Survey report on property we are looking to buy...

[CharlieBubbles88]

Any advise appreciated. First time buyers here. The risk section includes:

Chimney - Damp
Other joinery and finishes - Asbestos
Roof structure - Repair needed to party wall
Ceilings - Asbestos
Woodwork - Glazed doors
Electricity and Gas - No recent certificate
Heating - Not tested and serviced

We really have our hearts set on this property but is the above as bad as it sounds? Even if they lowered the asking price we probably wouldn't have available cash to get all this sorted. Would it be the vendors responsibility?

Also would we need to get a specialist re the asbestos?

Thanks in advance!

Have you talked it through with your surveyor? A lot of the time its not as bad as it sounds.

Asbestos is only really a problem if you disturb it and if you are planning works etc I don't think it's that expensive to get the specialists to come in and remove it.

Chimney maybe just needs to be capped? (I'm no expert but that's what was suggested for ours) circa £75- £100 maybe depending on area

Electricity cert costs around £150ish gas/boiler about £100. unless it's a new build or been rewired recently I imagine the electric will throw up issues as regs are continually updated. If you do the electric cert talk it through with your electrician (just FYI surveyors will always recommend getting a specialist in to check electrics and gas)

Get the plumber take a look at the heating when he does the gas safety cert. although presumably if the rads heat up it's probably fine? Again I'm no expert.

Call your surveyor. Ime you will pretty much always have things to fix when you buy a new house.

asbestos is fairly normal in older houses and it's only a problem if you're going to disturb it

speak to your surveyor, you pay em enough! ask his opinion on whether these are "normal" repairs/issues or if he thinks they should be a deal breaker/walk away/offer lower

Would it be the vendors responsibility?

no. not unless they're selling it with tennants in it.

We had an asbestos survey done in addition to the standard one when we bought this house. That survey gives you advice on managing it. For example the concrete ceiling in our porch is asbestos. But it's nothing to worry about as long as it stays in tact. When we had the wiring replaced we told the electrician and the just reused existing holes instead of drilling new ones. That's the only time its been a issue.

You can certainly ask the vendor to provide certificates for electrics, has, heating and I would definitely ask for them to have the work carried out to a party wall, the last thing you want to do is move into a house and immediately begin a debate with your new neighbours over walls. Asbestos here costs the same to remove by the tonne as it does by the kg, so if you think you're going to do work that requires removal you need to have a reasonable budget, specialists have to remove it and it can't just be dumped into regular landfill so can be costly, but as others have said it's generally ok if Not disturbed and the first house I lived in was basically built of asbestos.

Are the damp and asbestos actually specifically identified or just highlighted as a risk? Often surveyors cover the potential for suchlike based on age of property and occurrences in other properties. Asbestos isn't an issue unless it is disturbed, broken or you intend to do work. The rest sounds like the property is being measured against current buildings standards which probably did not apply at the time of the construction or subsequent works. Gas and Electrical certificates are not routinely required by householders unless the property is tenanted but your solicitor will ask for any current ones or service history as part of their enquiries.

What age is the house? Our survey had similar issues, but it was stressed by the surveyor that this was normal in an 80 year old property.
It's worth asking the vendors if they can provide at least a gas service certificate from the last 12 months, as they really should be doing this anyway. The electrics will undoubtedly not pass current regs, so ask if they will pay for an electrical check and if not, pay for one yourself because it's really not worth the risk of having faulty electrics when you move in. Our vendor agreed without quibble to do these so it's worth a shot. If not, they are easy enough to arrange and not too expensive.

The surveyor has to 'red flag' all the services in a homebuyers report because they are not certified to assess their safety or condition, so it's not necessarily that they are faulty, they just need your immediate attention.

Houses are sold as seen, it's not the vendors responsibility!
That's why the buyers get a full survey.

My current house I'm trying to buy had asbestos flagged up in the Artex in the ceiling, but apparently in the initial survey it's impossible to tell if it's present or not its flagged as a risk. You have to get another survey done to test to see if it's there. I'm going to get one done when I move in. If it is there I'll just either skim it or plasterboard over it

Chimney - Damp - Is it damp or is it historic or possible damp? If it is damp you can get someone in for a small fee to assess the issue. Don't get free 'quotes' from damp companies.

Other joinery and finishes - Asbestos - Normal. Fine if intact (would say if it wasn't). Just leave it alone.

Roof structure - Repair needed to party wall - What repair? Could be simple and cheap or could be bad. Get a quote from builder.

Ceilings - Asbestos - See above?

Woodwork - Glazed doors - What about them? If it's that they don't meet current regulations then you can ignore.

Electricity and Gas - No recent certificate
Heating - Not tested and serviced

The services are always given as 3s. If worried get serviced/checked.

One thing I would say is people suggest to get quotes from a builder, but we needed some structural work on our bay window, and we found it impossible to get reasonable quotes for the repairs before we owned the house. Even afterwards, it was extremely difficult. In the end we just went with what the surveyor said as the value and eventually found someone prepared to do the work.

A house is sold as seen to an extent, in terms of decoration, location, general state. but you can't see damp and asbestos and faulty wiring on a viewing. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a home owner to have serviced their gas or heating within a year of sale or to ask them to fix a structural problem before purchase. But that's maybe just me 😬