First time buyer - damp help needed

[user1495146488]

Hey guys first time posting and I need your help.

I have had an offer accepted on a house. Results of the survey came back saying there was damp (the scary word)!

I had decided upon this house in particular as I felt it didnt need a lot of work so the damp thing has scared me a bit (im purchasing this house on my own and every penny I have is basically taken up by the deposit). However I got a damp specialist in to assess what needs doing basically to see if the work was something i'd be willing to take on.

So the overall cost of the work has been quoted at close to 5K.

I informed the estate agent of this and having spoken to the vendor they have agreed to do the work before completion. The estate agent also said he would be getting his own contractor in.

Now everyone I have spoken to have said " its very strange that the vendor has agreed to do the work". Youd expect them to knock the price off the cost of the house? And thats setting alarm bells ringing for me. Are they trying to hide something else? How do I know they will do the work that my guy says needs done.

I'm just so clueless at all of this and im so scared of making the wrong decision and losing the money ive scrimped and saved. Any help as to how I should approach the situation would be amazing as I have no family that can assist.

Information on cause of damp as per damp specialists report:

CONCLUSION
The investigation has found the following issues;
• Leak in fresh water pipe situated around the under stairs cupboard area.
• Break down in D.P.C (damp proof course).
• Wet rot fungus.

Work that needs doing:

1. Remove ground floor skirting boards and radiators.
2. Repair leak in water pipe situated under the screed floor in under stairs area. Repair small leak in hallway radiator.
3. Hack plaster of all ground floor load bearing walls (excluding the kitchen wall adjacent the dining area), 1m high or 500mm past last signs of damp.
4. Install damp proof course into load bearing walls.
5. Remove sections of rot infected door frames (x3).
6. Install new sections of door frames (x3).
7. Replaster walls to specification.
8. Re-instate skirting boards and radiators.

Owner is trying, stupidly, to pull a fast one. That work will involve a lot of upheaval and there isn't a chance they'd be putting themselves through all of that before leaving.

Agree, owner is trying to pull a fast one, or get the work done at a cheaper price which could be of a shoddy quality. We had a similar thing when moving into our house now. The seller didn't want to renegotiate the price as they wanted a quick sale, so they sent us a cheque for the amount and we sorted it ourselves.

Hey guys thanks for the replies. Do you think I should ask for the money to be take off the cost of the house and do the work myself? Or should I letbthem andbthen insist my damp guy goes and checks their work?

Unless there is something extraordinarily special about this house or you are otherwise getting an amazing deal I'd be tempted to walk away from this house. This is not a small flaw - the damp is affecting all downstairs load bearing walls bar one? That's a lot of damp. On top of the building work quoted, you'd have to redecorate every room as they'd all have new plaster. The vendor isn't planning to do that for you is he?

I wouldn't be happy to trust that the vendor will rectify the work to an appropriate standard and even if he does it will hold your sale up for months (I don't thing there's any way you could test that the damp was gone until the new plaster was completely dry which would take ages). And otherwise you are doing the work yourself which is a massive mess and inconvenience.

That's a very badly maintained house. What else lurks?

If you do want to risk it, hammer the price down and get the work done yourself.