Structural survey has destroyed my sale and my lovely house

[Rosser]

I live in a lovely mid terrace ex council house in a sought after area. I sold in jan to a FTB, I turned down higher bids as I thought a FTB would be quickest and we didn’t want to lose the house we were hoping to purchase. The FTB apparently lives on this road in rented and loves it and wants to stay here. It’s a long road 320 houses so I don’t know who it is. We were also FTB when we brought 12 years ago so it felt right.

We are only moving because my Mum is coming to live with us. It’s a lovely house but it has no room to extend.

FTB has had a full structural survey which brought back loads of issues but all are totally normal for one of these houses.

They boiler is 10 years old but has been serviced every year and is in good working order. But the engineer has suggested they might want to change it for longevity. Same with electrics, which we had partially rewired (to regs) and are totally fine.

Gaps in the loft party wall apparently make my roof liable to collapse. All of these terraces have the same gaps and it’s no job to brick them up if you wish.

We removed a wall to make a kitchen diner (with a structural engineer, a steel, building regs) and apparently that could potentially cause movement upstairs in the long term. Again, nearly every house on the road will have done it as we’ve got tiny galley kitchens otherwise.

They’ve pointed out every single hairline crack that have been here as long as we have. Again, every house has them or has been freshly plastered or is covered in textured wallpaper. We ran out of money when decorating so didn’t manage to plaster every room. They’ve said our one squeaky floorboard could possibly mean an issue with the joists. Again, it’s been squeaky as long as we’ve been here.

Long story short FTB are now running a mile, we’ve lost our onwards purchase and we have to declare issues with the previous survey although there is nothing actually wrong with the house. The FTB is making a big mistake and I do feel bad for them as I’d probably do the same but the whole situation is ridiculous.

Anyone empathise or offer any words of advice. I’m so worried we won’t be able to sell without a massive price reduction now and our onwards purchase is dependent on the sale price. The valuation was ok. Just the survey.

They’re going to quickly spend their deposit and I’ve no doubt the next one the commission will be similar, if not worse. They want to live in this area and the houses are all the same.

But they might find a seller who has addressed & fixed up these issues.

None of these houses are prefect. Unless they buy one that’s just been refurbished and they can’t afford that.

I have had a full survey so know exactly what you are talking about. A full structural survey details every single crack and crevice. You just need to chalk this up to experience, do the remedial work that you can, and start again.

Honestly why give them the head space, there is no point being resentful. Do the quick fixes & as you say you may sell for more.

Think the survey just frightening the ftb. Especially if the could only afford the mortgage and money going to be tight. Think all houses have problems. Just make sure it’s a realistic price taking into account if got any problems with the house.

I remember our survey when we were first time buyers nearly put me off until my dad who is in building pointed out it is just how 1970s houses were built and isn’t an issue and they are in fact better houses than those built now. Think you’ll just have to chalk this one up to experience and go with the best offer next time regardless of who it is. You can be upfront with the structural survey and just say what you’ve said above. The ftb will learn when they’ve paid out for 10 structural surveys and it’s the same on every house

I honestly have a lot of sympathy for them. They have been convinced they’re buying a house that will collapse. They aren’t!

I can’t help be resentful, we’ve definitely lost our purchase which has a bit impact on us and my lovely Mum.

I wish them every luck finding a house with no issues on the survey that is within their budget.

@Rosser

It was a full structural survey that they paid over a grand for. Surveyor was here an hour! They’re going to quickly spend their deposit and I’ve no doubt the next one the commission will be similar, if not worse. They want to live in this area and the houses are all the same.

This is not your problem, you are focusing on the wrong people here. Your ex-buyer has made their choice, it is theirs to make. They will either learn from this experience, or not, but they are irrelevant to you now.

What matters is you and your next sale/purchase.

This survey does not need to affect your next buyer, they may get the identical survey report and read it completely differently because they will be different people with different experience, aspirations and plans. What you need to do is have a serious think about whether any of the issues in the survey are things that genuinely affect your likely sale price and if so, discuss this with your agent.

You are taking this process too personally, try to detach from the house and be more businesslike. It is hard because it is our home, but it is also a transaction.

I can sympathise with both sides here. When we bought our 60s house we didn't have any real experience (DH previously had a new build flat, I'd never bought). The survey looked alarming so DH asked his Dad to have a look for us. He came back about 30 minutes later and reassured us that there was nothing unusual for the age of house. The only immediate concern was flashing that needed to be replaced on the porch. We were very lucky that DH's dad was a project manager for a construction firm so we trusted him to understand actual issues and issues raised to cover the surveyors backside.

In the five or six years we've been here we've only done a few of the bigger jobs- replaced the roof of the porch, replaced the fences in the back garden and replaced the boiler. One job that stands out was the repointing of the chimney and replacing the roof. We've had no issues with either but it was alarming to see the surveyor suggest it needed to be done in the near future.

No, it’s not my problem but they are making a huge mistake and that mistake is having a huge impact on my life!!

I’ve got some pollyfilla in my Amazon basket now

@Rosser

I honestly have a lot of sympathy for them. They have been convinced they’re buying a house that will collapse. They aren’t!

I can’t help be resentful, we’ve definitely lost our purchase which has a bit impact on us and my lovely Mum.

I wish them every luck finding a house with no issues on the survey that is within their budget.

You don't need to have sympathy - stop thinking about them at all!

They were potential buyers, now they are not. This is how it goes.

Detach detach detach. It tooks us nearly a year to sell/buy, we lost three potential buyers for no reason we could control (finances, change of mind), the purchase nearly fell through and then we had a last minute disagreement on one end of the chain.

If you get this invested in each step you will be a wreck by the end of it all.

Good luck with your next buyer and finding a good house to move to - focus on the future

they are making a huge mistake and that mistake is having a huge impact on my life!!

They are under no obligation to worry about your life though regardless if they are making mistakes or not. Like a pp said you need to take the emotion out of it.

Detach detach detach.
She can’t, it’s a terrace

(Good advice though!)

Why have you definitely lost your onward sale? Can’t they offer you any grace to get a new buyer? They’ll have to look for a new buyer too so seems premature to pull out totally.

As a FTB we had a similar report. Was able to take advice from a couple of people about how normal it is. I think ours was worse than yours as some of the works were done without building consent or thr proper safeguards. We've been in for 15 years now and nothing has caused any problem (at least nothing picked up in the survey!)

**So...

Brick up the roof gap
Sort the hairline cracks (yes they are to be expected but do look off putting)
Do the cosmetic work in your dds room (we have a mural wall in ds2s room and it looks great)
Replace the squeaky floorboard

Am I missing something?

The above ^ fixes are not expensive or that time consuming?

Get gas and electric safety certificates too.**

^This

But I do think it's something to be aware of when you accept future offers. Someone who has bought an older house before is more likely to be relaxed. Good luck OP

Address each issue, none of which are major jobs then go on again. The market won’t be slowing for a good while yet.
I think the boiler is a non-issue. Ours is regularly serviced too, plumber says ours should be good for at least (which will make it 17). Though of course we’ll all have to replace gas boilers in the not too distant future.

Do get the loft checked for weight bearing before any work is done though . Our joists weren’t strong enough to hold a floor, certainly wouldn’t have supported a brick fire break and we had to have a second, suspended floor put in above them (late Victorian) .

• at least another 5 years

I had an email last night to say for our onward purchase they will give us 10 days to resell. They ‘apparently’ had 2 cash offers in the few days after they accepted ours.

If I polyfill the gaps now, won’t it look suspicious. We will resell next week no issues. It’s the survey I’m worried about now.

If you’ll resell next week no issues then it’s fine! Stop stressing and get on with it.

When we sold our house it was priced to sell and we got a few offers. The FTB had a survey done which was a pack of lies! Said their were invasive plants - they were not, and that the stone wall at the end of the garden which is the 550yo boundary of the village 'could collapse at any moment, causing flooding and requiring a full rebuild of the house" It was insane. They'd had 7 surveys done - all similar apparently - at a cost of £550 per survey! We found another buyer and sold, I sometimes wonder if those fbt are still looking, and having surveys done!

I'll say this again, as I've said on previous house-selling threads.

Never take the house off the market until contracts have been exchanged.

I'm not sure the issue is one of FTB or First Time Seller. If you had other offers then these should still be in-play. Unless you let the FTB couple dither and allowed them several weeks to do the survey. Sales fall through all the time. You can plan for it and allow for it. I'm a bit concerned that you were too invested in the first offer if you've allowed it to put yourself in a position where you've potentially lost the property you wanted to buy. Don't let that happen again. Don't be 'nice' to potential buyers. Be polite, but it's a transaction not a friendship.

Don't dwell on this offer falling through. Move on. When the next people show an interest they'll have their own survey done. All you have to say about the first offer is that, "They were FTB and weren't comfortable with some minor issues that associated with the age of the property".