Do full structural surveys ever come back positive?

[Sandrine1982]

So the surveyor has just called me and I'm in tears. This is the second house we're trying to buy. Already spent around 1.5k on previous house that got stuck in a long chain, we pulled out, found this one and spent a further 3k on solicitor, booking space at new nursery (for DD), and full structural survey. Surveyor is very, very negative. Damp on one side of the house due to loft extension and dormer that was done on the cheap. There may be a leak in the area where the dormer is attached to the neighbours' roof, - also difficult to access. More damp in the kitchen. Some lights don't work. Loft eaves area not insulated. Boiler is weird, he's never heard of the type / make. And so on...

I'm soooo over this whole thing. This house buying process has cost me so much in my mental health. I'm seriously starting to question our motivations, reasons for moving, reasons for anything. HOW DO PEOPLE EVER BUY A HOUSE??

Or is this completely normal and I should just brush it off? Are structural survey always picky and negative? Are they ever positive, as in, "your house is fine, you just need to replace a few light bulbs"??

It's not a house I'm totally excited about because after a year of searching in a crazy London market, I honestly can't get excited about anything. We have been priced out of the exciting houses' market by about 100k ...

I don't know what to do anymore.

What would you do?

To an extent, they always come across as negative, yes. The point is to look at properties and point out problems. This one does sound a bit more worrying than either of the ones we've commissioned though.

None of the issues sound insurmountable. Insulation is simple, lights may need rewiring.
Get a damp report and renegotiate price.

Well of course a detailed survey will find quite a few issues. You have to be able to read them to understand what is a major issue and what is minor. I have had quite a bit of experience of reading them as part of my job - running an organisation that as a side issue owned some properties.

I previously owned an Edwardian house and now own a large Victorian flat. I had buyers withdraw from buying my house - I saw their survey and it was all minor issues. My survey on the flat I was buying had a couple of issues - checking the sump pump and a small patch of damp next to a boiler flue (a very common issue - hot air on a cold wall). The sump pump was very important as it could lead to flooded sewage in the basement - all I needed to do was get an independent survey - all fine.

I viewed the structural survey as a detailed maintenance plan that I can use as a guide to keeping my new home sound.

The question is do you want to be responsible for lots of work? If not walk away, if you are happy to do the work get quotes and renegotiate the price.
The survey prevents you from buying and then discovering lots of expensive work needs doing at a later date same as getting a mechanic to check a second hand car.

Can you afford to do the work? I was all set to buy a house but the survey revealed around £20k of work that needed doing pretty swiftly and another £10k in the longer term. I couldn't afford that at the time so I pulled out although now I'd be fine with it, I have the financial cushion. Depends how much you want the house, and whether the poor quality work is indicative of there being further hidden issues from bodge jobs.

There are houses which surveyors find difficult to find fault with but those tend to be the newer ones. By their very nature, the properties which people shell out a lot is money to have a full structural on tend to be older, in poor repair, large or unusually constructed so there is generally a lot to report about. People still buy the properties they love but they have a more realistic idea of repairs and maintenance liabilities after the survey and they are useful to renegotiate the property price.

For a full structural survey I'd say that's nothing particularly concerning. Does the price reflect the work that needs doing and do you have the money to do it?

The whole point is to find and point out every real and potential issue so it's looking for problems rather than praising the house. You have to be able to read it and understand what is normal house stuff, what is arse covering, and what is concerning. I have had two and found a conversation with the surveyor in receipt of the report was very helpful both times in ascertaining the above.

A structural survey is almost bound to come up with something on an older house, as no house is perfect.Extended houses, more so.

It's not a surveyor's job to point out positives, it's their job to warn you about problems, that's what you're paying them for. I'm pleased (from the point of view of my confidence in them at least) if they come up with things because that means they're doing their job.

I think you may be over-reacting a bit. Try to talk to the surveyor and ask them how serious they think these things are, and ask them to help you cost any remedial work- do they think you need a builder/roofer to take a look for you? We had that once, and the roofer said it would be easy and not expensive to deal with what the surveyor had identified. Missing insulation, for example, is really not a big deal either, it ought to be fairly easy and cheap to deal with, probably a DIY job. Lights not working, well, you'll need an electrical inspection in any case on an older house, which should tell you what's going on there. Don't panic!

I think a lot of it is arse covering. The lights don't work? Do the bulbs need replacing? The boiler's an unheard of (to the surveyor) model? Doesn't mean it's unsafe or inefficient. Loft eaves are not insulated? Insulation isn't particularly expensive, etc.

Our survey sounded pretty awful but nothing was inherently wrong with the property. Just use your better judgement. I think even a brand new house could come back with a terrible survey.

The purpose of structural surveys is to find the problems. Get a quote for remedial work, go back and negotiate the price down to cover it.

Our survey threw up a lot, we knew there was no negotiation on price so it was walk away or take as is.

Since moving in all we have done is add trickle vents and fixed a leaking joint in the central heating. The rest of the issues have been stable for years and will likely continue to be so.

The survey on my last house was full of potential problems, the vast majority of which I completely ignored and caused me no problems for the 16 years I owned it.

This house I knew I wanted lots of work doing, so I bought my builder round to give it a once over, and didn't bother with a survey (cash buyer). The vendors had already accepted a lower offer on the basis that they wouldn't reduce e any further, so it didn't seem worth paying for a survey as well.

If they don't point out issues then you can potentially hold them liable in the future, so they will always cover their backs, and the language in the written report always sounds worse. If it's a decent surveyor then you should be able to talk to them over the phone and get an idea how much it might roughly cost to fix issues. Good report should also highlight what is essential, what needs done quickly and what can wait.

Our house needed a lot of work, all new electrics, rotten conservatory etc. But the surveyor also said it was a fundamentally sound house underneath, and that seems to have held up so far!

Oh and we had some issues with damp/mould but it was easily fixed by repairing flat roof and guttering, so it's not always a difficult issue.