Victorian house render

[notsosoftanymore]

We are considering buying a Victorian house and amongst the many things picked up by the surveyor is that the render is cement with paint on top. He recommended removing it and replacing with lime render.
The current owner, who is an architect, says the walls are fine, that removing the current render would damage the walls and that half the country has older houses with the wrong sort of render.
It's a semi detached, built 1860, the outer wall felt cold and slightly damp inside the house and the surveyor picked up damp with his meter. I'm worried about buying a house that is potentially damp and cold. I'd appreciate any thoughts, thanks.

If the house is brick with line mortar, the ideal render should be lime based to allow it to breathe. However, it’s quite drastic to hack off cementitious render without good reason. It’s correct that it would likely cause damage to the brickwork.

Also, bear in mind that this would constitute the renovation of a thermal element under the building regulations, which would mean you’d be required to upgrade the insulation to the walls.

I have a Victorian house 1870's with cement rendering some damp was appearing in a few bedrooms thought by the builder mate to be render not functioning properly, then had a sealant applied to all the outside a few years ago. I think it may have solved the damp issue.

The owner is correct. It’s very common and cement render has many benefits. I’m surprised the surveyor said hack it off, that’s a major job and will damage the building.

I live in a rental approx. 1900, the render was cracked so the owner decided to have it all hacked off and replaced. The render was harder than the mortar though and it was causing a great deal of damage in some places to the brickwork, so they had to abandon that, repair, net and re-render over the top.
If the render is sound, I’d leave it. It’s most likely cold as it is a solid wall or has no cavity insulation.

Really helpful responses, thanks people.

If possible, could you check whether the walls are solid walls? If so, they are likely to be cold. We had external wall insulation put on over pebbledash on solid walls and it made a huge difference to heat retention. It’s not cheap I’m afraid but does also look much better than the aged pebbledash - has a gently textured render in now.

It sounds like the building has lost some breathing capacity. A steady warmth and ventiliation will help with the damp.