Giving the seller a copy of our Homebuyers Report - ok?

[AlexanderS]

Am in the process of buying my first house and have just had the Homebuyers Report back. It's flagged up a number of serious defects with the house that we are going to have to have investigated before we can continue with the purchase. I just went to forward the report to the seller, with whom we are on friendly terms, then I wondered if this is acceptable and if there's some reason why I shouldn't. I mean, we paid for the report but it's in existence now and there would be no point the seller ever paying for another one when we've got a perfectly good one she can just have a copy of, plus the seller needs to be made aware of these issues one way or another, right?

No, don't, it's your report. If the vendors have any sense they will use it to rubbish what the surveyor has said "well we have never has a problem with that" or " he is just covering his backside....". The seller may also insist that you pay for lots of potentially expensive independent reports to explore the extent of the defects the surveyor has uncovered (you might need to do this anyway to see what you are in for). IME, surveyors tend to pick up every even potential defect to cover themselves. You need to separate out what is actually a problem from what the surveyor is saying might be a problem to prevent them from being sued at a later date.

They are pretty big defects, rated a three - I don't think the surveyor is just covering his back. Basically the seller has built an extension on the back of the kitchen - it's like a conservatory but not, as it has a Perspex roof but brick walls. When she did this she had the boiler, which was in a porch attached to the kitchen, moved to one of the bedroom cupboards. According to the report the extension isn't up to "modern habitable standards" due to cold and damp, and the boiler is inadequately ventilated - not surprising as it's stuck in a cupboard which is right in the middle of the house (we had concerns about it before putting in an offer).

Anyway, I've just read in my 'Buying your first house' book that you shouldn't give the seller the report, only extracts from it when you need to e.g. when negotiating a reduction in cost (you were right, voiture). So that's that sorted. Now I've just got to decide whether or not I actually want to buy the house! I'm quite freaked out by the amount of work it potentially needs.

It also definitely has asbestos in the garage and is likely to have it in the walls. Apparently this is common in houses of this age and type and it's not a safety issue as long as it isn't disturbed, but I hate the thought of having asbestos in my house!