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.

Gosh the English system is warped ! And expensive compared to the Scottish one as a result I would guess

You could fix the issues yourself if they're minor and then they won't need to reduce their offer.

if you fix the issues they would need to pay for another survey and get another accurate valuation

if the things are cheap and easy to fix it’s likely to also come back low

@backformoreofthesame It puts the onus on the seller to look after their property and the buyer can believe the survey they have paid for. Taking the word of a survey done for the owner means a lot of trust. 100% I prefer my own! The seller just adds their survey cost in and what if the detail is lacking on structural faults? What then?

There seems to be not many problems in Scotland with the surveys - I have never heard of anyone suggesting that the seller had influenced the survey in any way.

But that's not what it says, so that's not what it means.

What it does mean is "subject to any issues not disclosed by you and not obvious through a viewing."

I agree a roof that may need replacing in the next ten years is an expected issue, a roof or other parts of the house that actually leak is definitely not and sounds like you were hoping to get away with it price-wise.

She's reacting angrily because she feels entitled to the price of a top spec house that needs nothing done to it for her dump of a house.

People expect to make money on houses and once they have been told it’s worth XXXX they feel
like they have lost money if they don’t get that price

teh reaction is quite normal

irrational but normal

@backformoreofthesame My dh is a structural engineer and we would not buy any property without him looking at it and we would not care what the buyer survey says on an old house. Surveys frequently are not experts on structural soundness. How old can a survey be? Do they have an end of life date? What about any recent issue not surveyed? All systems have flaws but if you get your own, the surveyor is working for you and it’s up to date. That matters especially in old and complex buildings.

Maybe just leave the house on the market till after the survey - if buyers know there is other interest they are less likely to play silly games.

Yes the surveys have end dates - and the date is on the survey not sure what it is as it’s a long time

That isn't how the uk system works. It is normal to renegotiate after survey. It sounds like the condition is a lot worse than just àn older lived in house if it is almost all level 2 and 3.

They may also have significant issues with their mortgage company if they offer much over what the survey sets the value at.

Doing your own survey is unlikely to change much unfortunately.

This is why various governments have tried to adjust the system to have surveys done before people offer so that everyone knows where they are.

I’m kind of on the fence. I mean normally a house is priced depending on the condition. So if a house is run down I wouldn’t after a survey be reducing my offer because I’ve decided it needs a new kitchen, or even a new boiler or electrics to be honest. I’d kind of be thinking that the price reflected that……if that’s true I guess. I’d certainly be comparing it to other properties for sale and seeing if I thought it was fairly priced.

But if a survey showed up even more issues which weren’t obvious on viewing then yes I probably would want to reduce my offer. When we bought our current house the survey said the back patio door wasn’t safety glass. I had an 18 month toddler, I needed to replace that door the week we moved in and 20 years ago it cost over 1k to do so. So we reduced our offer by 1k. We were pushing our budget to the limit and i couldn’t just find 1k more like that. Which i accept isn’t necessarily the sellers issue but i don’t think it’s unreasonable to think that a fully glazed door should be safety glass.

in Scotland the survey is not commissioned by the owner, although they pay for it. It is an independent RICS survey from those on the solicitors ( they are EAs in Scotland) books. The value is independently given by the surveyor before the property is marketed.
if the owners disagree they can of course market the property at a higher value, but all interested buyers see the original survey and value.

Give it to them, the next buyer could be a long way away and depending on where the market is (I can"t see it being better, can you?) they might offer even less.

But if they know there is no other interest, and know that perhaps a seller is trying it on with price (like many sellers do) they will be more inclined to play silly games make a business decision that benefits them.

Buyers and lenders are more in charge these days - not so much sellers anymore. The market is totally different to how it used to be. Nowadays if the seller wants to foot stamp about price they might loose out and the buyer goes elsewhere and takes something else. Lenders too are much more cautious because the assets they are lending against are now falling in value. So if the mortgagee doesn't have a large deposit (to act as the lenders security) the lender might say no to the mortgage. Its much more balanced toward not overpaying at the moment. Because the market is having a soft reset.

So you’ve been fundamentally dishonest in your listing and not mentioned any issues that need work, despite knowing that they do need work.

It’s fair enough from the buyer to want a price reduction.

No one lists faults!

If it's an older property the surveyor will always say potential roof problems, potential wiring problems, etc. I would go back and say that the initial price allowed for it being an older property and potentially needing some work in the future. Make a counter offer if you can afford to.

If the house is valued at 10% lower and they are offering ever so slightly more I would take it or you will go round the same loop again and again

This. As they are even offering slightly more -I’d bite their hand off.

Take a 90% offer now
Or relist wait another half year.
Was it listed pre Homuz?
Economies are going to slump.
Negotiate and take the money

But they admit if it needs renovating!

@chinupimdancing No they don’t! Old people often don’t have a clue what the issues are if they’ve done nothing for 50 years. Buyers must check and get builders in if they are unsure what costs might be and a far more detailed structural survey. You would be surprised what sellers don’t know about or even think is normal. How many t times do you hear “it’s been here for 250 years, it’s fine!” Half the time it’s rubbish. They haven’t noticed roof timbers have been chopped about, chimney bases removed, damp in the loft, etc etc. Or they simply don’t care. Every buyer should check what “renovation” actually will mean.

I agree with this, particularly given today's news on increasing interest rates