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.

You still haven’t explained the roof or electric issues? Is it a £1k fix or a £100k fix…?

They are offering you above valuation and you will risk losing them in this climate, possibly a bad move IMO.

If Iran escalates the next offers, if there are any, will be lower.

When we had our survey it threw up a handful of things that needed attention. We got quotes for the two most pressing (a window that needed replacing as it couldn’t be secured closed and some repointing to stop water ingress) and had quotes for them. The vendor agreed to reduce by the total of those quotes, just less than £10k.

Ooofta thats brave. Wish you luck op.

I think it is a reckless move, you can"t dictate market price as a seller now. The OP may get lucky and catch a chunky mortgage rate drop or something, it will probably be short lived but that will be their window if it happens.

We have just sold our house and nothing came up on the surveyor report. The house has been well maintained. Yes regs get updated so sometimes it's only a new board not a full rewire. But in a 50 year old house like the OP's I would expect that the roof had been replaced and a rewire had been done. However some owners keep patching and adding sockets without ever doing the full job. That may be ok to live in but not when reselling.

@HouseDrama2026 I am another who thinks you should look at this objectively which is hard to do when it is your home. Be honest about the level of work needed, if your current offer is above valuation but needs work a future buyer may have problems with a mortgage. Reds on a survey are not a surveyor being picky, they are literally red flags meaning there is an issue usually urgent. Coupled with Ambers and no Greens you really should do your homework before no negotiation.

When we bought the house we are moving into we sent the seller the issues that had been raised and asked them to get inspections and quotes so that they could see we were genuine and either resolve those areas or reduce the price.

Have you seen the survey?

If not and If they walk away, contact the surveyor and ask how much to buy the survey off them. It will be cheaper than getting a new survey yourself.

We have just bought a house. The first sale fell through. Sellers, a family putting the house on the market after probate never knew why they pulled out as the buyers wouldn't discuss it. We bought the survey and knew the issues we were dealing with and did offer even less than asking.

@Fedupofthisgame they ve sent us excerpts only.
Roof issues are way more minor than "it s totally rotten", and leaks mentioned are historical. Gutters are minor points too. Electrics are old and never fully updated.

@HouseDrama2026 So why not negotiate on electrics? What is the roof issue exactly. For it to r mentioned it’s not just a wrinkle in the roof felt is it? If it’s minor, why haven’t you fixed it? You could fix it now! Most people get caught out when they don’t have a tip top house and have to accept a price negotiation. Depends if you really want to sell or whether you think there’s buyers waiting on the wings. From
your op, that sounds likely.

It is relatively common to renegotiate after a survey finds issues the buyer was not aware of when the offer was made.

If they have asked for a certain £ reduction, I would try to negotiate with them by suggesting a smaller reduction. I'm not sure getting a second survey will help. If they have lost some faith in the house, they will want a reduction and that is their right to not buy the house at the price previously agreed.

At the end of the day, you can remarket the house and not sell to them, but you will likely come up against this issue again with new buyers so I would try to negotiate now.

Correction- from the op, there are not buyers waiting in the wings! Bird in the hand etc.

We've just had a level 2 survey done on a house we're buying. 7 red items! But when you read the report they're nonsense eg no kite mark on shower door, potential for leaks if sealant round bath fails, 'head and shoulders' inspection of the roof only so potential roof structure issues, boiler not tested so potential issues with heating and hot water, electrics not tested so possible fire risk, etc. No actual issues identified, just possible ones, each with suggestion to do further investigations (by them of course). This shopping list of possible future maintenance cost us £600. A complete, money-making racket.

Not necessarily. My daughter had several red flag items on her survey but they were all serious. It identified that the roof had been patched up many times for example, but was still in very poor condition and would need to be replaced soon. And that one window was dangerous as it was fitted with the wrong type of glass (not safety glass). Plus the electrics were very old and faulty.

She negotiated a few thousand pounds off the price and it was completely justified. The roof did need to be replaced very soon and it has been now, and the window replaced, electrics updated plus work on other red flags the survey identified.

Good luck with standing firm, you are much braver than me ! I expect they will continue with the sale.

I would only expect excerpts, it would be very unusual to send the whole survey without a cost to yourself. If electrics have never been updated on a house that old then a full rewire may be needed. have the historic leaks been addressed properly or patched up?

You appear to be assuming that the buyers should have expected a house to have all of these issues when considering their offer, but that is not the case, many houses have been updated and maintained. This is why they have a survey.

Did your advert actually say that the property needed improvement? Maybe your estate agent has been remiss when discussing your valuation raising your expectations?

I actually think that for example the kite mark is reasonable issue to point out. It's been around for loooong time and I think it's 20 years or so since it had to be marked into the glass. It may sound stupid but it's a standard safety mark showing the glass is safety one. Without it you don't know if it's glass which can actually hurt you.

@Twiglets1
Oh I absolutely understand that, on occasion, surveys do highlight real issues for potential buyers. But, honestly, i would rather spend my money on using a trusted builder to have a good look. I would never pay a 'survey' company again.

Maybe, but checked the shower door in our own house, fitted 3 years ago, bought from Wickes, and no kite mark so who knows...

Sorry I just googled it and kitemark is not mamdatory? What's the point of the mark then if they don't have to put it on🤦

Not everyone has a "trusted builder". And how do you know they are trusted ? Do they wear a special t-shirt or is there some sort of certificate they can get ?
Do they just turn up for free or less money than a surveyor ?

And how many builders actually know about all aspects of house construction, including things like electrical systems and the latest regs ?

A surveyor is someone who has the actual formal qualifications to enable them to assess houses. They've been through training to do this and have experience at it. They have the formal qualifications so that you don't have to "trust" them based on your own assessment of their abilities.

That's ok if you have a trusted builder. We don't so a survey is the best way to understand any issues the property might have.

(full disclosure we haven't always bothered with a survey ourselves but that's for our own reasons - the official advice is always to get them or Buyer Beware).

Have you read my previous comment describing what the survey I paid for actually came up with? And, yes, I do have a builder I trust, based on the work he's done for me and neighbours and his certifications, which is why I said what I'd do next time. He actually helped me decipher the meaning behind the survey report i received. I'm kicking myself for wasting £600 now I know the report is largely a way of touting for further business and back-covering ('this may be a problem, if it is, don't blame us as we told you to do further investigations') eg the surveyor said she physically wasn't strong enough to lift a drain cover so recommended a full drain survey. I'm not denigrating all chartered surveyors, just cautioning against using the national companies which come up when you do a Google search for house surveyors. Surveys aren't compulsory so customers maybe need to gather a bit more info before they pay a lot of money for something which, like me, may not be what you expect. And sellers need to be savvy when their buyers use one of these reports to try to negotiate a price reduction.

Estate agents are always confident.... price is 9nly what a buyer prepared to pay.... and you do not have big pool of buyers....
If you actually want to sell and move take the offer
If you happy to stay put another 12 months then reject offer but spend £££ addressing some of the survey issues to re list .
.. and if you have to spend £££ then maybe the offer does not look so bad?!...as over the valuation !
You can spend £400 for a RICS valuation yourself

I'd split the issues into: "matching the overall state of the house" and "worse than would be reasonably expected from the advertisement and one viewing".

I'd say that yes, the wiring is original, as was clear, it works but someone might want to look into it at some moment. No real finding there.

Are some of the findings fair/surprising?