Survey came back with major issues, buyer pulling out

[pumpkinspiceforbreakfast]

Accepted an offer on our house of 495. Buyer had a survey done and it's come back with results that have left me a bit in shock. Firstly it says the external wall insulation was poorly installed and doesn't meet "standards" (whatever that means, I only have the buyer's interpretation, not the surveyor's report) and needs more passive ventilation because it's causing issues with damp.
Secondly, we have an issue with condensation in the loft in winter, and that has come up on suvery (as I knew it probably would). We've had lots of airbricks fitted but when it's really cold outside, there is condensation on the felt. There are no leaks in the roof. There's also apparently "a problem with the way the bay window was built" (house was built in 1936, we bought it 10 years ago and nothing related to the window came up when we had our survey done).

based on all this the surveyor has valued the house at 425, 70k below asking price, and buyer has (understandably, I suppose) pulled out. i'm honestly stunned and can't see how this could be accurate, especially as the external wall insulation was done by a prominent company that's still in business with hundreds of 5-star reviews, neighbours had exactly the same thing done at the same time and their house has since been bought/sold without any issues. i can't see how even with a whole new damp course, new vents and new windows we're getting to 70k of work?! and we've never had even a hint of damp in the house (i've lived in houses with damp issues and have always felt lucky that i didn't need to deal with it here). is it usual for surveyors to overestimate costs and problems, or are we screwed??!

What a horrible shock!

Could you get the insulation company to come and assess the wall?

As you say, you only have the buyers’ interpretation. Could you get hold of a copy of the actual report? Perhaps the estate agents could help?

Why did the neighbours manage to sell though?

We had this from the other side.

we had put in an offer on a property.
surveyor went and saw it and wrote a report - valued 30k under the offer we had made.

mortgage company would only use serveyor’s valuation and we didn’t have 30k in cash additional so we had no choice but to pull out.

We did have a phone call with the surveyor and they made clear that they were absolutely not prepared to budge on the value.

you need cash buyers. Or people with a significant cash percentage

The buyer has no obligation to share the survey with you or the EA and many surveyors stipulate that the survey can only be shared with the buyer’s conveyancing team.

Have you own survey done - a specialist damp one. We recently had the same issue of a buyer pulling out due to a few issues, but the main ones were

• damp
• lack of planning permission for the extension

A 20 minute phonecall to the relevant district council gave me all the documents confirming that the relevant permission had been granted and the damp survey I had done found no damp. People will do funny things ...

Or you need the seller to accept reality? I doubt many people will throw in the "extra" now unless it is a really sought after property/location.

I got the impression that the neighbour had sold for a similar price?

Their buyer might have paid for a level 1 survey. Level 3 surveys estimate costs.

I wouldn't do anything until you have been able to read the survey for yourselves. Surveyors can and all too often do make mistakes - I know someone who got the wrong house and another who mentioned an issue with the stairs (in a bungalow with no stairs!). Go from there once you know.

You need to try to establish whether the report is accurate. You knew about the loft so you can assume that's legit but if the other issues are a complete surprise then you need a second opinion. This means you get your own surveyor to do any independent report. Also have an honest look yourself. Is the bay window subsiding? Are there cracks or anything? As for the insulation - are there signs of damp? Did you have concerns about it before?

If you bought ten years ago you should at least get back what you paid?

Instruct your own surveyor and go from there. See what genuinely comes up - if you can, fix the problems yourself, and then remarket the property.

thanks all, the neighbour's house (ie, the other half of our semi) sold for above what it was listed for with no price reduction. the external insulation was done to both houses at once. there are no signs anywhere or damp/cracking. just hard to believe that there could be issues this serious without any warning signs. we just won't move rather than move at that price, but it's still obviously v disappointing because i don't want to spend all that money on a house that isn't my forever home.
update: estate agent just called and said 425 is a ridiculous valuation even with the issues that are listed, so that's something. he says we got the wrong surveyor on the wrong day - that doesn't help us with moving but his opinion is that a surveyor would usually have flagged these as advisory issues rather than work immediately needed.
i will ring around roofers, builders etc next week and get my own idea of the work that's needed.

We had this on a family probate house we were selling. The buyers pulled out but were good enough to show us the report which was terrible. The property went to auction in the end and sold for 285, instead of the 320 we had originally asked for, so not a bad result all in all. Unsuspecting tenant are in there now.

I honestly think surveyors kinda do their own thing. We had one for our house that missed critical issues which cost a lot of money to repair such as 40 year old ovlerloaded wiring about to go up in flames, but listed issues that turned out to be completely wrong. If you're concerned, get your own survey done, but honestly the next one might well pass it.

The bay issue makes no sense unless it’s sagging. Is there no lintel?
Id get an expert to come in about the walls/damp. Not the people who did it (though if that’s an issue is it still under warranty)?

I sold a flat with terrible damp issues.

I got a specialist damp company to prepare a survey and specification for works which I included my home report and I dropped the price by £1000 more than the report suggested (within the price of this flat, this was quite a big drop!) It was a negative equity sale too, and had to be approved by the mortgage lender...

First of all you need to remedy what you can (more air vents) and then provide specification of repair for what you can't.

Once you’ve got over the shock, a surveyor arranged by you will give you a proper idea of what work, if any, is needed. At least you then have a negotiating point for any future buyers.

The issue will be if there are very differing valuations from the surveyors. If there are, then clearly one of them is wrong and you’d hope it’s the one you’ve just had.

Hi OP

Do you know if your home is cavity or single wall? If it is single wall then the insulation will be causing a problem and that will need addressing by a heritage builder NOT a damp proof company.

The roof too, it’s likely the insulation is too close or something. Or the roof hatch isn’t airtight. Or a number of reasons that will be solvable with a bit of research.

re the bay window, if it’s original and survived this long I doubt there is a construction issue. If it’s been replaced with UPVC then there is potential for this not to have been supported when installed.

yes, get you own survey done if you want. I would advise against getting anyone out to diagnose that has something to sell eg damp solutions.

Our surveyor failed to notice the load bearing wall which was replaced by a concrete lintel (which was increasingly banana shaped) or the extension where the new wiring was added to an overcommitted network.
We found both of these when we extended. The builders found the wiring by touching the wall to find the warm spots and when they put an arcoprop under the lintel and lifted the floor to the correct height the sink in the bathroom above sheared.

The house we sold we accepted a reduction in price for roof repairs despite having replaced the valleys & gutters and had a a 20yr warranty on them. We needed to sell.

None of this sounds like anything that would add up to that kind of money to sort, to me.

Get your own survey done and then get specialist opinions/quotes on how to rectify issues and how much it would cost, would be my approach.