Should I pull out?

[FirstTimeBuyerScares]

Hello!

I'm a 35 y/o first time buyer, 5 months into buying my first house, a 2 bedroom 1930's property around 45 minutes from the Lake District, England. However, I'm currently facing a dilemma on whether to continue with the property purchase or not following a bad Level 2 Homebuyers Survey. The report detailed various issues, include 11 red flags, 10 orange, and only 1 green. The most notable ones include damp, an outdated and potentially dangerous electricity unit, no underfelt beneath the roof slates, no gas safety certificate, and more.

There are many positive aspects about the house outside of the behind the scenes scares, including a very nice lawn garden, quiet road, a modern kitchen, nice decor, and what look like friendly and respectable neighbours.

I've already spent quite a bit on the property purchase so far, such as a mortgage advisor, home buyers survey, accommodation, solicitor fees, and most recently a damp survey. The damp survey discovered rising and penetrating damp and quoted £3300 for a damp proof course injection system.

As well as the above, I'm also now questioning whether it would be more beneficial to have more of a digital nomad lifestyle, as I can effectively work from anywhere. However, that also has it's own question marks due to some health related issues and whether I would be happy to have no base, and lose the investment opportunity that comes with a house purchase.

The sellers estate agent has implied that the vendor is unlikely to budge on the property price.

I could go on with more details but think this is enough to explain the overall situation. So my question is, should I pull out?

Here is a list of the red flag issues:

E1 Roof structure
There is no felt to the underside of the slates/tiles. The risk of water ingress to the roof structure is
higher. Condition rating 3.

E3 Walls and partitions
The ground floor walls were methodically inspected with a protimeter moisture meter, to detect the
presence of damp. High level readings of damp were recorded in the lounge and kitchen diner.
Damp was also observed and recorded to the landing window wall. Damp quotation: £3300

E4 Floors
It is strongly recommended that further intrusive inspection is carried out of the
subfloor timbers prior to commitment to purchase. If the ends of the joists bed into the walls and
have not been wrapped in a protective membrane (which is unlikely, unless the floors have been
re-laid in more recent years) and the walls are damp, moisture can be transferred from the walls
into the timbers which can lead to rot/decay.

E5 Fireplaces, chimney breasts and flues
You should ask your legal adviser to check whether the solid fuel burning appliance has been
safety checked and whether the flue/chimney has been swept within the last 12 months. If this has
not been done, you should ask a HETAS registered engineer to do this prior to purchase.
In the absence of a current test certificate, we must designate a level three risk. If certification is
available, please ask your legal advisor to check the validity of this evidence. Seller does not have certificate.

E7 Woodwork (for example, staircase joinery)
Consumer board is fitted with cartridge fuses rather than circuit breakers. The system is dated and
needs upgrading. It is recommended that at any change of ownership the electrical wiring should
be checked by an NICEIC qualified electrician. Seller has agreed to replace power unit.

F3 WaterThe age of the property suggests that the supply pipe to the water may be of lead and if this is the
case then it should be replaced with modern copper or plastic piping. I (the buyer) used a lead water test kit and the result came back negative.

F4 Heating
Central heating is provided by means of a Worcester gas fired boiler located in the kitchen serving
pressed steel panelled radiators within the property. The radiators did not have thermostatic control
valves. In the absence of a current test certificate, we must designate a level three risk. The seller has agreed to obtain a gas safety certificate.

Many thanks in advance of any responses!

I'm a FTB, currently purchasing a property with no damp issues. There is a roof issue though, but does not need an immediate fix/replacement and vendor agreed further reduction on the property. I would not buy a house with damp issues especially rising damp. Electrical safety is a must - are they suggesting immediate re-wiring? If so, this can cost a lot now because of rising reno costs. Personally, i would not buy this house as a FTB who does not want to deal with multiple issues like this. my new purchase is having a re-wire but it is not because it is at dangerous level, but because it just needs it as hasn't had one for 27 years.

The vendor will have to reduce their price sooner or later because the next buyer would encounter the same survey report, so there is definitely room for negotiation if you still want the house. The EA knows this. Don't be pressured to buy the house, but if you want it, tell them you want it further reduced factoring in all the costs to you. They can't have all the money in the world in exchange for a UNSAFE house for you. I know you spent money on it already, but when you buy the "right" house, hopefully it will appreciate in value (not be a money pit like this one sounds) and you will recover the costs there.

1920s/30s here
A lot of the stuff about damp is hogwash. Read Heritage House's website for information about 'damp surveyors' who also do dampproofing work. Also, so-called 'dampmeters' and all the horsefeathers about tanking and injected DPCs. The pure speculation about floor joists is highly unconvincing too. Replacing a joist is no big deal anyway. We've done several ourselves.
We had a 'damp survey' on this house from a dampproofing company which identified damp all over the place and said the whole house needed tanking. We ignored it, because it looked like bullshit to me, bought, and had a proper old-house damp-specilaist chartered surveyor come and test the house, even down to drilling holes in the walls and testing the drillings (the only way to identify damp in walls properly) . All the 'penetrating/rising damp' was just condensation (this was borne out by it going away once we'd sorted the ventilation out). The only place that had real damp was where the wall had been tanked- we took the tanking off, it dried out.

IT does not follow that because it's a fused box the electrics are unsafe.
Only a test by an electrician can say if it is safe or not. And such a test should always be done on a house before you buy it anyway.

I'd probably rewire, though, as we did here, if only to get more sockets if the installation is old, and for other reasons.

Actual rising damp so extremely rare, it's almost a myth. A myth sold by 'damp-proofing' companies who don't want you to know it's usually condensation, which can be solved by better ventilation which costs little or nothing. And the work they recommend can often make matters worse, as well as costing a fortune and potentially damaging the fabric of the house.

You don't know if this stuff has been factored into the cost already.

Of course they don't want to give you a reduction. You have to atleast try to negotiate though!

Survey wouldn't worry me, that's all to be expected with an old house. Need to get the damp sorted though.

E1 Roof structure
There is no felt to the underside of the slates/tiles. The risk of water ingress to the roof structure is
higher. Condition rating 3.

Pretty standard stuff in an old house, not a problem if the roof is bot leaking.

E3 Walls and partitions
The ground floor walls were methodically inspected with a protimeter moisture meter, to detect the
presence of damp. High level readings of damp were recorded in the lounge and kitchen diner.
Damp was also observed and recorded to the landing window wall. Damp quotation: £3300
^
Hmmm, landing probably a gutter issue. Downstairs can often be an issue in the garden being built up higher than a dpc - often slate in older properties. Doubt its as bad as a damp company who want your money say though.^

E4 Floors
It is strongly recommended that further intrusive inspection is carried out of the
subfloor timbers prior to commitment to purchase. If the ends of the joists bed into the walls and
have not been wrapped in a protective membrane (which is unlikely, unless the floors have been
re-laid in more recent years) and the walls are damp, moisture can be transferred from the walls
into the timbers which can lead to rot/decay.
^
Depends on the damp, possibility of wet rot but possible to fix.^

E5 Fireplaces, chimney breasts and flues
You should ask your legal adviser to check whether the solid fuel burning appliance has been
safety checked and whether the flue/chimney has been swept within the last 12 months. If this has
not been done, you should ask a HETAS registered engineer to do this prior to purchase.
In the absence of a current test certificate, we must designate a level three risk. If certification is
available, please ask your legal advisor to check the validity of this evidence. Seller does not have certificate.

You need a hetas engineer to check. Flue might need relining, you might need a new stove with better air flow. Again not a problem but needs checking before use as its a safety risk of carbon monoxide.

E7 Woodwork (for example, staircase joinery)
Consumer board is fitted with cartridge fuses rather than circuit breakers. The system is dated and
needs upgrading. It is recommended that at any change of ownership the electrical wiring should
be checked by an NICEIC qualified electrician. Seller has agreed to replace power unit.

If the seller is replacing the board they will have to have a check and sign off so thats covered. Paperwork has to go to building regs as well.

F3 WaterThe age of the property suggests that the supply pipe to the water may be of lead and if this is the
case then it should be replaced with modern copper or plastic piping. I (the buyer) used a lead water test kit and the result came back negative.
Pretty common, not ideal but you can look at the stopcock and see the pipes there.

F4 Heating
Central heating is provided by means of a Worcester gas fired boiler located in the kitchen serving
pressed steel panelled radiators within the property. The radiators did not have thermostatic control
valves. In the absence of a current test certificate, we must designate a level three risk. The seller has agreed to obtain a gas safety certificate.

This is fine, you just need the gas safe certificate.

Oh and by the way, on damp, just to out things in perspective, we had a surveyor look at a house we were selling. He told me very gravely that the wall between the kitchen and an extension was reading some levels of damp and this could be an issue, but backtracked pretty fast when I told him that the main water pipe into the house was behind the wall in a hatch, and the washing machine was the other side of the wall.