Homebuyers - further investigation needed, who pays?

[2moveornot2move]

Just that really. Our homebuyers has found high damp readings - damp and timber specialist report needed and stagnant water in manhole - drainage system check needed.

Who should pay for this, us or the vendor?

You can ask if the vendors will, but chances are they won't. We had to pay for a damp specialist (not the ones that give you a free damp survey and definitely always find damp) to come and have a look. Turns out the fix was simple and relatively cheap, a French drain so we didn't have to negotiate anything off the price. But honestly if you want to go ahead with the purchase, for your own peace of mind I would find someone yourself. If it's an expensive problem to fix you may be able to negotiate with the vendor as it's a problem that is likely to come up on any new buyer's survey.

The short answer is you do - if you want to. It's a risk of throwing good money after bad but that's buying houses unfortunately.

We had a damp report and think it was quite reasonable.

I'd be a bit worried about the drains though. One of the houses we offered one was actually subsiding due to drainage problems.

The high readings were only found in the bay window so I don't think it will be the drainage. We are planning a total renovation but hadn't factored in having to get damp or drainage issues sorted. We would need to renegotiate our offer if it's expensive work.

You are probably right, in order to do it right we should probably pay ourselves.

Sorry @costacoffeecup I didn't quite understand you. My fil was most concerned about the drains, though the surveyor only put it down as a 2. We will definitely be getting it checked out.

Bay window damp could be the bay window roof/guttering or it could be a blocked air brick or something bridging the damp proof course or it could be something else entirely. Just because it's only showing on the bay window doesn't mean it's not indicative of a larger problem. When you are look at any issue with damp and the cause isn't obvious I would always get it look at by a professional.