Rising damp / selling up

[Frugalgal]

We have a terraced house with rising damp (I think that's what it is, plaster falling off walls) in the kitchen and one wall where the living room adjoins the kitchen. The cause is the level of the yard is higher than the house floor level and so rainwater tries to find it's level by encroaching. Very common with these terraces, I'm told.

We want to move and I don't know where the rising damp will scupper any potential sale or just reduce the asking price. So the question then is, do we pay to get it all fixed before selling or would that cost more than what ever we would lose on the sale price?

It seems like an expensive hassle and my DH would rather sell it at a discount than fix it. Friends are saying the same..

Does anyone have any experience?

Could you get some quotes so that potential buyers know what's involved in fixing it?

Unless you get someone who really knows what they are doing there is no guarantee the offered solution will fix the underlying problem. Also even if you pay for a fix, how do you prove it has worked, short of waiting a couple of years to see?
Best to sell as is and be honest and up front and price accordingly. But per pp, have a cost to rectify to inform potential buyers. Ideally talk to neighbours who have had it fixed and get their costs.

No doubt the buyers or their surveyor will notice it and demand a reduction in price. So don't knock the price down until they do.

Do that and let them deal with the treatment.

An effective treatment would be to trench beside the wall, and repair the fault, but they will probably have a chemical injection with a worthless guarantee, that will actually not solve the problem, but it won't be your problem. Try not to call it "rising damp" because it's probably a simple building defect.

Good ideas, thanks.

An unscrupulous seller might put wood panelling on the damp walls.

Someone told me to do that!

Any surveyor worth their salt will see the ground level is too high.
If it was me, I’d lower it, effectively but cheap as possible. Same as fixing any lose tiles on the roof, repairing and cleaning the guttering etc etc.
Do the cheap, quick, easy jobs. It will put less buyers off if there isn’t something glaringly neglected.

I think if you don't take remedial action you might have to sell for a lot less than the discount you imagine. The market is starting to soften and people are very afraid of the costs of something like this. Add to that the tax increases coming this Autum and it would be better to deal with it - or at least get it surveyed to understand what buyers will be told.

How bad is the damp I think is important to know. Plus if you even just do a basic renovation/paint job this can also help with the look and feel of the place.

Hard to tell but the plaster has crumbled off the bottom 12 -18 inches of the walls in a few areas. I want to get it professionally fixed but DP refuses to entertain the idea and just does a DIY job on it himself which lasts for a while.

I agree, although to be honest I have no idea what the likely amount would be that people would want knocked off and am thinking the worst. Personally I'd be very put off by seeing crumbly looking walls in a house I was viewing and probably wouldn't even put in an offer.

Having said that it's student central round here and a lot of houses are owned by student landlords or are airbnbs so are more interested in the rental than the quality of the walls.