Basically exchanged on a house and got a full survey done last minute due to valuation suggesting damp. Survey now returned showing a few issues, damp, some cracks in walls etc (Victorian terrace) with approximate cost for remedial work costing roughly 20k.
Slight post brexit slump plus summer slow down, estate agent sending his % slipping away is on my case to transfer funds for deposit. Survey has changed the game a bit.
Walk away, lower offer?
What would you do in my shoes?

If you’ve exchanged, bit late to start haggling.
If you’ve not, in your shoes I’d be lowering the offer.

what would I do? walk away, who can be arsed sorting out 20ks worth of work.

^ +1

You can’t walk away if you’ve exchanged….you’ll lose your deposit

All Victorian terraces have damp and cracks. According to surveyors that is. They also have undersized roof timbers and single skin walls.
None of which matters.
Carry on with the purchase but speak to an old builder who knows the area who will put your mind at rest. And will probably do £350 worth of work that will satisfy your lender.

Cracks in walls in a Victorian terrace…?
Our first house was a victorian terrace in Aldershot, parallel to the railway line. Half the street was bombed out during the war. The rest of it had jumped up and off their foundations. The bathrroom and kitchen, at the back, had a crack ground to rafters you could get your hand in. Our surveyor, a friend, described it as a flesh wound and recommended stitching it up with slate. Two weekends work, good as new!
Where are your cracks?

Do you like the house?

Ours is a wreck. Wonky cracked walls, bulging gable end (historic), slipped lintels (historic), damp, dodgy electrics, half the garden isn’t on our deeds….

I could have bought a new build. Though I have fields around me, big private garden and fun diy to be had!

We bought a WW2 bomb damaged terrace in Sheffield. Remedial structural works were £10k, new roof £4.5k – but we had haggled £21k off asking price…

victorian houses = cracks and “damp”
Don’t panic

It’s called character…

And most people get a survey before exchanging.

+1 onto the exchange bandwagon

Are you sure you have actually exchanged contracts or just signed the papers and are waiting for “exchange day?”

The valuation worried you enough to arrange a full survey but not enough to delay exchanging on the same property??

You seem on track to ignore your surveyor’s report anyhow so why did you bother paying for the full survey??

Define “issues”, “damp”, and “remedial work.”

Are you potentially being bummed for twenty grand’s worth of “damp proof course” or do you just need to replace inappropriate plaster and open a window?

Hither,

http://www.heritage-house.org/managing-damp-in-old-buildings.html

^ very much this.

I suppose there’s no chance the damp report came from a surveyor who just so happened to be able to recommend a company who could do the work for you?

20 years ago they tried the same trick on me when buying our house. I just told them that in all my years in the building game I had never been in a 200 year old house that didn’t register damp on their meters. At at different times of the year their readings would fluctuate greatly between summer and winter. Just make sure the roof is sound and the gutters all run and downpipes not blocked.

My house is 400 years old. I didn’t get a survey on it because it’s obviously still standing, and usefully has houses either side to prop it up. A quick glance into the loft showed a pair of bloody great RSJs holding up the roof (they were more advanced in the 17th century than I gave them credit for… 😉 ) so I was unconcerned.

The grief I got from the estate agent for not bothering with a survey was astronomical; it’s clearly just a money-spinner for them and the “sample” survey of another place they sent over had so many weasel clauses it wasn’t worth reading past the first page or two.

I think the OP is confusing exchanged with
Offer – brexit mixed with crack and damp = discount please.
Walk away if you feel uncomfortable – house buying can be a game of trust and if you dang have it don’t buy it.

My terrace was also bomb damaged in the war. Usefully this means we have ample parking opposite as those houses were destroyed. There is a couple of inches crack in the loft which was noted in our survey. We were told to monitor it and it hasn’t moved in 10 years. I think given what it has survived it would be fine for the next decade.

Re walk away think about it, do you want the house? Are there lots of cheaper/nicer options avaialbe? We are selling ours and I’m paranoid that our buyers are going to try the same thing

There are several concerns with the place we are buying, but likely we won’t negotiate (unless they turn out to be critical defects) as there literally is nothing to buy that meets our criteria (which really isn’t that fussy)

Do you trust the surveyor?

Work colleague has just bought a house and had an asbestos argument thanks to a surveyor who marked an outbuilding as having asbestos as he couldn’t get access to check. Outbuilding was built after 1999 and construction details were available from the vendor if the surveyor had bothered to do their job.

Supposed to be a “full” survey and was practically a drive past viewing.

Get reliable builder to see if its real problem, are you in contact with the vendor enough to know if they’re desperate to hand over or can wait a few days? Estate agent can do one, they’re only facilitating an arrangement between you and the vendor.

Been a few years since I moved but the work colleague has had an much easier time by talking with the vendor, it’s been mortgage brokers and estate agents giving him grief.

What have the mortgage company said? If they see the report they may insist the work is done as a condition of lending you the cash

How timely, I was just advised to urgently get some 5mm cracks in our render (1906 Victorian in London) filled before winter. No damp inside that I can see.

Good leverage for dropping the price a bit. As for the damp, well you can expect to live with a bit of that in an old house. But 20k sounds like the surveyor is flagging up a major issue – what did they actually say?

I would suggest either travelling back in time and doing the survey before exchange, or manning up and getting over your case of buyers remorse.

Agree with what’s said above

Surveys are a con,
Victorian houses are full of these problems but still standing, shop around for a decent builder and get the bits you wanted fixed, damp was an issue in our 100 year old terrace so look at mashing sure it’s vented, extractor fans, putting is OK etc.

If you’ve exchanged is too late, otherwise you coulda got a chunk off the price !

BigJohn – Member 
All Victorian terraces have damp and cracks. According to surveyors that is. They also have undersized roof timbers and single skin walls.
None of which matters.

^^^ This.

As said, standard for Victorian houses. Mine likewise. I took the cheap survey option that was enough to satisfy the bank. They noted the same things without having to pay for the full survey but just with basic notes for the bank to say it’s not really a problem as the house has been standing for 100 years and nothing looked to be of concern.

Damp courses seem to be a scam but it’s a big industry. Ground drainage, good ventilation including under floor (so stop it with that laminate stuff or put vents in at least) and sort out condensation sources which are a common cause for damp. In old single brick walls in particular where the wall is facing cold wind or rain. Combined with putting furniture backed to the wall and then you’ve got condensation damp, but it’s nothing to do with rising damp.

Many argue that rising damp doesn’t exist. Even Stephen Fry said so on QI (so must be true 😀 ). There’s a bit about it here – http://old.qi.com/qi_quibble_blog/2011/10/a-guide-to-qi-series-i-episode-6-inventive.html

To those suggesting I’m confused as to what step of the house buying process I’m in I’ve

Basically exchanged

.

To avoid confusion, I’m yet to exchange.

So is it a condition of the mortgage or not?

Is there £20k of work?

I understand a house of this age may show signs of damp, especially if unoccupied for some months. The report suggested there were issues with how work had been carried out on the roof and the finish of the lead flashing that could be the cause of water ingress.

Lender are happy. This was a separate survey I had done myself.

My tip…

If you don’t like DIY and the feeling like your house will never be finished don’t buy a Victorian house!

We’ve been in our Victorian semi for 18 years now and there’s ALWAYS something that needs attention.

The 20k of remedial work would be if you did everything all at once – how much of that is essential “oh-my-god the house will fall down if not done” work? And how much can be done over time – like say 20 years! 😀

fourbanger – Member

.
To avoid confusion, I’m yet to exchange.

Take it to the seller

say you want money off to cover the costs
Id ask if you can get a builder in to do a quote for any remedial work

theyll probably suck it up as they know future surveys are going to throw up the same problems (in reality not, coz surveys are completely random; 2 surveyors will give you 2 very different reports on tHE same house ime)

20k of work is a *lot*. Damp work (the sort that’s unnecessary and doesn’t do any good) is only a few K. 15k+ of building work is major – what’s it meant to involve?

If you’ve not actually exchanged and there’s really that much work to be done then there is proper scope for a renegotiation on price.

15k+ of building work is major – what’s it meant to involve?

new roof could easily stretch to £15k.

Does it *really* need a new roof or is it just arse-covering? Our old house was due a new roof (according to the survey) when we bought it – and even more due when we sold it 20y later 🙂

Can you go and have a look yourself? It may be the odd trickle or a flood…

Have you looked at a specialist damp survey? We have just bought in Cockermouth, Cumbria. Our survey picked up damp in the roof. Paid £150 for a specialist to come in who said that there was no problem and given all the rain in the Area over the last 12 months some damp may be picked up. We were advised that all was well, and went ahead with the sale.
We didn’t move anywhere near the flood areas either 😉