Pretty sure I know what I’m going to do, but opinions welcome.

Had a homebuyers report done on the house we want to buy, it’s come back with a load of red flags regarding damp, and as such won’t provide a value until a specialist damp survey has given an idea of the cost of remedial work. Which is odd, as the house is 9 years old.

Specialist damp survey done, and they’ve basically said there’s nothing to worry about. The damp is very low level and likely from a historical leak (that we know about) and a bit of mould as a result of the extractors not being used for a while.

I’ve gone back to the original surveyors (connells) with this, asking them to now provide a valuation. They have said no, as they disagree with the experts, that they saw loads of bad damp and dry rot, advising us to get the specialists to go back and look again, or find another specialist, making sure they have the right accreditations (the current lot do, and have won awards from the body)

I’m pretty happy with the expert analysis tbh, it confirmed what we thought/knew, without us making them aware, and I reckon it’s just sour grapes that we didn’t use connells preferred experts, rather one that was recommended by a friend.

Thoughts?

I’d suspect connels have given you the report for the wrong property.

Ours from them contained warnings of major problems in a cellar the house didn’t have.

That did cross my mind, but both reports mention the same issue in the same room, just connells would have you believe it was about to rot away to nothing.

Arrange for you, the surveyors and the damp people to be in the problem room at the same time. Talk about it.

Historical leak on a 9 year old property?

Historical leak on a 9 year old property?

Shower/loo was leaking a few months ago, got fixed a month or two ago

Depends if you need a mortgage and who the mortgage co will use.

Mortgage co have done their valuation. They didn’t bother themselves with trivial things like entering the house.

If the mortgage company have done their valuation survey why do you need another one doing?

What’s the problem then. If your comfortable with the report from the specialist and the mortgage lender is happy then WGAF what Connells think.

If the mortgage company have done their valuation survey why do you need another one doing?

We weren’t that arsed about the valuation from connells, we wanted the home buyers report, but it was part of the service that we paid for, and we figured it would be independent of what we were offering (bank one has valued it at exactly what we are offering for it). Its only caught my attention because they are desperate to not provide a valuation, even to the point of calling the experts into question.

It does sound like they have confused two houses.

How about asking connels for some proof/photos of the damage?

NHBC guarantee should be 10 years?

It does sound like they have confused two houses.

Both reports have pics, both of the same house 😉

I reckon it’s just sour grapes that we didn’t use connells preferred experts

I reckon you’re right. Anyway, aren’t Connells an estate agent?

Edit: Forgot the advice bit, get the expert to talk to Connells direct

Any “expert” worth their coin would know a leaking toilet/showet from a damp problem. Who lived there previously Stevie Wonder, how could no one have spotted it? What damage has it caused. Sorry for lack of ny actul op help but just amazed/intrigued.

We had one general surveyor, one specialist independent damp inspector/structural engineer and two local builders specialising in damp treatment round before we bought our place. There was no denying that we had plenty of damp in a few of our walls but they all offered different reasons for it being there (apart from the initial surveyor who would say anything other than that we needed to get it check out further by a specialist). After having lived here for a couple of years and sorting out most of the obvious issues I can now say that none of them knew what they were looking at and they were all blaming the wrong things for our problems. Non of the things they recommended would have actually fixed the issues (one of which was a very obviously leaking piece of guttering that was almost impossible to miss if you just looked up when you were stood next to the wall with the “rising” damp problem).

If/when we move on I won’t be bothering with any surveys behinds the bare minimum as I don’t think they are worth the time or effort. If your mortgage lenders happy, and you’re happy/pro paired, I’d just walk away from Connells and be glad that I didn’t have to talk to them any more.

Who lived there previously Stevie Wonder, how could no one have spotted it? What damage has it caused. Sorry for lack of ny actul op help but just amazed/intrigued.

A tenant. In fairness I think it wasn’t immediately visible until he noticed the walls were getting, and staying wet. Definitely been fixed though.

Anyway, I’ve sent a mail to connells, with the experts report (and surveyors credentials), if they don’t come back to me, I’ll not loose any sleep. More interested to see their non expert response to the experts report…

Our experience with a surveyor wasn’t great. Identified old electrics that needed replacing. This was based on an ancient fuse board under the stairs. Right next to it was a nice new consumer unit with new cables going into it. Old fuse board(s) had the old black cables chopped off.

Also claimed that the roof tiles were not slate. Any idiot from 30 paces could clearly see they were.

I’ve been messed around by surveyors and damp specialists too often. Not sure what Connels role in your purchase is tbh but given their apparent poor service I’d be asking for a refund of whatever youve paid and referring this to the obudsman. The other guys will also be RICS members so they can be witnesses.