Cracks appeared since offer

[forgotmymnname]

We are due to complete next week on a house we offered on in October. As the house has been unoccupied for at least 9 months, and the past few weeks have been bitterly cold here, we asked for a viewing today to check that no pipes had burst etc. Luckily, none had, but a crack has appeared in the plaster of the bedroom on the gable end, extending down in to the dining room below. It almost certainly wasn't there when we last viewed, and it's not mentioned in the survey carried out in November. Googling suggests it's penetrating damp, which should be reasonably easy to fix, and may not have happened if the house had been kept warm over winter. Any advice on what to do (apart from renegotiate), and whether my assumption is correct please?

I don’t know anything about these cracks, but of course try to renegotiate

Are the ceiling tiles the 70s asbestos risk ones? Those look a bit of a concern to me...

Good call on asking to view again! What sort of survey did you get originally - as in, if you selected someone to do a full building one would it be possible to get them to take a look again just at this issue? Alternatively get an opinion from a tradesperson on cause and solution?

Send the pictures to your surveyor and ask

Ooft well done OP ... could be structural movement/water ingress many things .. get it re-inspected asap.. don't complete before doing so 🌺

All good advice, thank you.

The survey found issues that we negotiated a substantial discount for. The vendor was very accommodating but said he wouldn't give any more discounts and I think that's fair. We've already broken chain and are renting so the sooner we complete the sooner we can submit pp and start work. I'll send the photos to the surveyor as suggested and as long as it's not going to be a massive problem, we'll just take the hit.

Ceiling tiles have been tested and they're polystyrene, but they're coming down either way!