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Hi All,
Looking for some advice please on this probate property to be purchased. It's going for £225k in West Midlands as a 1950s three-bedroom end of terrace with a ground floor extension, with a flat roof, split into two rooms (sitting room and utility room). The property generally needs modernisation, new kitchen, bathroom, fixtures and fittings, including skimming and new flooring.
We've had the level 3 survey report back and have some conerns as the reported issues were not obvious to us. We were told the cracks on both sides of the interior wall of the extension were non-structural by the estate agent when viewing the property, but the survey seems to say otherwise. The extension was built with planning permission in 1970-1980, so is 40+ years old, does it seem likely there is a leak based on the cracks at all?
Extension first room interior wall:
Extension second room interior wall:
Crack on the connecting wall - the original build into the extension:
We have some other issues reported as follows:
1. Related to the extension cracks, the belief the extension was built over a drain and that the drains may be leaking. Surveyor strongly recommends we get a drain survey and structural done but we can't justify the cost if we'll just be abandoning the property.
2. Diagonal cracking to the exterior wall above the living room window due to timer windows being replaced by UPVC, the surveyor believes there are no lintels above the windows, but we don't understand how the property would be built without some level of support?
3. Electrics - RCD in place but the box is plastic and not up to regulations as should be metal.
4. Roof sarking felt was found to be slightly damaged and mortar verge to the gable end will require repointing soon, under cloaking suspected asbestos.
5. Vertical thermal cracking to where the extension meets the original build, surveyor believes this is of little worry, but if it continues after repair, to install an expansion joint.
6. Wrongly discharging down-pipe onto the flat roof, this is from the rear gutters of the original build discharging over the flat roof.
7. Exterior wet rot to the joinery of the flat roof.
8. Render taken too far down so DPC is ineffective to the original build. No DPC to extension.
9. Survey mentions that it appears walls have been removed from between the living room and kitchen, but seems no building permission was granted for this.
10. Small trees and bushes within influencing distance of the foundations but been advised to not let them grow any taller than the distance to the property.
Slideshow below with main points from the survey:
[GALLERY=album, 27887][/GALLERY]
Possible minor issues:
1. Wasp infestation around the joinery in the flat roof.
2. Very old multipoint heater unit. No Central Heating. New boiler, piping and central heating to be installed - we were aware of this.
3. Toilet fill valve doesn't fully close.
4. Shower cubicle to be re-sealed to prevent leaks, possible it has been leaking slightly without being noticed. Seems dated.
5. Soil vent pipe not properly covered, possibly made of Asbestos.
6. Textured ceilings (suspected Asbestos).
7. Suspected asbestos concrete rear garage roof. Leaking garage roof.
8. Lead rising mains suspected - I believe this is common for the property type and age.
9. All doors and almost 80% of the windows to be replaced as not sealing properly and seem to be first generation double glazing.
10. External joinery clad with PVC - survey mentions this can cause the timer to deteriorate more rapidly.
11. Significant moss on the roof to be removed - as expected.
P.S. The estate agent pushed for us to book in a survey asap and mentioned my request for furniture to be removed prior to survey was unsual, I was happy to wait how ever long this would've taken.
Would it be wise to walk away at this stage, or possibly ask for a reduction in asking price by possibly 5-10k? I do wonder how much it may cost to rectify these problems. Our mortgage expires in April 2023 so if we are forced to walk away, hope to have ample time to look elsewhere.
We are not very experienced and the report shocked us somewhat. Suggestions / reccomendations welcome, we've been advised to go through this with a builder but don't know anybody who might be able to help. We'd only really budgeted 15k including heating and bringing the property to a modern standard (not including kitchen or bathroom).
I should add we've only just received the survey and have not yet informed our solicitor or bank. We are awaiting the vendor's grant of probate shortly so are in a somewhat odd position as both of our solicitors have not formally set anything out.
Thanks for your time.
Looking for some advice please on this probate property to be purchased. It's going for £225k in West Midlands as a 1950s three-bedroom end of terrace with a ground floor extension, with a flat roof, split into two rooms (sitting room and utility room). The property generally needs modernisation, new kitchen, bathroom, fixtures and fittings, including skimming and new flooring.
We've had the level 3 survey report back and have some conerns as the reported issues were not obvious to us. We were told the cracks on both sides of the interior wall of the extension were non-structural by the estate agent when viewing the property, but the survey seems to say otherwise. The extension was built with planning permission in 1970-1980, so is 40+ years old, does it seem likely there is a leak based on the cracks at all?
Extension first room interior wall:
Extension second room interior wall:
Crack on the connecting wall - the original build into the extension:
We have some other issues reported as follows:
1. Related to the extension cracks, the belief the extension was built over a drain and that the drains may be leaking. Surveyor strongly recommends we get a drain survey and structural done but we can't justify the cost if we'll just be abandoning the property.
2. Diagonal cracking to the exterior wall above the living room window due to timer windows being replaced by UPVC, the surveyor believes there are no lintels above the windows, but we don't understand how the property would be built without some level of support?
3. Electrics - RCD in place but the box is plastic and not up to regulations as should be metal.
4. Roof sarking felt was found to be slightly damaged and mortar verge to the gable end will require repointing soon, under cloaking suspected asbestos.
5. Vertical thermal cracking to where the extension meets the original build, surveyor believes this is of little worry, but if it continues after repair, to install an expansion joint.
6. Wrongly discharging down-pipe onto the flat roof, this is from the rear gutters of the original build discharging over the flat roof.
7. Exterior wet rot to the joinery of the flat roof.
8. Render taken too far down so DPC is ineffective to the original build. No DPC to extension.
9. Survey mentions that it appears walls have been removed from between the living room and kitchen, but seems no building permission was granted for this.
10. Small trees and bushes within influencing distance of the foundations but been advised to not let them grow any taller than the distance to the property.
Slideshow below with main points from the survey:
[GALLERY=album, 27887][/GALLERY]
Possible minor issues:
1. Wasp infestation around the joinery in the flat roof.
2. Very old multipoint heater unit. No Central Heating. New boiler, piping and central heating to be installed - we were aware of this.
3. Toilet fill valve doesn't fully close.
4. Shower cubicle to be re-sealed to prevent leaks, possible it has been leaking slightly without being noticed. Seems dated.
5. Soil vent pipe not properly covered, possibly made of Asbestos.
6. Textured ceilings (suspected Asbestos).
7. Suspected asbestos concrete rear garage roof. Leaking garage roof.
8. Lead rising mains suspected - I believe this is common for the property type and age.
9. All doors and almost 80% of the windows to be replaced as not sealing properly and seem to be first generation double glazing.
10. External joinery clad with PVC - survey mentions this can cause the timer to deteriorate more rapidly.
11. Significant moss on the roof to be removed - as expected.
P.S. The estate agent pushed for us to book in a survey asap and mentioned my request for furniture to be removed prior to survey was unsual, I was happy to wait how ever long this would've taken.
Would it be wise to walk away at this stage, or possibly ask for a reduction in asking price by possibly 5-10k? I do wonder how much it may cost to rectify these problems. Our mortgage expires in April 2023 so if we are forced to walk away, hope to have ample time to look elsewhere.
We are not very experienced and the report shocked us somewhat. Suggestions / reccomendations welcome, we've been advised to go through this with a builder but don't know anybody who might be able to help. We'd only really budgeted 15k including heating and bringing the property to a modern standard (not including kitchen or bathroom).
I should add we've only just received the survey and have not yet informed our solicitor or bank. We are awaiting the vendor's grant of probate shortly so are in a somewhat odd position as both of our solicitors have not formally set anything out.
Thanks for your time.
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