How do I tackle an impassive seller who won't address issues

[BG2015]

We are buying a 1950's 3 bed semi. The house although furnished is rarely lived in as the lady in question is now living with her partner, hence the sale.

We have had a Level 2 survey done which picked up on low level damp in some areas, but nothing specific. We were aware of this as it's a 75 year old house.

We have viewed a total of 3 times and the last time we went we noticed some serious areas of damp.

I have raised this with the estate agent, the vendor has replied with basically a fob off.

I have attached 2 photos.

The first one is the front dining room window. This was wet to the touch. The vendor has said that leaves in the gutter may have caused this and because she hasn't got a window cleaner anymore (he cleared the gutters) that's why there is a wet area.

The second photo is an interior wall between the kitchen and living room. She gave no explanation for this.

She has basically fobbed us off.

What do we do now? Do I insist she addresses these issues or do I have to get a damp expert in to take a look at my own cost?

I'm a cash buyer on sale of my house so no mortgage involved.

Can my solicitor intervene or advise me? Never been in this situation before so I'm a bit stumped.

I knew a seller who had damp in her house and was literally painting the area every time before a viewing. Tbh I would walk away from this one.

You get a survey and assess the cost of remedy.

Then you either suck it up or approach the seller for a price adjustment.

The seller may decline and decide to re market the property.

This is entirely up to you the ball is in your court so to speak. The seller doesn't have to respond at all.

In my day it if was flagged on the home buyers report you did sums and either walked away or took it on as a future protect.

We would never have negotiated a lower price.

Things have changed. But be prepared to lose the property which you now might not feel is worth the asking price.

Just seen this. Don't buy unless it's an amazing price as you'd not only need to get this fixed well before you move in but there might be underlying mould.

Long term lung issues and mould don't mix. Be safer to walk away from this purchase. X

The houses clearly doesn't have damp issues and they can be an utter pig to fix often resulting in dusty work. With your health issues I'd walk away. This simply isn't worth the risk.

It was over priced really but I loved it so much I stretched myself.

The vendor had got a figure in mind and would not budge, hence why it was on the market for 5 months with no price reduction. Then it was dropped by a measly £5k.

I'm stretching myself and have a bit of gifted (loaned) money from my parents in order to buy this house. Having to potentially fork out more money in order to put issues right isn't ideal.

My friend has knows someone whose going to look at it with me next week, he's a plasterer and damp specialist, so I'll make a decision from there.

Meanwhile I'm back on Rightmove 🥴

That sounds sensible to get someone to look at it who knows what they are talking about. But to also be open minded about considering other properties in case the advice is not to proceed.

I've made a list of 8 properties to look at when DP gets in.

No harm in seeing what else I could buy.

I backed out of my previous attempted purchase due to damp and the seller not budging on price or willing to do any work.

I had a survey done but they suggested tanking all the internal walls, it was a waste of time and money.

Bluntly its not special.
Its a 3 bed semi
there must be hundreds in the streets around

With your medical history i especially wouldnt touch this house.

DP has come in from work. We have talked. We're going to investigate the damp issues next week as planned. Will cost us £100 or so but at least then we have an idea of what's wrong.

I've instructed my solicitor to stop all work on the purchase until we have decided what to do.

We're pretty sure we are going to pull out. We've found 4 alternative houses we're going to book viewings for.

The vendor doesn't fill us with confidence at all and seems to have a very carte blanche attitude.

She hasn't renewed her EPC certificate, refuses to acknowledge that the lock on the front door is faulty, blaming people not knowing how to put a key in the lock and turning it the wrong way. The lock twists round and on all 3 viewings the EA has struggled to get in. My DP had to wangle it in order to get in.

I'm not willing to pay out more money on an over priced house to fix something before I've even signed contracts or moved in. Sadly I don't love it enough.

Op do you really need this level of stress after what you've been through. We live in an old house, we have damp patches but we know the causes and are in the process of fixing it etc but it's hard. Personally I wouldn't take that on if your down sizing and looking for a nice house to just chill in. You may find the problem is worse

Id walk away OP. I wouldn’t be spending on money on a damp survey. Put all your energy and time into finding a better house.

I bought a house that had some (unknown) damp issues. The amount of angst and stress and money it cost me was awful. Don’t be me.

The external wall could well be caused by overfull gutters, but the internal wall...God knows.

Rising damp is not very likely, more common is perhaps a leak, water will always find a way out but it's impossible to tell the scale of damage until it's too late.

I epuldny bother with a damp survey, wasted money. They'll confirm there's damp, which you already know, but not the cause, and will just suggest shit 'solutions' like injections.

With what you've been through, I'd cut my losses and pull out.

It looks to me like the seller has redecorated those areas recently, this can be a red flag.

I like to buy houses that haven't been decorated for years, as you see everything as it is! Easier said than done though when you're search is limited.

Id get a trusted builder round to have a proper look at the house as a whole and the damp specifically, they have a better all round knowledge of how things get fixed and how much it costs. If you don’t know one and can’t get a recommendation and have asthma issues, I’d walk away.

Looks like rising damp (leaves ha ha) wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.

We had a damp company go in and do a quote for us in a house we're interested in, they quoted £3k to sort 2 walls....

The bay window damp is probably caused by the ground level outside being too high and breaching the damp proof course. Is it concrete? You'll need to did a trench around the house and fill with gravel.

Most unusual to get damp on an internal wall like that. It's very wet! Is the carpet not wet? What's the floor? My bet is a leaky pipe. Someone I know had a leaky pipe and unfortunately the pipe was buried in the concrete floor. The whole family had to move into rented accommodation while all the floors were dug up and pipes replaced. Luckily the insurance covered it. It took months.

Walk away.

It could be the radiator leaking

Well pull out then

Then walk away from this house.

We had damp exactly like that on our brick wall between the hall and lounge. This is because the house was built in the 20s when slate damp proof courses were common, (they are more like damp resistant courses in reality.)
Originally the whole house was lime plastered and draughty so any slight moisture would disapate however it had wallpaper on one side and plaster and paint on the other, meaning the damp could make it further up the wall. The original under floor void didn't have any DPM as they just used some hardcore back then, and underneath was just soggy clay.
We just took up the floor, got some of that dry zone gel from Wickes, and drilled and filled just below floor level.
After a bit of redecorating the wall is not damp although it could do with replastering as the mark never goes away completely otherwise.
I would assume it's similar in your case. If you have health conditions it's mainly condensation, humidity and mould from the inside air you need to worry about, rather than damp coming from outside. Mould can't usually grow unless the room is moist enough.

@johnd2 I'm just not prepared to do all that in a house I feel is over priced and already stretching me to my limit financially.

I'm 55, I've done the renovating houses, even built a house with my ex- husband. I want a house I can move into and get on with my life without having to worry about doing loads of work.

My health is my top priority.

I've realised I don't love this house as much as I thought I did as I'm not actually disappointed that I may eventually pull out.

Looked again at the EA photos that would have been taken last summer and you can clearly see the damp there, paler in colour but definitely there.

OP I would personally pull out before spending money on a damp survey especially if there's a few on the market which you like/would suit you. The seller doesn't sound trustworthy at all.