Survey back, lots of urgent recommendations are for further investigations...thoughts?

[mumarooni]

Genuinely really chuffed with the level 3 survey we have just had back on a 300 year old house. Doesn't seem like the surveyor has seen any serious or expensive defaults. It's more what he couldnt see. There is a big list of '3, urgent' rated areas, only due to not being able to declare them safe. E.g. oil tank looks in good order but would need a specialist to check hence level 3. Drainage seems fine but should be inspected with CCTV. Roof may not have adequate insulation, and timbers can't be seen to assess for condition, no reason particularly to suggest bad condition, but needs investigation. Electricity has a sticker that says last inspected v recently, but you should get an electrician to inspect for you before purchase to be sure. Etc.

My questions are: is this normal?
How much of the extra trades did you then bring in? (Electrician, chimney specialist, oil specialist, drainage specialist, wood boring insects specialist, and someone to quote for investigating structure of room and options for better ventilating roof have all been mentioned). This will cost a lot and be a lot to arrange. Would you do it all?
Will insurance require it,having been listed as a 3?

Arse covering.

Look at the EPC for loft insulation, ask the owners if it says something bad, as EPCs are often wrong.

Your conveyancer can ask for last electrical inspection certificates from the vendor.

Oil tanks are a piece of piss, you could inspect it yourself with the right online info. However, the oil boiler engineer would usually check it at the same time as servicing the boiler each year, so ask when the boiler was last serviced, and did they check the condition of the oil tank at the same time. It’s always good to know the age and type of tank: you really don’t want one more than 25 years old if you can avoid it, and doubled bunded is best.

That’s a remarkably short list on a 300 yo house. Well done. Sounds like you managed to find a good ‘un.

thanks @KievLoverTwo . that makes a lot of sense. There were a couple of other things - I was trying not to be too detailed in my OP and loose readers' patience! I missed out the chimney stack isn't plumb, but doesn't look like it's falling down, so again, requires a chimney guy to investigate.

Your post is really helpful - the practical thing to do is figure out (via conveyancer?) what the vendors can already provide to assuage these concerns, eg recent electricity and oil inspections. And then think about whether to get the other tradespeople in that go above and beyond that.

Are you (or anybody else) able to advise on the relationship between the survey and insurance? Do we need to share the survey with insurers, and do we need to evidence having met the urgent things in order to make the property insurable? (FTB here, if you can't tell!)

Insurers won't ask if your chimney stack is about to fall down, don't worry about that. No they will not receive or ask for the results of your survey.

Just make sure you answer all questions honestly (you will need lock details, fire alarms and a bunch of stuff you won't know - do yourself a dummy insurance quote online without committing to see what you need to get from the vendors - the mortgage lender will require buildings insurance before monies are released, it's obligatory).

Yup, that is right, the conveyencer will carry out those checks of documentation for you, there are forms that ask the vendor to state when all these things done, and the conveyencer may then ask for the evidence. I wouldn't split hairs, if a surveyor can't see problems with an oil tank, there probably aren't any, because if there are, they are really obvious in a 'shit, that looks really bad' kind of way.

The answer to your question about insurance is no. You will need to answer the standard insurance questions such as how close to water, has it ever flooded etc. The survey is for your use only. If you are having a mortgage and it is approved all is well.

I have only ever purchased period houses the oldest being 600 years old, the surveys have always been for my info and just had a basic valuation survey done for mortgages purposes.

As a poster said previously it is backside covering by the surveyor - if there is anything you are not sure on ask them to explain further.

Two pieces of advice, try and use insurance companies who are used to dealing with period properties plus read some books on owning older houses especially about such things as letting a house breath.

OP could also join your old house UK on Facebook. Very useful page with helpful people.

Also periodproperty forum is another good one for information.

Thanks so much, this is all really helpful. Thanks for the forum recommendations too. In fact, after adjusting my heart rate back to normal upon reading a first page listed with level '3' issues, I am really feeling very happy. No ongoing movement, no significant damp, no structural concerns, it's been looked after with the right renders, no leaks. Just things we expected of a house this age, heating could do with updating at some point, chimney apparently not straight (but I'd to my eye even in the survey pic!), not the ventilation expected by modern standards in bathroom (but no sign of issues from that), a little localised wood boring infestation, and lots of 'couldnt see' or 'not my area of expertise' type things. So we have about a billion questions for the vendors that the surveryor has recommended asking, I hope they won't mind.

I find it so exciting to think of the people building it all that time ago and everything that has happened in it since.

You've done really, really well with this house. You've found a real gem. I assume the current owners and their predecessors spent a lot of time and effort maintaining it.

Now to finish off the process and ENJOY.

Sounds like you have a gem there- the most encouraging thing is that it sounds like it has been appropriately maintained, e.g., with the right renders, as you say- that's seldom the case. I would sort out any ventilation issues smartish, though. I'ts very important with older houses. The 'Heritage House' website is a useful resource for older houses if you are thinking of any changes to the fabric of the building in the future, or any problems turn up re damp etc..