House buying survey has come back - what should I do next?

[Spooky2000]

I had a home buying survey conducted and it came back with some reds, a number of ambers and a couple of greens. The survey values the house at the asking price, with the following, "...provided that you are prepared to accept the cost and inconvenience of dealing with the various repair/improvement works reported".

It had a stack of red issues, but when reading the report the majority of these are minor in the scope of things, IMO - such as a door doesn't close properly, the sealant is coming away from some windows, whether the gas appliances have been tested and whether appliances are in good working order and that they comply with current regulations.

The most serious issues for me are: The design of the rear bedroom window does not allow people to escape in the event of a fire; high
damp meter readings to the lounge; whether there is permission for the extension (!!) - "...whether the local council has granted
Building Regulation approval for this work and if a guarantee or warrantee exists" and lastly, "There is an area of skirting board that has been affected by rot within the kitchen".

I'm not sure what to do with the survey - pass it on to the solicitor with my own queries, or do they raise them? Do I pass it to my broker? Use it to reduce the purchase price? What??

Advice appreciated as I'm just getting my head around other things atm that are hard in life.

Thanks <3

It is easy to check whether there is planning permission for the extension: you just go on the local council's website and find the planning portal, search for the address and see what comes up. That doesn't cover building regs, though. All that kind of paperwork-related stuff should definitely be questioned by your solicitor.

Do you know how long ago the extension was built? If it is more than 10 years ago it would probably be too late for the council to do anything about it even if it didn't have permission, but you would want to make sure it met building regs for safety.

Other stuff like damp readings and rotten skirtings are more of a judgment call. You could try to get a specialist damp survey, but you would have to pay for it, and in my experience it can take weeks/months to find a reputable firm to do a damp survey (ie not one of the firms that are just looking for an excuse to sell you a new damp proof course).

My DS has recently had similar. He’s just informed me the vendor has accepted his reduced amended offer.

It's the solicitors job to be checking all the right permissions are in place for the extension - surveyor can't do that, he/she can only identify that there IS an extension. Double check that the solicitor knows about it and is doing that piece of work, but don't read anything into the surveyors comments that there's any reason to believe it's not all OK.

The window one is a changing building regs issue, not really a fault with the property. Personally, I think that would be a damn cheek to try and knock price down for an issue like that. You can change the window if that makes you feel more comfortable, but it doesn't intrinsically impact the condition of the property.

Damp meter readings are highly disputed anyway - maybe worth googling. It might be something, it might not. Can be as much to do with someone drying washing in the room as it is to do with condition of property. Has the damp led to any visible deterioration? Has the surveyor included pictures, or maybe you could organise another visit to review that area? Thing to watch out for is if the room is super freshly decorated - have they tried to cover up any damage with a coat of fresh paint? Rotten skirtings could be due to internal leaks which may or may not have been fixed, excessive water used in mopping floors - can be really basic stuff.

Either way, the key thing is the surveyor has valued it at what you are paying, can't see how you could ever see that as a justification to try and reduce an offer!

I don't mean to be rude but it doesn't sound like you understand how to read a survey or interoperate risk. You worrying about the completely wrong issues.

A door not shutting can be a FAR bigger issue that could indicate structural movement (or it might just be a badly diyed door but it seriously needs checking more than anything else you mentioned).

Lack of sealant could cause water ingress (probably just a tiny leak but still) however a non fire escape window (which almost all houses over 25 years old have) or generic damp (all houses have damp, pretty much every survey ever will state that) are not issues at all, they are pretty much expected on a survey (you could also SEE the window on viewing the house).

Surveys do not test gas or electrics etc... they are just pointing out that you need to if you want it checked.

The extension permission is something for your solicitor to deal with, its their job to check these things not the survey which will just point it out to cover themselves.

You pass the survey to the solicitor and they will make the enquirers.

Thanks folks, this has helped me A LOT.

@SoloSofa24 you say Do you know how long ago the extension was built? If it is more than 10 years ago it would probably be too late for the council to do anything about it even if it didn't have permission, but you would want to make sure it met building regs for safety. Apparently it was built in 2005 according to the vendors solicitors, so I queried the building regs matter with my solicitor. She's a bit shit, IMO. She claimed she'd sent responses to previous queries through to me - no she hadn't. I've now got them; however she sidesteps the building regs matter and I don't know how to approach this, or if I should.

With regards to the elevated moisture levels in the lounge, hall and kitchen, the surveyor who did the report does say that a survey could be done by a third party they have, but it looks like kickbacks galore to me?? However, damp is one issue that causes me concern. It's a mid terraced though, so other than the lounge, I'm not sure how concerned I should be. I've asked them to call me so I can get an idea of what the % is. Other than the skirting board pic, there's no visible signs of damp and it looks as though previously this might have been an issue with the radiator?

@Tupster Yeah, they've said that's what it's worth, but conditionally: provided that you are prepared to accept the cost and inconvenience of dealing with the various repair/improvement works reported.

TBH the only thing I'm concerned with is potential damp and that a soil vent pipe has been finished too low, apparently.

No, you're quite right - I haven't got a F-ing clue with it all tbh. I don't know what to ask for and what not to ask. Some stuff I know I can do and fix myself or get someone to do it - eg misting; sealant. Other stuff I can pay someone to check and do.

What do I do about the door then? The surveyor did mention some stuff about ensuring the insurance has certain cover; the environmental and mining searches came back ok though?

With an extension built in 2005 there absolutely ought to be evidence that it has met building regs, if all is in place, it shouldn't be difficult to prove, I would expect things of that date to be digitised. HOWEVER, it's still nearly 20 years ago, way past any enforcement period and regs will have changed since then anyway. Plus a building that was perfect and met regs when built could have deteriorated and needed repair in the last 20 years, so all that really matters is whether the extension is structurally sound and safe now. And that is where you'd expect the surveyor to call out any problems identified in just the same way as they would with the rest of the property. It might be that your solicitor is sidestepping regs because realistically, it is a bit meaningless after 20 years - they probably WOULD go after certificates after this time if you really want them to, but it's unlikely to really help you.