House Survey Results, any help?

[Allthatglitters11]

Sorry for the long post. We've just had the survey back on the house we're hoping to buy, and having never done anything like this before I'm not entirely sure what to do next.

It raised several 'red' issues with the house, although some of them could just be the surveyor covering himself, which I've heard happens quite a lot.

The report says:

1. Joinery and Other Finishes (there are other points about the roof mentioned but this is the main one, I'd imagine at some point the roof/guttering etc would need replacing and the chimney re-pointing.) The outside wood includes the boards around the edges of the main roof called fascias and these are the boards on which the gutters hang. They are likely to be the original softwood and will require on-going maintenance to prevent deterioration. The soffits are the original asbestos boards and they should ideally be replaced although this is not thought to be urgent as they are external. I recommend that they are replaced as there is inadequate ventilation to the roof space and they should be replaced with vented PVC soffit boards and the fascias should be over clad with PVC also to negate the need for on-going maintenance. The fascia boards on the bathroom block are the original painted wood and these will require on-going maintenance to prevent deterioration although they appear to be in reasonable condition at present.

It was particularly noted that there is mould growing on the rafters and roof timbers generally which suggests there is inadequate ventilation and as previously mentioned the asbestos soffit boards should be changed and replaced with vented PVC boards to improve this.

2. Internal Fittings
   The understair cupboard lining on the underside of the stairs is of sheet asbestos. If you wish to know more about the risks you
   should investigate the amount and type of asbestos which is present in the house using a specialist asbestos removal contractor.

3. Electricity
   Mains electricity is supplied and the meter is located in a cupboard off the hallway area. This is a modern installation. The original installation is at high level in the living room and this is boxed-in and no longer in use. The consumer unit is fairly modern and there is miniature circuit breaker fusing. The house appears to be wired with PVC covered cable as far as could be seen but as I am unable to test this sort of installation I recommend you have it tested by a qualified electrician to establish its efficiency before proceeding. The electrics have been adapted and there are external sockets and a power supply to the external workshop with separate circuit breaker fusing and RCD protection. The wiring generally appears to be fairly modern although some upgrading may be required and further information will be available from the electrician.

4. Heating/Boiler/Gas
   Mains gas is supplied and the meter is located in the understair cupboard. Gas is supplied to the kitchen and while the system was not tested gas was available during inspection. There is an obvious potential hazard with any mains gas installation and I recommend you have it tested by an appropriate 'Gas Safe' or similar contractor to establish its efficiency before proceeding.

The house is centrally heated by pressed steel radiators some of which are fitted with individual thermostatic control valves. The hot water is provided by the gas fired wall mounted boiler in the kitchen. The boiler has a balanced flue and the whole system appears to be relatively dated but I was advised by the vendor that the boiler was installed in 2005.
The central heating system was not working during inspection but no leaks were found to visible pipes. In view of its complexity I recommend you have this installation tested by a qualified heating engineer to establish its efficiency before proceeding.

If anyone has any experience of any of the above it would be great to know your thoughts.
Thanks!

The electricity and gas is fairly standard. No red flags there for me
The Asbestos - I would look at removing but as long as it's not damaged its not urgent. However if the soffits are not adequately vented and causing a problem I would have this addressed.
Although you would have to dispose of the asbestos correctly which could cost a bit, these 2 jobs are fairly minor.
There is actually nothing wrong with softwood fascias if maintained properly (we have the original Victorian ones on our house - they've lasted 140+yrs) .
I personally cannot stand UPVC ones. People put them up and don't realise that they also need looking after or they have a tendency to discolour / go green, warp or crack. Also they can look cheap and nasty if done badly, and a lot seem to be done badly.
Nothing you have mentioned would be a deal breaker for me.

Thanks wonkylegs, that's reassuring to hear someone else say that. I haven't been put off the house by any of this, but as we're coming from a New Build flat all of this sort of thing is completely new to me.

The Mortgage Valuation did actually come in at £10,000 under the offer price, but I'm not sure what to do about that either, or whether any of the survey stuff is worth asking for a bit of money off?

They all sound like typical caveats tbh, nothing to get overly worried about. Asbestos is only a problem if broken or disturbed. You can ask a specialist ie electrician to take a look and cost any work to meet current specifications but it doesn't raise red flags to me.

Your loan to value may alter. If your mortgage is bigger than the valuation. (So you `lose £10k before moving in) quotes for the work cost nothing, and can help negotiations..no real red flags, all standard.

The only thing that would worry me a bit there is the mould on the rafters/lack of ventilation.

What sort of survey was it? Homebuyers? They don't actually test the gas/elec so HAVE to mark them as red just because of the nature of gas/electric, doesn't mean there is anything wrong with them.

In regards to the valuation/offer discrepancy, You won't get a mortgage for anything above the valuation so if they won't budge on the price you would have to find this in cash

Thanks very much!

It was a Building Survey, as we were worried about Hoop iron, which actually doesn't seem to be present, so that's one thing I suppose.

I didn't realise they don't test the gas/electricity at all, so that makes sense. When we viewed the property the sellers told us the boiler & wiring etc was all new about 10 years ago so we weren't too worried about it at that point.

The survey said that the Central Heating was not working during the inspection, which I'm not sure whether it means it was broken, or just off as it was a warm day?

I am mostly worried about the mould and the asbestos in the roof, although the mould more than anything else. Would I be able to go back to the Estate agent with this issue?

The surveyor means the central heating wasn't on and was why he was only able to state there were no obvious signs of leaks.

We added a couple of ventilation tiles when we moved in on recommendation of a surveyor friend , and had leaky guttering replaced at same time as they were up there anyway. You could probably have the fascias etc done at same time for example.

Thanks, that's what I thought. I'll try and find some places to give us quotes tomorrow and then go from there.

I think the most worrying thing is that they are saying it's worth 10k less than you offered. to get the mortgage you would have to find an extra 10k to put in & basically your paying over the odds. Unless they will drop to the price the bank is suggesting is the market value, you should probably walk away

Don't assume that adding two vents will solve the problem in the loft space. This is an unusual problem and often there is an underlying cause. Commonly we see ceiling mounted bathroom extractor fans venting to the loft space and you should check to make sure you do not have this problem, because even with a couple of air vents installed, this may not mitigate for this problem. The initial surveyor should have checked timber moisture content in the loft space, anything at 20% or above means that roof timbers are at risk of timber rot. After air vents are installed the critical requirement is that you check timber moisture contents to ensure the roof timbers are no longer at risk of timber decay, and if they were then monitoring to ensure that timber moisture content is reducing.

Thanks JoeMalone, the bathroom is actually on the ground floor - it's a box bathroom extension so there's nothing, as far as I'm aware, venting into the loft space.

It looks like the couple who live there had a lot of insulation put into the loft back in 2013 which I wonder could be the cause of the mould?

Is there anything else that might have caused it? I can go back to the suveyor and ask about the timber moisture content.

I don't suppose anyone could reccomend an electrician/gas engineer or roofing company? We're in Merton/Sutton. Thanks

I'd have a telephone conversation with the surveyor (presuming it's him who also did the valuation?) and ask why it has been undervalued.

None of his points would typically lead to a 10K deficit - we have bought 3 houses, all of which had much worse points on the survey and were still valued at the offer price.

The bank will only under-value if they think you are paying too much for the area, size of house - not small maintenance jobs that need doing.

I can recommend these guys reheat.me/ for gas/central heating...