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.

Your agent should work with you to negotiate the highest price possible for you, so they should be talking to the buyers, recommending local trades for quotes for actual repair costs and working out how much it was already reduced by for these things.

At the end of the day though, a house is only worth what somebody is willing to pay for it

Quite!

OP do you seriously think you will get another buyer to pay massively over the actual current value of your house if you let these buyers walk?

YABU to call their offer insulting. They are trying to negotiate. You would be spooked by the survey valuation too - it’s only natural to not want to overpay.
i hope it works out ok for you though!

Take the emotion out of it - its a business transaction. Being angry and feeling insulted just gets in the way of a solution.

If they won’t budge and you are not under pressure to move then pull out. Separately get your own opinion on the claimed required works so that when you remarket you know what is needed and what is just noise. There is not enough here to say if the surveyors are covering their arse (there are surveyors who sell services based on reducing price - fortunately most are simply arse covering and using building standards designed for a different era).

Yes, he is going to try to jump from being Mayor of Manchester to taking on "Neoliberalism", the markets are going to be spooked like a herd of wild horses in a bushfire.

@BlakeCarrington we are keen to sell as have been in that limbo for over 8 months now.

my DH is adamant that we should not move down on price. In his mind we had agree on an offer 3% below asking subject to survey and should not move further. However, looking at the numbers makes it feel very petty. I think the percentage look tiny but the actual £££ are scary.

The problem is that if you don"t accept sensible offers you could end up "chasing the market down" and end up with a much lower price, really not a situation you want TBH.

DH already felt we were doing them a favour when we accepted their offer, which was approximately 2.5% below our asking price, which was a guide price.

Now the survey and the subsequent offer take us 7.5% below the asking price. DH is adamant that this is too much. I am not sure if he ever would be prepared to accept what the estate agent tells us is the buyers r ceiling, somewhere between the two points. I think we are stuck, and I am the more unreasonable one.

In this market that is peanuts, if you lose the buyer the future discounts could be much steeper, and I would fully expect this buyer to want more off, no buyer in this climate is going to settle for that small a discount IMO.

I hope he is happy to stay living there for quite some time, then...

Honestly when you look at it rationally:

• The survey gave a valuation way below your list price and your offer. In a falling market no sane buyer will ignore that.
• Inflation is going to rise again thanks to Hormuz and the BoE has probably gone as far as it can on holding interest rates; mortgage costs will almost certainly increase very soon.
• The employment market and wage growth are equally challenging.
• All of this will place more downwards pressure on house prices.
• Guide prices are pointless at the best of times.
• Estate agents have no incentive to be honest with you when they're bidding for your business. It's in their interests to get your hopes up to secure your business.

Your husband is putting all his faith in the least objective and reliable of these factors.

Bang on.

-are keen to sell as have been in that limbo for over 8 months now.-

You are clearly not keen to sell.
Give up and stay put

Sorry OP, I can’t help but agree with previous posters having very recently purchased (completed 2 weeks ago, yay me!).

I think your DH is being very unrealistic and you will end up chasing the market down on price for reasons that @KeepPumping has eloquently explained.

Also you will be adding an automatic red flag to any other potential buyers that a previous offer fell through at survey stage. As a buyer I wouldn’t waste my time viewing once an EA had disclosed this (which they have to do if asked).

Also you want a quick ish sale - I think given the economic climate you will be waiting a long time for an equivalent offer, even accounting for the reduction that the buyers have asked for.

So if I was in your shoes I would concentrate on managing DH’s expectations so he accepts the reasonable reduced offer of current buyer.

Good luck!

PS market valuation is everything and you are already doing well on that score

Apologies if I have missed it.

What exactly did the survey show up with regards to what the roof and electrics need??

£500 fix or £50k fix?

the survey down valued by 10% and flagged roof and other stuff as "red" but did not value what it would take to fix - we ve not commissioned anyone to come check, DH says it s max £5k to fix. I am not sure.

Ahhhhh so your husband is an expert in the building game??

surely the survey went into detail what the roof and electrics need??

Must have done as hubby has priced it up!

So what did the survey actually say??

I suspect DH is being overly optimistic?

DH is very angry.
he s no expert of course
but he is upset

i wont give the full details of the survey, but it flags work to be done, of course. Nothing is crumbling down, but it s a lived in house , wgich we ve not flipped or purposedly made amazing for selling

Ok if you won’t actually say what’s been flagged up how can anyone give an honest opinion??

angry and upset?? Needs to get over himself and understand a PROFESSIONAL opinion is better than someone who has no idea….

Just accept the offer and crack on…

why won’t you give the details of the survey? Is it because it backs up the offer!?

The cost of getting any work done on a property has gone up massively in the last few years. Price up what needs doing - you may be able to find rough estimates online - and then think again.

So fix the roof for 5k then relist.

DH says it s max £5k to fix

Dh can be as angry as he likes
You apparently have one offer in 8 months
Take it or leave it !

The survey on our house a few months ago showed three major red areas including the roof structure which was in imminent danger of failing. We knew this, and hadn’t tried to hide it - that would have been very difficult because the roof is sagging noticeably. We had always expected to have to renegotiate after the survey bwcause thsts usually what happens when you sell an older house. The buyers asked for £55,000 off the price and provided extracts from the survey and their builder’s estimate for the work. We settled on a £40,000 reduction, which we felt was very reasonable given the extent of the work needed to the roof. We sold our house off market within a few days and we could have refused to come down in price, but we didn’t want to lose our buyers, who were in a very strong position and desperate to buy the house. If the house had been on the market for months, I would have bitten the hand off a buyer asking for a relatively small reduction in the OP’s position

Good luck. Op, your DH is taking it too personally and you keep repeating that it's lived in. Lived in doesn't mean disrepair. Which this sounds like onside you are not sharing any details.
The house is most likely over value as things have changed since you listed.
Unless you and DH actually getyour heads around it, the sales will not go ahead and your will both just end up more and more frustrated. Unle there is some pretty special about house, most people will just not pay above value. Not in this climate, not with banks being pretty tough.

So tell your DH to get some quotes, crack on with getting the work done for the price he is happy with, then relist knowing that you won't have to reduce the price for things identified on the survey.
You/ he may have decided what you think the house is worth in it's current state. But the market is telling you otherwise. Only one offer in 8 months and they want a reduction to consider moving forwards. It really, really hurts. But that is the 'value' at this moment in time - what someone is willing to pay for it.