Would you pull out?

[Bodgejobvendors]

Pros:
Perfect area for us
Great potential, large and not unreasonably priced considering the area and size versus work required m. It’s probably £75k less than “done” houses on the street
We got our mortgage offer in before rate rises so have a great rate which makes extra borrowing for refurb affordable

BUT, we have found out a lot through the survey:
kitchen extension doesn’t have building regs and will need full blown replacement in a few years
rebuild will be compromised by a manhole cover
chimney breasts have been removed and no supports in place
upstairs bathroom needs replacing asap
leaky plumbing in the downstairs shower room causing damp.
surveyor unable to inspect floorboard joists under laminate flooring
outbuilding in garden needs demolition
everything has been done so shoddily we can’t rule out finding something else.

Walk away.

Walk away quickly

The lack of building regs and chimney breast removed without support is big. Especially the chimney breast. Basically the whole chimney could fall through. And you mention this in the plural.

It would be a no from me. Anyone who does things so shoddily like this I would expect a whole host of other problems.

you mention the kitchen extension needs full blown replacement and that’s adding thousands as well. Why do people do this? If you are going to extend and remove chimney breasts ok, but do it properly.

I would ask the vendors to get building regs sign off, and to rectify the chimney situation - which they are going to have to do anyway unless the find a cash buyer and see where you go from there. That sounds like more than £75k worth of work to me - what does the survey say its worth?

Get a builder in to tell you how much snd reduce offer by that and then some as you have to live with the inconvenience. It's going to cost a lot more than £75 k to fix all that - and things are rarely better once work gets started so costs could spiral.
Or walk away.

You actually need a structural engineer to look at chimney breast removal if it’s plural. This is essential. The whole house could collapse if it’s not supported. If this property is adjoined to another it’s really crucial for both.

The chimney needs supporting. It’s not an option to not. It may be standing now but does not mean in the future that it will be. Look up on line how essential this is.

We’ve tried negotiating on price and it’s a flat no. Someone will pay it and do the work if we walk. It’s mortgageable and wasn’t downvalued. But building regs regularisation isn’t an option because it’s below requirements.

Right, I think we’re going to pull out. Someone with more experience and deeper pockets can take it on.

I think you are right to walk away. The mortgage is a bit of a red herring. The offer wasn’t based on the dire survey. The mortgage company doesn’t know about the chimneys or lack of building regs approval. It’s better someone with building experience buys this and you would have needed a structural engineers report on the chimneys. And deep packets.

If they've skimped on chimney supports and extension regs, just imagine what else they've skimped on that the surveyor couldn't easily see or get too. You're doing the right thing walking away.

Gosh, you are doing the right thing walking away. The whole thing could collapse. I wonder if you would even be able to insure it. Also, if they have done so many things in such a sub standard way, imagine what else you will find!

When was the work done (or not done)? How many years ago as that would influence by decision a lot.

No wonder it’s so much cheaper! We walked away from a house because, when the survey came back, there was so much wrong with it the house would have needed around £50k to fix it! We ended up paying £5k less for a larger new build with a garage which is perfect for our needs. I see that survey as the best £750 we ever spent as it saved us from a lot of expense and heartache.

I would pull out of that too, if that much shows up on the survey there will be more than double the trouble hidden where you can't see it. Properties owned by bodgers always have far more crap work underneath for you to discover in time, like an iceberg of misery.

It makes sense to walk away.

We pulled out. As soon as we made this clear they were magically willing to negotiate on price, but their finances were so precarious we didn’t actually believe they could make the sums add up, and we had lost faith by that point.

The crap house sold (I don’t know at what price) and I regularly walk past to try and spy on the renovation work the brave new owners have taken on! Given what’s happened to interest rates I’m thrilled we didn’t take on a project that we’d have needed to borrow extra for.

Next door to us is up for sale and honestly despite looking ok will need a complete overhaul. For the last 15 years we've seen bodge after bodge and the original conversion was also done on the cheap.
The new owners will find a lot of 'no nails' holding the place together.
Lucky escape, well done on walking away.