Advice Please! Just had building survey on my house...

[JMAC]

Trying to sell my 16 Century cottage. Been trying for 6 months, potential buyers offer then pull out on survey. I commissioned my own, there are damp problems in walls, floors and timber. Surveyor tells me to correct all the many faults could cost up to £40,000... This was a full structural survey and I asked them to focus on damp, timber and the roof.
Is there any milege in examining my house insurance around a problem so extensive to see if I can claim? I have to say, i've not noticed any significant damp (only a patch in one or two areas) which is expected in something this old. Are my only choices pay to fix some/all of the problems or sell at a far lower price?
Advice greatly appreciated, this is giving me sleepless nights.

 

[Nemesis]

Is the firm you employed also one which offers treatments?

How did they assess the supposed problems?

 

[Cloudscape]

I had my structural survey done by a guy who had surveyed many very old buildings. He'd 'seen it all before'.

He calmly noted the moisture content of walls and timbers, commented on some historic deathwatch, said the wiring and plumbing were rubbish, the whole building is all bent out of shape...

and then said it would make a great home and prioritized the work I'd have to do. He wasn't expecting it to conform to 'normal' standards for a conventional house.

The mortgage surveyor also noted all the historic distortion and still passed the house as OK.

Compare this to surveys I have had on a Victorian house. They jam a damp meter into everything and check everything with a spirit level. Some surveyors have passed it, and others have had strong reservations. Each report was different.

Was your surveyor experienced in older buildings?

 

[Mark]

In response to your first post we advised that you get a survey down by someone who knew about old buildings.

Is this a survey by someone competent in old timber frame buildings or is it a generic survey?

 

[Flyfisher]

the whole building is all bent out of shape...

. . . . and?

I wonder how many 16th century buildings actually exist that are not 'all bent out of shape'? I can understand that a structural survey would mention such a thing, but surely the survey should also make some sort of statement regarding the structural integrity of the building as well. Being bent out of shape certainly doesn't mean the building is structurally unsound.

 

[Raylea]

Unless you get someone who knows what to expert with an old property and will live in it and with it no matter the circumstance and can see through such damaging surveys, I am afraid you will have to sit tight for the few and far betwwen.

Still good luck and let us all know the outcome.

Raylea :roll:

 

[Cloudscape]

the whole building is all bent out of shape...

. . . . and?

Precisely my point. I do apologize for my shorthand. What he was saying was the house is 'interesting' but staying put - structurally. I think he said that this is 'all par for the course in a building of this age'.

but surely the survey should also make some sort of statement regarding the structural integrity of the building as well.

My point was that the surveyor saw beyond things that might cause concern in someone less experienced in older houses. Movement from the use of green timbers - that sort of thing.

Being bent out of shape certainly doesn't mean the building is structurally unsound.

I know. That's what I meant. :wink:

 

[Pford75]

There is of course still the possibility that the vendor is looking for an unrealistic sale price in a falling/faltering market.....and this manifests itself in buyers raising survey queries.

In a rising market or a keenly priced property, buyers can see their way past surveys...whatever concerns they raise.

To answer your question, damp (if it exists) will almost certainly not be covered on insurance, since it is a "gradually occurring" condition and will therefore be subject to some form of exclusion in your policy

 

[Penners]

Is there any milege in examining my house insurance around a problem so extensive to see if I can claim?(

I'd be astonished if any insurance company would pay a claim for inherent damp in the building.

I'm sure this would be classified as "wear and tear".

If the damp was traceable to a burst pipe, or some such, then you might stand a chance. But not if it's just attributable to the building being old.

 

[Lime]

Trying to sell my 16 Century cottage. Been trying for 6 months, potential buyers offer then pull out on survey. I commissioned my own, there are damp problems in walls, floors and timber. Surveyor tells me to correct all the many faults could cost up to £40,000... This was a full structural survey and I asked them to focus on damp, timber and the roof.
Is there any milege in examining my house insurance around a problem so extensive to see if I can claim? I have to say, i've not noticed any significant damp (only a patch in one or two areas) which is expected in something this old. Are my only choices pay to fix some/all of the problems or sell at a far lower price?
Advice greatly appreciated, this is giving me sleepless nights.

I'm not going to waste my time talking about surveyors, the vast majority work for money lenders and uninformed purchasers who know nothing of older buildings.
Did they point out anything that previously you had not been aware of or have never seen?
Do you now see wet patches and rotten timber where you were oblivious before?

I pluck out of your post:

I have to say, i've not noticed any significant damp (only a patch in one or two areas) which is expected in something this old.

So who is to be believed here?
You, who have lived in the property for some time rain or shine, or someone who spent a couple of hours briefly looking around?

Don't be swayed by the opinion of fleeting visitors, no matter how "qualified" they pretend to be, your experience is the truth of the matter.
Be confident and a purchaser may well ignore the siren calls and survey laments commonly heard when finances are stretched to purchase.

Sometimes you have to trust your own judgement, lonely though it is.

 

[Penners]

Sometimes you have to trust your own judgement, lonely though it is.

Well said.

 

[Gervase]

...and altogether splendid polemic...

Couldn't have put it better myself.

 

[Nemesis]

Problem is, even with God on our side, we have to live with the results of a survey.

So as I said at the outset - who did this? What axe did they have to grind?

Did they have historic building expertise? Is the roof shot?

 

[Pford75]

There are 2 issues here...

1. What repairs (if any) does the building need?

2. What will someone be prepared to pay for the building given the survey?

The first is where many on this forum have expert knowledge and with time can help the OP prioritise work or even deduce what may/may not be required.

However, this is a rather separate issue from the sale price. We have a number of buy to lets and have been trimming down the portfolio....it's been noticeable in the current market that buyers are taking time and using any excuse to try to drop the price. The point is not 'Does the property require work'....it's more a case of 'Does the asking price reflect current market value'? If it did, then the issues of repair are moot.

Personally, if you are confident in the asking price (relative to comparables), I would be inclined to simply tell the buyer..."That's the asking price....take it or leave it".

 

[jocelyn plummer]

A review of your asking price maybe a useful exercise, things have changed in the past 6 months. Perhaps try 3 agents for a fresh opinion.
Good Luck

 

[Alastair]

I can understand your wish to sell your house means you need to get it off your hands, but you may feel bad about it going to someone who knows ** (two letter acronym meaning "not a lot") about old buildings and immediately starts works which will probably hasten it's end rather than preserve it.

Have you tried referring them to this website so they can do some homework and understand that ventilation will often deal with damp for example?

 

[Moo]

Have you considered getting the problem sorted properly* before putting the house on the market?

* By which I mean, of course, doing the right thing by the building rather than leaving it to the mercy of some uninformed future owner.

 

[Lime]

Have you considered getting the problem sorted properly* before putting the house on the market?

* By which I mean, of course, doing the right thing by the building rather than leaving it to the mercy of some uninformed future owner.

Presupposing that anything is wrong of course.
Many surveys are full of speculation, prejudice and fantasy.

 

[Mark]

I understand the OP is going to approach a specialist, the survey was carried out by a surveyor linked to an agent. I've suggested Stephen and Matt both know their stuff.