Hi I am purchasing a flat and concerned about damp in the property.
The flat is a basement flat in a grade II (200 yr old) listed building.
The house was completely derelict up until 2 yrs ago when it was developed into 9 flats. The vendor has decided to sell the all the flats which were initally rented.
The two main areas of concern in the flat are:
1/. Room that was a former wine cellar - I think due to the Grade II listing this was basically left untouched. On both a homebuyers survey and a structural survey damp was noted extensively in this room and a corridor adjacent.
2/. The bedroom is completely underground and must have been tanked - it was originally the old houses coal celler.
The bank will only release the £, if they a full damp survey is done on the flat and another survey on dry rot that was noted in the communal areas.
I am very suspicious of the Vendor (a moderately large developer) - he sent over a supposed "damp survey" done by another company that was litterally 4 lines, and just said no damp was found anywhere in the flat and it was all ok. The supposed dry rot survey by the same company was exactly the same!
Obviously I don't believe this at all and neither does the valuer - and therefore the bank.
The valuer recommended that I get someone in myself to do a damp survey and he recommended "Kenwood".
At this the estate agent said the Vendor would not accept Kenwood "as they were just unrealistic with their reports".
This just rings further alarm bells with me - although they did say they would let Rentokill in.
Can you advise on another high quality Damp company that I could get in, as I am not going to accept someone they recommend as I would expect a similar stitched up report as the last.
Are Rentokill any good and could they be relied on to provide a good report?
What other steps should I be taking to protect myself? Should I be looking to get a damp proof guarentee from this damp company? - If so what sort of guarentee should I be looking to get?
Thanks for any advise you can provide me with.
The flat is a basement flat in a grade II (200 yr old) listed building.
The house was completely derelict up until 2 yrs ago when it was developed into 9 flats. The vendor has decided to sell the all the flats which were initally rented.
The two main areas of concern in the flat are:
1/. Room that was a former wine cellar - I think due to the Grade II listing this was basically left untouched. On both a homebuyers survey and a structural survey damp was noted extensively in this room and a corridor adjacent.
2/. The bedroom is completely underground and must have been tanked - it was originally the old houses coal celler.
The bank will only release the £, if they a full damp survey is done on the flat and another survey on dry rot that was noted in the communal areas.
I am very suspicious of the Vendor (a moderately large developer) - he sent over a supposed "damp survey" done by another company that was litterally 4 lines, and just said no damp was found anywhere in the flat and it was all ok. The supposed dry rot survey by the same company was exactly the same!
Obviously I don't believe this at all and neither does the valuer - and therefore the bank.
The valuer recommended that I get someone in myself to do a damp survey and he recommended "Kenwood".
At this the estate agent said the Vendor would not accept Kenwood "as they were just unrealistic with their reports".
This just rings further alarm bells with me - although they did say they would let Rentokill in.
Can you advise on another high quality Damp company that I could get in, as I am not going to accept someone they recommend as I would expect a similar stitched up report as the last.
Are Rentokill any good and could they be relied on to provide a good report?
What other steps should I be taking to protect myself? Should I be looking to get a damp proof guarentee from this damp company? - If so what sort of guarentee should I be looking to get?
Thanks for any advise you can provide me with.
