Been quoted over £34,000 to fix damp problems in a house I'm thinking of buying

Walk away.
You never know how much curing a damp problem will cost...
And you never know if it will be cured anyway...
Buy a dry property and deal with less serious problems .
 
JohnD said:
Cavity membrane is used in basements, when you have water coming through a wall and can't stop it. The idea is that water is allowed to run down the wall behind the membrane, into a gutter or trough whence it is drained or pumped away. In these cases a false floor is also used so that water coming through the floor can also be taken away without grtting into the habitable space or structure, and there is a false wall on the dry side. The floor and walls on the outside of the membrane will be permanently wet.

AFAIK it is not common in UK except for basement conversions and you would need to find a contractor who could show he was trained in the method and preferably approved by the system manufacturer. This might explain the high cost. I would be very cautious of a jobbing local builder.
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Actually this method is quite DIY friendly though the OP is not DIYing, seeing as you're screwing a dimpled membrane to the wall and only screwing through the high spots, by its very design it's pretty much foolproof provided you get the layering right and don't screw through the low . It's also more common than you think and of all the effective basement waterproofing methods this is probably the easiest (least likely to be cocked up). Membrane or other traditional tanking methods typically require meticulous attention to detail.
 
Dan24 said:
the issue is the ground level on the gable wall is a public footpath so reducing it isn't possible.
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Another consideration when making a decision whether to purchase.
 
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