Help with homebuyers report findings..

[WhiteCat1704]

Right, we are (hopefully) buying a beautiful grade 2 listes house. It's 180years old.

Just had a survey done on it and some findings are a bit concerning..but I'm not sure how bad is it..could anybody give some advice?

The ones marked as "urgent" that concern me are:

"
The floors are a mixture of solid and timber construction.
These were found to have some minor unevenness, but with no signs of significant
deflection or distortion and no repairs are needed at present.
We have been advised that a guarantee exists for earlier treatment to wood-boring
insect/beetle and the extent of the work should be verified. Your Legal Adviser
should also ensure that the benefit of this guarantee can be assigned to you. See Section I2. Despite the previous treatment there is evidence of wood-boring beetle
infestation in some of the under floor timbers visible within the cellar, and as a
precautionary measure we would recommend that an up to date report is obtained
in respect of all the timbers in the property to confirm that no further treatment is
required."

"There is a cellar, accessed via steps off the entrance hall.
The cellar is only suitable for the storage of non-perishable items.
Evidence of wood-worm infestation to some of the older timbers within the cellar
has been referred to.
The cellar is fitted with a sump pump which is for removing water. This has not
been tested and specialist advice should be obtained to confirm its condition and
suitability. Any flooding problems are likely to influence insurance premiums. See
Section J1.
Condition Rating 3"

There are few other "urgent" ones by they are to do with gas and electrical chcecks- he recomennds getting specialists in but found nothing wrong.

He valued a house at our agreed price - and we offerend 10% over asking price (there were multiple offers).

I'm a bit freaked at a word "infestation" especially since current owners had everything done few of years ago..

Just get a specialist survey done to see whether there are any active beetles and take it from there. The sump pump should also be tested. It really doesn't sound bad.

That doesn't sound terrible. Get a report done and see what it says.

That sounds fairly minor for a house of that age, Just get the checks done.

None of that sounds like there are any problems, just the surveyor covering their backs by suggesting you get things checked out. Of course there will be woodworm holes in a house of that age - what you dont want is fresh holes and if the previous owners had the house woodwormed within the last 10-15 years then it should be ok. If it was woodwormed sometime ago might be worth getting it redone before you move in if you can.

That is amazingly brief for a house of that age.

Ask your solicitor to get a copy of the guarantee for the work done and check if it covers the areas the surveyor thinks are infected. Either the work will be done free or they can do another quote for the new infestation. As work goes, as long as the timbers are accessible then its relatively cheap work (the timbers are sprayed with a liquid which is then left to dry).

That sounds like nothing much for that kind of property to be honest.

Nothing sounds particularly serious but you really should have had a full building survey for an older listed property not a homebuyers report. Surprised the surveyor agreed to do that!

Thanks for the advice x Current owners offered to do the treatment again if we want and the guarantee will be transferred to us too.

There is a bigger issue than woodworm though, not with the property which really seems to be in an excellent condition as current owners have done a lot with it but with the lender. The survey highlighted there is "flying freehold" in the house and our lender accepts that at a very low % of the house. We might need to find another lender now...I had no idea flying freehd is an issue and neither did our broker :/..

Re survey..I have been advised homebuyers is enough and the full one is not worth the money..

"Re survey..I have been advised homebuyers is enough and the full one is not worth the money.."

I would strongly disagree with that when you are buying a listed, 180 year old house.

Have a look here...it might be dated as lending criteria changes over time, but as long as the flying freehold is less than 25% of the property your broker should be able to find you a lender.
www.cml.org.uk/lenders-handbook/englandandwales/question-list/1835/