House with damp - to pull out?

[Jo4Laurie]

We are buying a Victorian terrace and on advice of surveyor had an independent damp survey. This has shown that the property needs more ventilation (uncovering an airbrick etc) and also rising damp in some walls including a party wall. The specialist recommends a damp course to be done asap which would need agreement from neighbour. Quote for dc and ventilators etc comes to around 3K. This feels very daunting as means doing work after moving in and who knows if the neighbour would agree. Buying for asking price on understanding there was nothing to do. Any advice - renegotiate? Or walk away...

Walk away

Only u know if you have the cash and patience to handle work- I don’t anymore

If you really like the place renegotiate.
The next buyer would find the same problems so would be silly of the vendor not to at least meet half way

Walk away. We bought a house with damp once after getting the vendor to drop the price to reflect the work needed. It was a money pit and the damp was the tip of the iceberg. Years of problems caused by previous poor maintenance. Avoid like the plague.

We bought a flat where the surveyor found damp problems. We got the quote/cost taken off the buying price . Was fine.

If you love the house then negotiate the price drop to reflect the work.

Also, are you sure it’s definitely rising damp? I heard that was incredibly uncommon.

Damp is not uncommon in period homes and if the cost of the remedial works is only £3k it wouldn't necessarily put me off. Was the damp surveyor definitely independent and not from a company that sells damp proof courses? It would presumably be in the neighbour's interests to co-operate with any works to the party wall so their agreement might be straightforward.

If the rest of the survey didn't raise any major issues and the property is otherwise well maintained I would see if you can negotiate a price reduction and take it from there. Don't panic and pull out until you've really thought things through.

A common problem with this type of property OP.
Victorian terraces that require no work to be done at all are rare.
If this is the only issue identified on the survey then that's not too bad.
£3k isn't a bad price by the way. We paid a similar amount to this for a Victorian terrace 20 years ago!

"The specialist recommends a damp course"

was the specialist by any chance employed by a chemical injection company?

Some damp is inevitable in a Victorian terrace - rising damp though is not good. Hardest to treat, could be hiding other problems. I would walk.

And this is someone who has a Victorian house! I thankfully also paid for a damp survey before purchase, none was found (it was a rental so I think they had to keep it up to date and there’s several air bricks around the bottom) - however have had penetrative damp up high twice. It’s not fun to deal with.

If that’s the only damp and it will honestly cost 3k to fix and you either have 3k or can get some money off, and you truly love the house, maybe. But rising damp could also mean floorboard issues too (friend discovered this when clearing rising damp and needed to replace the whole ground floor. If it’s in a wall you share with a neighbour this could cause dispute over costs. I would walk away if you can. There will be another house - sorry, it really sucks

neighbours dont have to agree you just need a party wall act award (surveyor might be able to do this or recommend someone) If you want period there will always be issues to deal with.

Don't all period houses have some level of damp?

I should also add, what does the rest of the survey say? Looking over my comment I also realise newer houses can fall victim to damp - so maybe I’m being a bit harsh!

If this worries you then do not buy a period property.
I would get an independent survey or at least 3 different companies in (they will probably tell you three different things).

Did it smell of damp?

All old house have damp. It wouldn’t really phase me tbh.

The ‘damp surveyor’ who looked at our place after survey diagnosed rising damp and the need for an expensive damp course.

Ultimately turned out to be the result of the cap on the chimney being broken so the plaster around the chimney got wet when it rained. Problem miraculously disappeared when the chimney cap was replaced.

Do make sure you get properly independent advice.

@PigletJohn the guy is an independent surveyor. However I feel a bit dubious about damp course injections. And tbh is the sheer hassle of moving in then doing work etc even if I can renegotiate the price.
Thanks other Mumsnetters for your advice, I am clueless about this topic.

You could always ask them to get the damp work done now, before you exchange.

Older houses always have a bit of damp. Would depend where the water is coming from. Along a party wall sounds odd. Is that an internal wall?

Why are you dubious about damp course injections?

We have damp in our victorian mid terrace - rising and penetrating. The penetrating damp is on an adjoining wall to the neighbours and comes from the neighbours roof as they haven't maintained it and now refuse to do anything about it so we are having to consider legal options to force their hand at getting it fixed. Means we are stuck with a damp unhealthy child's bedroom while we go through angry negotiations with the neighbours.

I imagine all victorian terraces have damp to some extent. Work out where it is coming from first if I were you, and then get the vendors to fix it before you buy if you still want it. Otherwise save you self the fall out and walk away!

Was the damp survey a "free survey" from a damp proofing company? If so, I wouldn't pay attention to it. Instead, you need an independent damp survey from an independent survey. Ours cost about £250.

Yes you need a survey from an independent specialist that you pay for. Not one of the free survey people who come round and always tell you that you need an expensive treatment that more often than not won’t work anyway as the cause is normally more logical than I mean ting walls with treatment. Yes it costs about £250 or so for independent proper advice.

@Jo4Laurie did you proc with the purchase?

@Pereie yes still proceeding sorry to not have given update. The original surveyor advised that the property is in good condition generally and there are no visible signs of damp. The sellers agreed to reduce the price to cover the costs. So I decided to go ahead.