Example wording for renegotiation following survey

[TheWheelOfTime]

Hi Mumsnetters. I'm currently awaiting my L3 survey report and might need to renegotiate the price of my purchase, depending on what the survey reveals.

It would be extremely helpful to know what phrasing is usually used for these kind of things, so I'd be very grateful if fellow Mumsnetters could say what they used when they renegotiated their own purchases (& whether they were successful!).

The more varied the types of things you negotiated on, the better, as I'm sure other people might find this thread useful as well.

Many thanks. 🙂

Why don’t you just await the survey and can then get more specific responses? You might have a survey that shows nothing is needing to be done.

Thanks for your reply, Emeraldanddiamond. For now, my specific concerns are an old boiler and electrics, but I don't want to limit responses in case someone else finds the thread helpful. Any and every example is appreciated. 🙂

You can't renegotiate on anything which was obvious when you viewed or would be reasonably expected for a house of that age, and therefore will have already been taken into account when the house was priced for sale. So you can't ask for money off for an old boiler as you could see it was old when you looked round and you made an offer at that point. It is for stuff like unexpected buildings compliance regs like someone has knocked down a wall or taken a chimney breast out and can't prove that it was done safely or a missing wall in the loft between houses.

Wording doesn't matter. You just make a list of things which you weren't expecting and wouldn't have been able to expect and then get quotes for the work and ask the buyer for that amount of money off. If it's reasonable they say yes, or sometimes come back saying they will pay for some but not other bits.

E.g. The survey shows that the roof joists are all rotten and the roof needs replacing immediately. This will cost £10,000 and so we would like to reduce our offer by £10,000.

If you are worried about the electrics, you will need to pay for an electrical survey separately as this won't be covered by a level 3 survey.

Just wait til you have your survey? It might not be that bad. And as someone else said, if you knew/saw how old the boiler was then that’s not something you could use.

sounds like you are a bit of a pain in the arse buyer to be honest

But L3 Surveys don't do boilers and electrics, they legally can't. All they will say is to hire another specialist to check... you need a gas safety check and EICR separately.

If there is a significant issue raised by the survey ask the vendors if it’s possible to get the appropriate workmen round to quote. From there you can renegotiate based on the quoted costs. But this is for new roofs/structural issues/missing building regs as above. Don’t renegotiate based on things like old boilers or blown windows (basically anything you should have spotted/did spot on viewing) unless you want to p your vendors off and make the whole process more acrimonious.

You also should have had a look at the fuse box in one of your viewings so unless it needs a full rewire (unlikely) don’t negotiate for that either. You can ask for an EICR form via your solicitors. The survey won’t look at the electrics FYI

Thanks for the replies. On my first viewing, I guesstimated the boiler was 8-10 years old, which was reasonable to live with for another couple of years, but at enquiry stage (after full-asking price offer was accepted), the sellers (selling under an LPA) sent documentation to show it was installed 18 years ago.

The fuse box was in the garage and I unfortunately didn't see until after the offer was accepted. At enquiry stage, the sellers couldn't provide any documentation in relation to the electrics, and the estate agent told me later that the fuse box was the original with the house (1975 - the people had lived in it since new).

They don't have to show you documentation that they likely don't have, you have to pay for an EICR yourself.

EA know nothing about the houses they sell, I would take anything they say with a huge pinch of salt.

Same with the boiler, you saw it and offered on it as per what you could see (you guessing age wrong means nothing) and the actual age doesn't magically change anything.

Neither of these things will be on a L3 survey anyway.

OP, with the best will in the world don’t try to renegotiate over a boiler unless you want to create a lot of bad feeling with your vendor. Boilers are a standard maintenance once you own a home and don’t cost a lot in the grand scheme of house buying.

Perfectly reasonable to ask for an EICR via your solicitors. Luckily it’s quite rare to need a full rewire, so may not be an issue.

Request a gas safety check. Or request one is done and you pay for it. Same for electrics.

These are all going to be red flagged on a survey because they aren't tested. That goes for any house.

If you want to pull out as you regret offering full asking, just pull out.

Otherwise wait for the survey and analyse it properly

Sellers don't have to give anything for the electrics unless they have done new installations and aren't required to provide you with an EICR, You can request one is done but at your cost, and generally for your information only not a renegotiation point unless the entire lot is condemned and not something that would have been expected based on age and state of condition of the property.

Be careful trying to negotiate at this stage if the house is in a popular / high demand area. Or if you really have your heart set on it.
I think when purchasing a house you expect that there will be things you will need to have sorted out. Such as a new boiler at some point, reducing your offer now because of that seems cheeky.

My buyers had a L2 survey - I would only be happy to negotiate for anything not visible on viewing (The house price reflected what work needed to be done) I took some money off for a leak on the garage roof which would not have been obvious on viewing. They wanted me to have the boiler serviced prior to exchange - which I did - although I had previously shown them the service records for the boiler. They wanted me to pay for an electrical survey - which I declined. (A survey will show that that the electrics will not conform to current standards - I upgraded the electrics in the house in 1998).

Assuming the seller is using an agent just speak plainly to them and the agent will word it how they want.

Get the results first before worrying about how to word it. An 18 year old
boiler might be perfectly safe, and the seller is unlikely to give you money off just because you consider it a bit old.

Same with the fuse box, it might be working ok and safe. Yes a modern RCD type is preferable but don’t expect the seller to give you money off just because you want to upgrade it.

Did you not ask how old the boiler was when viewing ?

"Following our recent survey, we couldn’t help but notice that the wall paint has valiantly fought many battles against time, chairs, and what we can only assume were overenthusiastic spaghetti dinners. While we appreciate the character this brings, we believe the walls deserve a well-earned retirement (and a fresh coat of paint). Given these brave but weary surfaces, we’d like to kindly request a discount on the purchase price—just enough to help these walls get the spa day they so clearly deserve."

I suspect the OP wants a varied list of things that people have negotiated on in order to spot everything in the survey the my can possibly negotiate on to beat down the price.

Realistically you should offer what you are happy to pay for a property. Renegotiating is a drastic step and should only be done for genuine surprises.

House buying is a pain in the arse without people playing silly buggers trying to drop prices midway through the sale because they have heard that you might be able to do this.

I had someone try to drop the price on me by £15k, it didn’t work. I didn’t drop a penny. But they had asked the estate agent if I would consider leaving a few white goods- I gave them to the scrap man instead. I was so pissed of I left nothing. No instructions, no white goods, no copies of paperwork.

Agree with others that this feels like a bad faith question. It sounds like you have gone into this expecting to agree an offer at one price and then look for an opportunity to reduce that price. That's gazundering, not responding to issues in a survey.

The sellers have today provided a gas boiler service dated within the last week, so at least that covers that aspect and I'm happy with that. (Thanks for all the comments in this regard.)

Papricat's purple prose made me smile (thanks 😁).

To be fair, the sellers set the tone when they tried to charge £30 for a freestanding cooker when the main oven didn't work. Other white goods ranged from £20-£50 and would be better off scrapped (even the estate agent was pulling a face at their condition and understood completely why they weren't wanted).

I just told the agent that the report says xyz and I’m getting a specialist to cost it. Then cost cines back and says it needs (for example ) £10k spending I’d expect to go halves with the seller. I will be benefiting from the work done I wouldn’t expect them to pay for it all.
An old boiler that still functions is not a reason to renegotiate. Nor is obviously old wiring. Unseen damp or serious structural/roof repairs is.

Wouldn't the old boiler and electrics be obvious when you viewed? And be reflected on the price. If so it's very unfair to use that as an excuse to get a lower price now.
Too many buyers offer a high price to get the sale while at the same time planning to negotiate down after the survey at the last minute which is unfair to the vendor.