Disastrous survey - time to pull the plug?

[MrsRoff]

Hi everyone,

We found what we thought was our dream home recently and had an offer accepted. We agreed a price which was £25k over the asking price as we were in competition with another couple.

When we were shown the house we were told it needed some modernisation and that was evident - the house is dated and just not to our tastes. My in laws predicted it would need a new roof but we were happy to do that if needed.

However, the survey has come back and it needs significant repair work that has come as a real shock. This includes but is not limited to:

· Cracking/movement to walls supporting raised patio plus deflection/movement to concrete patio surface. Reconstruction required.
· Radon Risk Report advises that the property is in an area with a 1 – 3% risk of Radon Level being above the ‘Action Level’. Testing recommended.
· Timber railings around raised patio in poor condition. Renew.
· Damp detected to roof timbers.
· Rising damp detected at low level to wall of side extension towards front of garage. Repair.
· Toughened safety glass not installed to ‘Critical Locations’ of exterior glazing, for example, doors and side panels. Repair possible, although complete replacement more appropriate given age/condition of frames.
· Warped interior door to Kitchen. Renew.
· No evidence of any testing to electrical installation. Test required. At least partial replacement likely.
· Lid no longer fits plastic water storage tank to roof space. Tank deformed and renewal required.
· Smaller adjacent tank has no lid and is poorly supported. New tank and better support required.
· Leak to shower pump in airing cupboard. Thermostatic control also defective to Bathroom. Repair/renew.
· Blockage to drain at bottom of garden where this joins public sewer.
· Asbestos cement sheeting used as fencing at bottom of garden. Arrange removal by licenced contractor.

It ain't pretty.

My main fear is that we may negotiate money off the sale price but this could be a real money pit. We don't know what we'd be letting ourselves in for and, like most people, we don't have a bottomless pool of money to fund repairs.

I hate the idea of pulling out, but then I also struggle to have too much sympathy for the vendors as they did openly admit to the surveyor that they've done nothing to maintain the house over the last 2 decades.

What do you think?

Do you have £50k+ available? Are the vendors likely to accept a price drop in response to the survey? You need to think with your head here and not get swept away by the dream house thing.

It looks like lots of experience people have responded to you. I live in a Victorian house. It's in pretty good condition but I'm always aware that it will have issues due to it's age. Having said that most of the issues we have faced have been as a result of decades of dodgy diy by a variety of previous owners.

Well, the thread wasn't a total waste of time - I learnt a useful skill with a warped door.

Your original list didn't wound like that much of a big deal, just typical surveyor arse-covering. Your later addition (cartoon style hole) may or may not be a different story. Presumably an unsupported access hole can be given support? Can a steel be put in place? Why does the whole floor need underpinning?

Nothing on that list is a big deal. A massive hole in the floor that needs underpinning is.

Why didn't you list the top 10 things that the surveyor said were of concern and we may be able to help?

Or buy a new build.

I can give you a list of the things that the surveyor said were a concern in my house if you live. Which, six years later, still aren't fixed. Because this is my 4th old house and I'm not expecting it to be like a Barrett home.

And honestly, if it is a house which the vendors admit they have carried out no maintenance on whatsoever for 20 years, you shouldn't have been surprised by that list. And it should have been priced accordingly as most of it is stuff you can see.