so we’re just trying to choose based on reviews. I really hope we won’t have to replace the roof. We’re just trying to get a quote, but it’s hard when so few are responding.

@QuirkInTheMatrix It’s not about the roof tiles. It’s about repairs. The structure is sound but it needs some attention.

Yeah the bit about the roof itself is a repair to avoid storm damage. Literally a few hundred pounds in cost. Nothing there would particularly concern me.

I can’t read the other red bit about the ceilings though

They're charging for the quote because you don't own the property. That will also be why you're struggling to get responses - no real potential for the quote to become a real job.
As a poster said up thread, £10k off to cover a bit of roof repair and lowering the paving at the front. I wouldn't be worried about that report and nothing mentioned is needed urgently.

Thank you for all the comments. You all have been very helpful and have made us think this all is not that hopeless. We will try to negotiate through the estate agent because we do love the house. We are just very clueless and have no one to talk about this.

If you do buy it - and I don't see why you wouldn't, really ask round to get a reputable roofer. Talk to anyone you know. It's really worth getting a personal recommendation.

Agree that the report isn't saying you need a new roof- its just saying it needs some repair and will need replacing at some point, as all roofs do.

Yes paying to have someone come and quote is quite normal- why would they do it for free? We had to do similar when we bought our house last year, they said they'd take the amount off the invoice if we eventually got the work done with them but it just covers them in the event you don't buy the house/don't do the work/get someone else to do it.

I'd get them round, get a proper quote for the work, and use that as a bargaining chip to negotiate some money off the asking price. That would be the normal way of going about things.

I'm a surveyor and reading the bits i could read there is nothing that would concern me. Sounds like it is an old/original roof that is ready for an overhaul. Not necessarily a new one just some care and you being aware that it is nearer the end of its life than its start. A good thing to do on a street of similar houses is to look at how many on the road have new roofs - as they're all generally built at the same time, if yours is the only one left with the original one chances are you're getting close!

With the other bits, all houses are going to need maintenance, if you're absolutely against doing this then you'd have to look at a new build. Otherwise speak to the surveyor about what he thinks is most important to tackle first and then prioritise things. There are plenty of houses that we have surveyed and they come on the market say 5/6 years later and you can see they still have all the same issues we reported on. He's not said anything is super serious, but you just need to be aware. Also, if you're planning on doing renovations be aware that may be the time to do further work - silly spending out on cosmetic work if there is something underlying that probably needs doing before/at the same time.

Good luck!

We had to pay for a chartered surveyor because of room issues, normal. We did pull out because the owner had removed structural beams, and the roof was collapsing, as were the ceilings.
They they did works between the survey and survivors - making the issues worse to try and avoid a negotiation in price and then the owner tried to bribe the surveyor.
He call me and said "this is the most bombastic person I've ever met don't buy this house"
And we pulled out.

But, your situation seems completely different and manageable. Budget for the works and try and get the price toml reflect.

Remember it could also be that the seller feels the house has been priced to reflect the age of the roof and not be overly inclined to reduce the price. And to be honest I can see that viewpoint.

Thank you for your viewpoints. The house listing mentioned that it needs upgrading inside, which we wouldn’t mind. The vendors said they never had any problems with the roof itself. They are simply moving due to health problems, as they can’t climb stairs anymore. They seemed genuine. I don’t think they had a clue about the roof, as the surveyor noted that it is still the original one. We did check the roof when we viewed the house, and it didn’t look bad. We will try to negotiate, nothing to lose at this point.

Also don't forget surveyors and conveyance can be sued if they don't flag stuff, if discovered afterwards so they can be a little over zealous to cover themselves.
You need to apply context and priority to the survey too.
:)

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I don’t think it needs a new roof, but I would say the re-pointing needs attention. Given it has been mentioned in a survey, if you subsequently suffer roof damage in a storm, the insurer may not pay out.

the only other potential area of concern would be the comment about asbestos roof tiles. I would suggest having an asbestos survey of the roof and negotiating a price for replacement if the tiles are found to contain asbestos. The risk is very low and if you don’t bother it, it won’t bother you, but replacing it might be better in the long run.

If the tiles have asbestos in them, the main thing is to check they are not cracked and broken. They would need to be removed in accordance with protocols but that’s not unusual. A competent roofer will know what to do.