Homebuying survey on a house purchase - negotiate a lower price?

Wreck It Yat

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Hi All,

In the middle of purchasing a home - and I have just had a detailed homebuyer survey report done.

I'm not someone who is going to request that everything such as the rewiring etc must be taken off the agreed price now - as I can imagine a lot of this is the surveyor covering themselves, and many houses would have a report saying there is "a need to rewire".

I have included a pic of the following in the conclusion part of the report. My concern is that the windows do not fully open for fire escape in the bedrooms. And to be honest I would be uncomfortable moving in until that fire escape was there.

What would you do in my position if you recieved the following report? Is it worth asking for a certain amount off? or even opening the conversation?

Any help is appreciated.
 

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I'm not sure the surveyor is saying that the upstairs windows don't currently fully open, just that you should ensure any replacements do (I think it's a fairly new regulation). In other words this may be a recommended home improvement once you are in. Perhaps you could check whether they do or don't open fully yourself, or ask the vendors. You could certainly mention that your surveyor was concerned they may not be in line with current safety regs.
If the flat roof is about to fail that's certainly something you could negotiate on.

As a vendor I would consider contributing to necessary repairs, but not home improvements for your benefit (not making a judgement as to whether the windows fall in the latter).
 
Hi Iron. Thanks for that. I did speak to him on the phone and he said they don’t fully open currently for any fire escape due to them being 40 years old.

Many thanks
 
If the windows are sound I don't think you have much leverage "just" because they don't adhere to modern specs. If it was refurbished with modern windows they could probably have priced it higher and will have no desire to subsidise your refurbishment.
I do sympathise though.
We had similar when we moved in here 20 years ago. Surveyors hate flat roofs :) We were recommended to have them replaced, they lasted 10 and 15 years respectively before they needed re-surfacing. Same with the windows which were 40 years old, wooden with the thinnest imaginable double glazed units in some but not all, several were single glazed. We didn't change those until I retired 2 years ago.

Good luck if you go ahead :smashin:

As a vendor we did have one property where we were informed the surveyor had picked up that the ventilation brick for the gas fire with back burner was not safe, installed behind the unit (where it had been for 30 years or more), and needed to be installed on a different wall in the same room. Being cynical I sensed a drop in price request looming so arranged for British Gas to fix it. Similarly the bomb proof galvanised water tank that the surveyor suggested was corroded. We swapped it out for a nice (not) plastic one and reported back that all concerns had been dealt with and the price was staying the same.

So by all means mention the issues and although the vendor might not drop their price they may get some of the minor ones fixed.
 
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Looks like a drive by survey, our buyers had one down on our old property. They don't do much, all he seemed eager on was putting his head up in the loft. Didn't get any feedback, house was pretty top dollar, if I say so myself :) .

You could consider an electrical installation condition report (EICR), vary between £200-£500, dependant on size of installation. But get a competent sparks, not another drive by 'one'. One who agrees to actually inspect & carry out testing. An installation of 40 years might be ok, unless its been attacked by diy Dave, but a proper survey would give you that information.
 
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Surveyors like to cover their backs by putting down all and every thing that could come back and bite them.
 
Surveyors like to cover their backs by putting down all and every thing that could come back and bite them.
That is true.

I've decided to not renegotiate, and proceed with the price as agreed initially. As per @IronGiant 's comments above, had the condition been better, the price would have been more I'm sure.

Also I like to stick to an agreed price when I've "shaken hands" with someone - unless there is a big fundamental issue.
 
That is true.

I've decided to not renegotiate, and proceed with the price as agreed initially. As per @IronGiant 's comments above, had the condition been better, the price would have been more I'm sure.

Also I like to stick to an agreed price when I've "shaken hands" with someone - unless there is a big fundamental issue.

Fair comment.
I have lost some in past trying to renegotiate
 
My mother's house was similar in terms of the electrical system. It was safely installed on the whole, but no RCDs and only 2 circuits, 1 for the lights and 1 for all the sockets!

The conservatory was incorrectly wired - 8 sockets on a spur off the house ring main, so we did get a bit knocked off for that, as it would be expected that the electrical system would have been installed correctly.

There's really nothing on that survey to be concerned about. It's only when you see things like dry rot, wood worm, subsidence and other really expensive stuff to fix that you should be worried. Many houses have 40 year old windows, gas and electrical services, so it's not necessarily a red flag. Dodgy DIY can well be - such as a house a workmate bought where the previous owner had used MDF as flooring and walling in the bathroom. It had all expanded and failed and the whole room had to be gutted and rebuilt
 

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