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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

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

38 replies

SocksOnTheLoose · 01/04/2025 11:15

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.

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

OP posts:

suki1964 · 01/04/2025 16:16

Our first house buy, we did a home owners survey - one where they actually get out of the car

1930's mid terrace

He flagged up "hoop iron" totally disregarding the previous survey done 5 years previous stating the hose was not affected and certificate issued

Advised electrical survey and gas survey - that's par the course and should be done

Said the back door and kitchen window needed replacing and wall needed repointing ( no bother the whole back of the house was coming down )

And said the roof needed attention ( the flashing around the chimney needed renewed )

He totally missed the fact that the vendors had put a concrete patio outside the kitchen - ABOVE the damp proof course and the kitchen floor was that wet that the Lino was floating lol

Electric and gas both passed, the flashing was a cheap job and as it was a Reno we weren't concerned about the wet kitchen and dodgy wet rear wall

Buying your first home is scary - its a LOT of money, and like you at the time I was nervous as hell going ahead but ahead we went and all was fine

Second house, one Im in now, didn't get a survey as under 10 years old and still covered with builders warranty

Then we moved here, and everywhere we went we saw stop the lignite signs everywhere. We were right inside a compulsory purchase zone IF permission for mining went ahead!!!! 20 years on, fossil fuels aren't ever getting mined here. I said to my solicitor, why did you never mention it? Oh he said, it was never going to happen so why worry you?

Yeah, its a minefield and scarey

Asbestos in tiles is rife and it's fine as long as they aren't damaged. If they are in good repair - leave alone . Repointing is a common need in older houses - get quotes per meter as some do like to drag it out

WinterTreacle · 01/04/2025 16:17

The house we sold needed a new roof (the buyers survey brought it up). Rather than lose the sale we deducted the cost from the asking price. New roof was £4500. We were happy and so was buyer. Get your quote and advise sellers you would need it deducted from the sale price.

Devonmaid1844 · 01/04/2025 16:35

We had a new roof flagged on our house. There was mould growing on some of the beams in the attic as well. Everyone told us the same as on here, it comes up all the time, you'll be fine. We tried to negotiate a reduction and they said no, they'd not had problems and thought the price was fair.

A few months after buying the house we had a reputable local roofer come round, he looked at the roof and the beams. The mould had cleared up and he said he bet they just dried clothes inside and didn't open windows and nothing to do with the roof and the roof was absolutely fine.

10 years into having the house now and just had some dormers fitted and spoke to the roofer about the roof and replacing at the same time and he said it'd be fine for decades to come and not to bother. Of course you might be one of the ones who actually needs a roof replacing, but it really does come up regularly and they last a very long time.

BoredZelda · 01/04/2025 17:30

TinyFlamingo · 01/04/2025 15:14

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.
:)

Edited

This is not the case. A surveyor can be kicked out of the RICS for doing this, it is against their code of ethical conduct.

The survey gives the context by flagging what they see as red, amber or green. They won’t include anything as requiring attention if it doesn’t, because they could also be sued for negligence if someone incurs a cost for addressing something in the survey that doesn’t need attention.

Bekip1 · 02/04/2025 06:34

SocksOnTheLoose · 01/04/2025 12:23

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.

I work for a roofing company and we avoid quotes like yours as it is a lot of admin time as we have to get our surveyor out and then do a report with a quote to never actually receive the works so it is a waste of time. We also charge for this survey because they don’t legally own the house. This is probably why you’ve been quoted £400 just to get a roofer out to have a look. (Although £400 is excessive I guess it depends on your area and the company themselves)

TizerorFizz · 02/04/2025 08:05

@Devonmaid1844 Did you actually read the report? It doesn’t say it needs replacing. It says it needs some work to address some defects.

Cnidarian · 02/04/2025 08:16

It doesn't say you need a new roof, it says it will need repairs over time and you might lose a ridgetile in a storm. We just had that fixed it was £300. If as PP suggested you tried to get £10,000 off for that you would be firmly told where to go by me!

TizerorFizz · 02/04/2025 09:22

@Cnidarian There were other red sections and it depends on the value of the house. £10,000 is next to nothing. It’s a negotiating position and depends if vendors have lots of people wanting to buy it and whether they think first time buyers are valuable. It depends on whether the agreed price was fair in light of the report.

PensionedCruiser · 02/04/2025 10:56

SocksOnTheLoose · 01/04/2025 15:07

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.

Your surveyor is your friend in this instance. Talk to them about your concerns and ask them to recommend specialist contractors to give detailed quotes. Even ask them outright whether he thinks you should back out.

Original poster

SocksOnTheLoose · 02/04/2025 11:05

We’ve had our offer of £125,000 accepted. It’s a semi in the North East. It does need some work inside, but considering the survey report, £10,000 off would be a big help, and I think it’s reasonable. I hope the survey report will be enough for renegotiation, but to be honest, these comments made us rethink the whole situation—and we’d go for it anyway, even if they don’t reduce the price. We do love it; it just feels a bit scary. At first glance, the survey felt overwhelming, seeing all the problems. But now I know I definitely overreacted. And again thanks to everyone for reading and commenting x

OP posts:

TizerorFizz · 02/04/2025 13:41

@SocksOnTheLoose Given the cost, £10,000 could be a starting point but that’s a big %. I was assuming it might be a higher value. So ask but be prepared to negotiate. Don’t let the vendor not sell to you. Getting estimates will be a faff when you don’t own it. Only you know if its price is realistic for age and condition. I would ask your surveyor for an opinion on costs.

Goodadvice1980 · 02/04/2025 13:48

Firstly, the survey report is your property so you are not obligated to give the estate agent a copy (unless they pay for it).

When this happened on my purchase I emailed the estate agent listing the main areas needing attention from the survey. I then advised what my reduction was on the price I had previously offered.

Obviously the EA wasn’t happy but I made it clear the revised offer was take it or leave it. The revised offer was accepted straight away by the seller.

Of course once I’d moved in I wished I had offered less 😂

I treated it like a business decision not an emotional purchase. There will always been another house!

angela1952 · 02/04/2025 16:07

We once bought a house where the previous owners had replaced the roof but the standard of the work was poor and they hadn’t used real slate on the listed building which required this. We knocked £20k off our offer (the work was quoted at £30k) and the vendor did accept that.
I’d speak to the surveyor to find out if the work needs doing now and how serious the problem is. If you look at the other houses in the street you can see if many of them have had had their roof replaced to give you some idea of whether it’s likely to be needed. He might just have included this to cover himself?

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