surveyor says new roof required! how to proceed?

[user1467297746]

We really like this house, but we are glad we got a full survey done

The vendor was present and we went along for the Surveyor to summarise for us - he was a great surveyor by the way

He informed us that the roof was on its last legs. ( 1930's detached ) Said that it would need totally redoing since it had rotten purlins - and the original mortar backing from the roofing tiles had all come off.

he also mentioned that it had damp issues that werent really visable but were there the construction wasnt cavity wall type either

Love the house tho! actually we went over the 170 asking price to 176 to secure it. someone else had offered we think 173 or 4. so we went for it!

But now it seems the roof needs to be done..

what do we do? get them to fix it? when we bid it wasnt on the expectation that we would need to redo the roof entirely!

or do we just get quotes and reduce accordingly? isnt that riskier tho?

we weren't particularly thinking of a loft conversion just yet - but if they are redoing the roof that might be a good time to do it?

would their insurance cover the work?

I cannot believe it ! this is literally the 10th house we have tried to buy in 6 months!

If they fix it, they're very unlikely to do it to your timescales especially if they don't have the money to hand. It may also mean that they simply take it off the market.

It is cleaner for you to reduce your offer to take account of the cost of the roof works. this may be the whole cost of the roof works or part of it, but you would need to get several quotes to give you a sensible figure. They may decide the price already reflects the fact that the roof needs redoing, in which case you have to decide whether you carry on regardless.

You cannot ask them to carry out a loft conversion for you, or you can, but don't expect them to do it.

Their insurance won't cover the work unless the roof problems are due to damage. If its just normal wear and tear and maintenance, they just have to pay.

Its difficult - what did the surveyor actually say in terms of timescale? That it needs doing immediately / next 2 years / next 5 years etc? Vendor may say its a 1930s house, there are going to be repairs / upkeep (for what its worth, damp is a common issue in 1930s houses), its a popular house, if you want it you pay for it. They may be more reasonable and think that its something thats likely to come up on everyone's survey and negotiate accordingly (especially if they stand to lose their onward purchase if you pull out). Its definitely worth getting quotes so you know what you're talking about, and maybe provide those to the estate agent.

So it really comes down to bargaining power - how much do you want the house, are you prepared to lose the house and walk away (and swallow the costs you've already incurred), or are the vendors going to play hard ball knowing that they have other interested parties waiting in the sidelines.

would their insurance cover the work?

No. Insurance would pay e.g. if there was a terrible storm and your roof was blown off. They don't pay because the roof has reached the end of its life.

what do we do? get them to fix it?
No, it is usual to agree a reduced offer price.
or do we just get quotes and reduce accordingly? isn't that riskier tho?
Yes, do this. Why woudl it be 'riskier'?

the construction wasn't cavity wall type either
Not really an issue - you wouldn't expect cavity wall construction in a 1930s house

i think the vendor was surprised by the news, but then the surveyor pointed it out

He also spotted the obvious stuff, we already knew - the windows do need replacing through out - which was reflected in asking price

My mum is a bit of a genius at getting people gabbing and it turns out that the EA didnt pass any offers to the vendors until our final offer!! We first offered 167 - realised we were bidding against someone so went to asking price. (170 ) then came back to us saying asking price had been exceeded. and asked for best and final. We decided to go to 175 then thought well the competion might go there so went to 176 for good measure.

We really got on well we thought with mrs vendor and felt a rapour with mr vendor when we met him today

adore the house. but needs work, maybe the best idea is to get quotes, then we can control time frame

The surveyor was of the opinion that the work needed to be done sooner than later. I think we will get written confirmation tomorrow.

We also live in a 1930's semi with the original roof and it was mentioned on our survey.

However that was 9 years ago and it's still going strong. We said we'd replace it as soon as it started leaking, which it still hasn't.

The neighbour we're attached to has had to have hers done though, it has been leaking for a while.

I've never known a survey to come back not saying the roof needed attention. My parents surveyor told my parents that in the 80s when they moved in. They never got it done and the people who have lived there since they moved out ha want done it yet. We were told the same as we're our neighbours when they moved in 15 years ago. I'd check how bad they say it is.

and playing devil's advocate, if the vendor is told that the surveyor said the roof needed doing "sooner rather than later" I'd say that was obvious! Wouldn't encourage me to drop my price though! Unless the surveyor says its an issue that needs to be resolved immediately, you may have some difficulty getting the vendors to budge.

We discovered from our survey that the house we bought needed a new roof. We tried to negotiate with the vendor and they wouldn't shift at all on price.

Anyway, we bought the house for the price originally agreed, and I don't regret it at all. We're taking out a loan for a new roof when it is absolutely essential.

We love the house, had been through a bidding war to get it (great house, v popular area, went for quite a bit over asking price) and we also know that any house of this age would have similar, if not even worse, issues.

Also, be aware that you may struggle to get quotes for a new roof. Round here, roofers won't come out and do you a quote for free unless you already own the house - probably because they're sick of waiting time on people who just want a quote to negotiate a sale price and aren't in a position to immediately get the work done.
We paid £100 for a quote and will get this knocked off the bill when we get the job done.

Don't let this put you off the house completely. Surveyors have to covet their backs and will always make things sound worse than they are. Plus, any house of that age is likely to need a new roof soon, so if you do pull out you're likely to encounter the same issue again (unless you specifically look for a house with a newly done roof).

The survey on the house I sold said the roof needed doing, and TBF it actually did. I was looking to get it done because it very intermittently had some water ingress in high wind/rain events and had been patched a couple of times but was getting to the stage where it woudl be more economical to get a new one.
I didn't negotiate on price became of the roof - my position was it was clear from an outside street level inspection the roof was on its last legs and house was priced accordingly.

Our survey had similar about 5 years ago but it was always in the plan to get a loft conversion done and the vendor was not budging so we bould at the original price. We converted it last year and about 75% of the roof had to be replaced for the loft conversion so replacing the extra 25% was not significant extra costs. Its our forever home and the knowledge that we have a new roof to see us through the 50 or so years we plan on being here is very reassuring!

You need to think carefully. The roof might be fine for a few more years or it could need doing before the end of winter - i.e. The weight of a heavy snowfall could cause significant problems, as could excessive rain, I speak from experience.

If you can't find the money for a new roof quickly, I wouldn't buy the house. Your mortgage company might put obligations into the deal as well - i.e. The roof has to be replaced within 12 months of purchase.

I think we can try to negotiate? good tip on the pay for a quote - 50 to 100 quid does seem reasonable. I did call several but all said wont do until the house is ours!

We havent officially instructed our solicitor on this yet. offer was accepted last tuesday.

decided to wait to see if the surveyor had any surprises..

Maybe we can put our revised offer in writing to the vendors solicitor? or personally? - not sure I trust the agent now?

They didnt put forward any offers to the vendors - but told us they did, vendor told my mum that they only received one offer - and that was our 3rd bid?!

The EA is obliged to pass on offers unless the vendor has instructed him not (for some reason). So for us, we told EA that he did not need to let us know if there were any offers below 95% of asking price because we would not accept them, and they could reject them outright. Also, the vendor may be spinning a line! You don't know what's happened so I'd go through the normal channels of putting a revised offer to the EA if that's what you decide to do.

so we should email agent and say we cant proceed unless the vendor fixes the roof

or gets 2 or 3 quotes to fix the roof and reduces by amount? or perhaps negotiate a split of that

and the damp work course also needs work.

and the electrics were conversationally described as "DIY"

I can't believe anyone selling the house would fix the roof first. You can try and negotiate a reduction, but they may equally turn round and ask what you expected for a house that old.

(The estate agent thing does sound most peculiar though).

i suppose when buying a house you look at other homes in the area? and the asking price?

So if internal decor is old and grotty, windows need replacing, and modernisation required the price in general would be lower?

so say we have to pay for the roof windows and the modernisation the value better be below " a well presented" version of a similar house which doesnt need any work at all?

We're not trying to negotiate on the obvious. ie windows and redo the decor - but the roof is a genuine unknown.

As whats says, the vendors are not going to fix the roof for you.

You need to know how much the work is going to cost in order that you know how much to reduce the offer by. Then you'd approach the EA and say you're reducing your offer to £X on account of the surveyor identifying that it needs work. The likely response will be to ask for a copy of the surveyor's report, and copies of quotes.

As pp have said, the vendors may refuse to budge or agree to some sort of drop (not necessarily what you have offered). You then have to decide whether you want to proceed.

quotationcheck.com/new-roof-costs/

says minimum 4000 for a semi or terraced..

For a detached think its called a hip roof - like a pyramid on top of the house it doesnt give details just says more expensive?

I called 3 roofers today.. no one so far will quote on it because its not my place :(

We were told the roof needed doing when we bought our house, in 1992. So far, we've replaced a couple of slates and had some flashings done. The house was built in 1835, and doesn't have cavity walls either, neither does it have a DPC.

says minimum 4000 for a semi or terraced

No way! Not £4k for a roof in decent quiality slate done to full building regs.

£5k probably for concrete tiles.
£8k probably for decent slate not cheap low grade stuff that is a false economy.

I called 3 roofers today.. no one so far will quote on it because its not my place

did you offer to pay?

I think you are in a risky position. The vendors have a back up buyer, who was also prepared to pay over the asking price. You tell them you can't proceed unless - well, anything- and they will say fine, we'll go with the other couple then.

You can ask for money off but unless they are in a chain and need a quick sale they may well say no. We bought ours after roof came up on survey - tried to negotiated they said no, take it or leave it. So we took it and paid £5000 for a new roof. Never wanted to pull out. Roofs do deteriorate. Is it worth pulling out of a £180 grand purchase because of a £5 grand issue?

BTW our tiles were slate and we paid 5k 10 years ago - to reuse as many slates as possible from the original tiles, but new wood, felting etc...

My 30's detached house has its original roof that the surveyor said would need replacing soon. We didn't negotiate as thats the deal when you buy an older house I guess. It's never going to be perfect.