Survey back, highlighting issues with the chimney and sub-floor ventilation. How much should we worry?

[YouHaveAnArse]

OK, I'm a) a FTB and b) autistic, so you'll probably laugh at how stressed this is making me, but what the hey.

Survey came back on the house we're buying, with the usual 'this might fall off at some point in the next 20 years, we're just mentioning it so you can't sue us if it does', but there were a couple of things that we think needed sorting out ASAP, preferably before we move in.

1. Unsupported chimney stack above kitchen and bathroom where the chimney breast was removed at some point. Current owners have been there 11 years, previous listing on Zoopla suggests the work was done before then. Research suggests this is going to involve a structural survey and fairly expensive work, but if the alternative is seeing what my husband would look like with a chimney on him, I want to get this done.

2. Recommendation for inspection of sub-floor. Surveyor believes the conservatory installed a few years ago is covering ventilation on the rear of the property - I believe this may only involve having an airbrick put in somewhere on the rear to avoid issues, which doesn't sound too onerous, but who knows what the inspection will tell us.

Sellers have been there 11 years which is more comforting than it being a property flip, and they've already moved into their new place so getting work done should be easy enough to arrange and we can negotiate this, butt a) them knocking X off the mortgage doesn't mean we necessarily have X in cash if something's a big job b) we don't know if they're going to be reasonable about it - we offered asking price as we thought it was fair, but there's a possibility of them deciding to pull out and take their chances with another buyer, right? My FiL seemed dubious about it but being in Scotland has never seen a survey before and therefore wasn't familiar with all the covering of arse they generally involve, so not sure what to think. DH is phoning them later, but I guess I'm posting here to panic less?

Are these issues generally common and fixable, or have you pulled out over something like this?

I would get the chimney checked. My so. Rented a flat where this had been done. The kitchen ceiling completely collapsed one night. If they had been in there it could have killed them it was horrific

We removed the chimney stack altogether which solved a lot of problems we were having with leaks around the base of the chimney.

Cost about three grand and meant we could put solar panels over that part of the roof as an added bonus.

You may not be allowed to do this if the house is in a conservation area, so check before proceeding.

No laughing here. Fellow auty with chronic anxiety.

No 1 sounds pretty serious and I wouldn’t be prepared to walk away from it.

No 2 sounds less so, but does the conservatory have UFH? They are already balls off cold if not heated, an air brick will make that far, far worse.

Your OH needs to talk to the surveyor about what they think other buyers usually do to remedy such problems, on the basis that FTB scare easily (mostly due to the lack of backup funds), and realistically how much would those cost, and from their knowledge how recent is the amount they are suggesting to remedy.

Then maybe you need to barter. Or consider other properties.

Your conveyancer will have also come across similar issues like this many times and could also advise you what “normal” (neurotypical moneybags buyers) would normally do. Hopefully by consulting both and taking a measured view it will make you feel less like you are being inexperienced and panicky and more in control an authoritative on the subject.

Cos sellers love to roll out ye old “FTB don’t have a clue what they are doing so of course we won’t budge on price” trope.

Thanks for advice so far! @KievLoverTwo did you mean you would be prepared to walk away from it, or that it's serious but wouldn't in theory make you do so?

Conservatory doesn't have UFH. (One place we looked at did, and I was wary of it as it costs a billion pounds to run so would be an expensive thing we'd never use.) The chimney definitely does sound serious, but at the same time it's clearly been like that for some time, which is odd - surely it would have come up on the sellers' survey back when they bought?

We're looking in an area where basically all the houses are Victorian terraces, so I suspect the problems are going to be similar, and we wouldn't know until this stage whether the price variation is a reflection of work like this being done or just nicer wallpaper, which is frustrating. This place has had a damp course put in so I assume they have maintained the property, unlike the first one we liked where the seller was quite clear that it needed work and he had preferred to spend his money on other things.

We are also looking at Victorian houses and none of their loft conversions meet standard. I feel your pain.

It really depends on how much you have in the bank and how risk adverse you are.

We will move with probably 20k and have the ability to spent 2.5-3k a month on emergencies (at a push), so I am going to ignore the lack of structural engineer having looked at a bedroom to bathroom conversion, but if we didn’t have those savings there is absolutely no way I would take the risk with that chimney. You cannot hold them to account, you have to pay.

I know it’s a case of “FTB are so risk adverse and dumb and it’s been there for 11 years and it will always be fine” - but it’s because houses are bloody expensive and we generally can’t afford to take on the risk of a collapsed structure in the early years.

You have to weigh up your love for the house versus your appetite for risk.

You could ask them to fix it but they will probably refuse.

We could probably cover the costs, but the price would need to be reduced to reflect this.

Gotcha. Perhaps pop back here after the OH has spoken to the surveyor and you've maybe spoken to your conveyancer about what's reasonable?

This thread is curiously bare of 'fix it yourself' long time home owners!

To get the chimney removal checked, the survey people will have to take the floor up upstairs or the ceiling down, downstairs, or both so I don't think rhe seller is likely to agree to doing that. However, you could negotiate some money off and get a steel put in once you have moved in.