Buyer wants a price reduction after survey

[HouseDrama2026]

i ve named changed for this

We accepted an offer on our house earlier this year and took it off the market. The house had been listed for a while - it s a large family home in a more expensive price bracket, so not attracting tens of viewings.

They’ve now come back after their survey wanting a price reduction. I do understand surveys can throw up things, but I’m honestly frustrated because the property was priced with the age and condition in mind.

There are issues mentioned (roof, leaks, electric, and the survey feels quite heavy-handed in the context of what is, in reality, an older 1970s house.

We think they’re overreacting and trying it on. I m feel like we should walk away, but so much time invested already. If we relist, there is no guarantee that the same think wont happen again. Everything is taking forever and it s absolutely depressing. I feel so angry that it s also maybe clouding my judgement.

@RocketLollyPolly the survey gives a number 10% below, they have re offered higher than valuation but not much, based on the red points (roof, leaks, gutters, electrics) in the survey. we think the survey is very harsh.

I had 3 red (the usual because they usually require certification), 4 orange and 15 green, level 2 on 70s house.... It can be done. Reputable local surveyor too.

Op, youcan get your own surveyor in.

@Notsodisney what are the usual reds?

i ll look at getting a survey myself

If I were a prospective buyer, I wouldn't trust a survey the vendor had commissioned themselves. Suspect you'd be wasting your money.

You could get quotes for some of the work the survey says is required, to get an idea of where to start negotiating?

Electrics, gas and gas boiler. Because these should be inspected by certified professional. The owners had gas cert they gave us later so that was fine and electrics were also good as they had some work done recently and paperwork. One orange was moss on roof so, you know. 😁 We live with it.

A lived in home is 90% of homes sold. Most homes don’t have major issues that need fixing. A Reno project and a regular house are very different fish.

Well that would be impossible. You can’t have people legally bound to pay a certain amount when they haven’t properly inspected the place.

You could stand your ground and refuse to negotiate, but mortgage rates are higher now than they were earlier in the year, so you may not get the asking price. I see many houses in our area sitting on the market for months and asking prices being reduced. I sympathise, but people want a house with safe electricity and a non-leaking roof.

I think you are being unreasonable. You make an offer based on looking around. You have no knowledge of building work. So you ask someone who knows I.e a surveyor and then they look at things a layman doesn’t know about. Then you renegotiate the price based on what they say needs fixing. Completely standard

its different if they are saying things like carpets are old or in my case I had a buyer saying the radiators were old and wanted new- I said no as they had seen those rads when made offer.

This is absolutely standard. I’ve never not reduced a house price after survey on a sale and vice versa when I’ve purchased. It’s a starting point for negotiation.

then what is the point of them making an offer previously which we accepted. Surely "subject to survey" should not mean anything but "we ll walk away only if significant structural issues".

OP, there are two accepted negotiation points - the original offer (less informed) and after any surveys etc. (more informed).

It’s not unusual for there to be negotiation at both points.

@HouseDrama2026 They had not had the survey when they offered! How could they know about a leak, the roof issues, the electrics? You could have maintained the house better. Of course they will negotiate. So will another buyer - if you can find one! Negotiate and sell or you might be very stuck!

I’ve just sold in Scotland and there the seller has to get a Home Report including a valuation from a surveyor, before marketing. Then the valuation is the basis of the sale. It’s a good idea because all viewers have an opportunity to read the report and base their offers on that. Everything is up front from the start.

Have you never sold a house before. Survey means anything major. Re wiring and roofing are major! You're being delusional. Also you still haven't stated theamount of work required to these two things. It could be 10s of thousands.

Maybe it should, but it doesn't! Quite often, it means "we'll walk away if there are significant financial issues". And that's reasonable - the buyer can walk away at any time before contracts are exchanged.

If the house needs work that isn't within their budget, either you all negotiate, or they'll find somewhere that is less risky for them.

We did our second viewing of the house we’re buying with a trusted builder. He pointed out all the things wrong with the house and we offered accordingly. Our vendors accepted an offer based on the fact the roof needed relaying as there was no felt and you could see the sky, a lot of the windows were blown, and it needed replumbing. We had a survey done as well a bit later and it backed up everything the builder had said. It made the whole process less stressful as we could make an informed offer at the beginning, and didn’t find ourselves in the situation your buyers are in where they realise they have lots of expenses coming up that they hadn’t factored in to the offered price.

I don’t think it matters if the survey is done before or after an offer. They are still offers! The English way means the survey is for the people spending the money!

Op you can always say no. Be prepared for them to walk away. This is all normal stuff….

I think some posters on here are missing the key point - that being that the op's house is overpriced by about 10%. Thats the most important thing to me to come out of the survey report. Maintenance thats needed aside - who wants to overpay by that amount in a falling market? If the market was increasing, it might be that a buyer could justify that the price paid will soon be caught up to, however the market is going the opposite way !

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-15971513/Buyers-ignore-inflated-house-prices-sellers-list-home-like-2021-2022.html?ico=mol_desktop_money-newtab&molReferrerUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.com%2Fmoney%2Findex.html&_gl=1w3x9gp_gcl_auMTcxMjU3Njg1OS4xNzc2NzUzNDk4_gaODU4NTMwNTQ0LjE3NzY3NTM0OTE._ga_C9F47K6NW6*czE3ODM5NDEyNzgkbzEwMiRnMSR0MTc4Mzk0MTMxNyRqNjAkbDAkaDE0OTE4OTgzMjk.

If the valuer has valued under the asking price, that’s more than likely the main reason for asking for a reduction. Depending on their mortgage, they may not even be able to buy it at the current price, as the mortgage company will treat the valuation
as the purchase price. The market is changing. Maybe you are being unrealistic about what it’s worth at the moment?

This happened to me,when i googled the buyers surveyor,it was clear from reviews and their own ads that this surveyor specialised in getting price reductions for buyers.
The bottom line is you have to decide what price you are willing to sell for ,that will depend how urgently you want/need to sell and the market conditions.
I decided to to stick to my price and asked if they were willing to proceed with the sale at the price agreed or if we should relist our house for sale.
My buyers proceeded with the sale.
Bottom line is its your choice wether you agree to a price reduction or not.

An estate agent is not a qualified surveyor hence why properties are always sold subject to survey. The bank needs to know the condition of the property they are lending on and as a seller you are able to dictate your asking price somewhat so it could be overpriced for what it is.

What a seller should do is take note of the Scottish system. Pay for your own survey before putting your house on the market that way you can fix and address any issues the survey throws up and then market your property. Then there are no surprises from the buyer's survey.

You are paying your estate agent to advise you on the renegotiation, use their skills to work with the buyer. Your house is 50 plus years old, unless you have gone into your loft every year, inspected every single joist for signs of water damage etc then there are bound to be some potential issues with the house. You are not a surveyor and not qualified to decide what work your house needs. Have you had your gutters cleaned out? When was the last time all of your electrics were checked?

You keep saying the price is unfair and that a buyer should only walk away if there are structural issues. Maybe they just don't want to have to pay tens of thousands of pounds to rectify the issues your property has. How would you proceed if the house you are buying came back with that survey? Would you want money off?

I've skimmed this thread but interested, it could happen to any seller. It didn't seem clear how much the remedial work might cost (depends on many things too) but could you not now you know what a survey will throw up, get the work done? Or get the work priced up and negotiate the reduction? If you're saying the asking price included reductions for these things, perhaps the agent should have made buyers aware before viewing/offering?
In the end a house is worth what a buyer (and mortgage company) will pay, but if the buyer then has to find cash for important works...

OP I think you need to look at this without the emotional aspect. Your house has been devalued by 10%. If your buyer is needing a mortgage then they won’t get more than the valuation. Why should they pay more than it’s worth? It’s your home so you have an attachment. To them at the minute it’s a business transaction.

Either negotiate or pull out and start again (but you’ll likely get the same issues again).