Who pays for additional surveys?

[Summerbubbles]

Hi, we are in the process of selling a property (I have never sold a property before).
We have had an email from our solicitor this morning following the buyers survey, before exchange of contracts they want us to complete a full damp inspection on the property, full drains survey including CCTV inspection and for us to complete any/all work that comes to light as a result of these surveys.

Is this a reasonable expectation? Should we be doing these surveys and paying for them or should that be the buyers responsibility?

It's a house built in the 1950's and there are no obvious signs of damp or drainage problems, the cost of the surveys alone will be somewhere approaching a thousand pounds according to quotes we have had today.

I have found that some FTB are really shocked by their survey whereas those who have bought and sold before are more used to the terminology; what they can ignore and what they can put on their "to do" list in the future.

I'm sorry you've been messed around OP. I hope your next buyer is more reasonable .

You’ve done the right things OP. Hopefully you will have some viewings over the weekend and some offers soon after.

You've done the right thing OP, they'd probably have been very difficult to exchange point and beyond.

Our buyers paid for a damp survey then negotiated the price down based on the quote for the work which we accepted

You've done the right thing OP.
Shame you've lost those couple of months.
I hope the buyers are willing to learn from family and friends that their (or their solicitors) demands are unreasonable and out of sync with what normally happens, so they don't waste any more peoples time and also any more of their money with these solicitors making unreasonable demands.

I remember the first survey when I was a ftb, it was terrifying! Luckily we had reasonable parents to help us navigate it

Ready to scream! More buyers lined up, survey shows work "needed" of approximately 1.5k so they want to drop their offer by 2.5k....more first time buyers. Will I ever get this place sold??!!!!

Have you negotiated? They may well have been told by family etc to ask for more than they want… are you happy to give the £1.5k for the works?

Why do they want to knock off more than the cost of the work? Cheeky feckers.

If you are feeling generous I would offer maybe a £1k reduction. Why FTBs always go on about their ‘status’ being a benefit I have no idea, as this thread and countless others show they very often have completely unreasonable expectations.

Why do they want to knock off more than the cost of the work? Cheeky feckers.

That's why I’ve presumed they’re expecting a negotiation… otherwise they really are cheeky feckers 😂😂

I happily offered 1k, I thought this was reasonable as it covers more than half, they want 2.5k and will not negotiate from that figure, because they've thought about it and when they start decorating it might cost them more than they thought.....so I should be giving them a bigger reduction. Honestly it's laughable and infuriating in equal measure.

If you aren't in a hurry I would just go with more buyers and hope you are third time lucky. They are just trying their luck

They want the surveys, they pay. It's that simple. But you can't demand to see the surveys, of course (as some sellers seem to think they can).

Note to buyers- share the contents of a chartered surveyor's survey with anyone (HA or seller or whatever) without asking the surveyors' permission first and you may be breaking the terms of your contract with your surveyor.