Home purchase - Porch, but no planning history?

[Adam11]

references

If he's referring to cavity vents, then they need opening up. They are there for a reason - to provide air circulation within the cavity to evaporate any moisture from a) the inner skin caused by condensation or b) on the outer skin caused by penetration and/or condensation.

Since when did anyone ever "maintain" cavity wall ties? how do you do that? - why would they need replacing? occasionally ties do need doing, but not very often, and there are usually obvious other signs of failure.

I'd take "no DPC" in a house built in 70's with a pinch of salt - very very unlikely. High readings could be condensation caused by the way the occupants live, or even a bit of salt contamination from coal burning. "damp meters" only measure resistance, things other than water can give positive results.

Is the cracking between porch and wall a huge crack perhaps wider at the top than bottom? or a little thin crack that could be harmless settlement of different structures? The damp in the porch might well be because a cavity tray hasn't been installed - often people take a chance because installing a tray can be a PITA.

However, it's an older house, and may well need a little remedial work. I don't know where you are, but houses round me are selling well - next door to us is a refurbished 1902 semi that has just sold at £10K over the developers asking price.

I'll make a prediction - unless your seller is desperate to sell to you, they will not negotiate and will, if you push too hard, re-market the property. Sorry to be negative, but if you expect to find a 50 year old house that an a****-covering surveyor can't find a few things to write about and doesn't need a bit of maintenance, you are going to wait a very very long time.

Hi,

Yes, it is the cavity vents being referred to. They're sealed with silicon.

The wall ties are showing signs of failure, though. When looking through the pictures, there's clear cracking in the mortar in a few locations and through research and the surveyor, I found that the wall ties used then are prone to corrosion and as they rust, they expand causing cracking and separation between the bricks.
This does look to be happening in a few locations around the property.

The lintel above the back door is clearly corroded and bowing, as well as lintels above at least 4 windows showing signs of wear, with bricks out of alignment and cracking.

With the porch, the cracking worsens the higher you get.

In fairness, a 1902 refurbished property is probably in better condition?
There's no signs of anything structural having been maintained over the past 50 years, signs of lintel failure, and potentially cavity wall tie failure?

I'm fine with that, a property down the street was marketed £5k cheaper and sold last week after 6 months on the market for £3k under the asking price.
The seller had to reduce then price previously following on from sellers pulling out, and undercutting the asking price massively.
If a property in better condition sold for £8k cheaper the precedence has been set for fair market value on properties in the location, especially when visibly having less structural concerns.
If the seller wants to pull out because they've ignored signs of lintel failure, they can by all means go back to market with the property - the difference being now structural concerns are raised, they must declare this to future buyers, especially if I pull out as a result of structural concerns. I guarantee given the property 2 doors away selling for £8k cheaper while being in better condition, signs of structural compromise, they'd be at market for the price I'm asking for.
I'm happy to take the chance, in honesty.

If the cavity wall ties are failing, and so are the lintels, wouldn't they exacerbate the deterioration of one and other as the problem worsens?
If I have to replace every lintel, it's looking at £9k.
Cavity wall ties are looking £3-£5k.

As mentioned, the other property sells for £8k cheaper and doesn't show signs of failure taking total spending upwards of £21k when factoring in repairs, and higher price.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Why has your surveyor revealed all this via a phone call rather than putting it in writing in the survey? Peculiar.

 

[johnny2007]

Sorry to be blunt, but if a 60 year old property is suffering from failing lintels and wall ties and dampness, maybe it's not the best investment.
Most council properties around my way were built just after the war and I've never seen a failing lintel or wall ties needing replacement.
IMO when buying a house you should look for a solid shell, all the cosmetics can be fixed easily.

 

[mrrusty]

they must declare this to future buyers

They really don't have to. A potential buyers survey is between the potential buyer and the surveyor. A seller has no obligation to either act on it or inform anyone else. If I was the seller, I might take note of the issues raised and tidy them up a bit before the next viewing.....Remember, the advertised price is what the estate agent thinks they can sell it for - they have no real incentive to overvalue because their reputation relies on fast turnover.

OK, if it's been on the market for months without moving then maybe there is room to negotiate, but if it's only be on a week or two before your offer, then I'd be surprised.

I've seen this buyers' surveyor's a-covering nonsense myself very recently with sister in laws house. Big red warnings about an electrical fault that could "endanger children and required immediate attention" - the decorator had left an FCU loose because he forgot to put the screws back in - fixed in 10s. Another big warning - the house had a lot of artex and due to the age there was a "strong possibility it contained asbestos". We had it tested - it didn't. plus warnings about windows in poor condition (there were a couple of DGU blown which I replaced for ~£30 each).

Your "£9K to replace lintels" to someone else might be a £20 lintel from the builders merchant and half a day's work - remember the lintel only holds up a triangle of bricks above the window/door - not the whole house!

Not trying to be too negative, but we do get FTB trying to leverage problems far beyond the actual problem, and if some of the problems were really that bad the BS probably wouldn't lend on the house at anywhere near the value anyway.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

they must declare this to future buyers

As mentioned they don't it's merely an opinion.

 

[Adam11]

I had a meeting with the EA this morning, who spoke to the sellers and has already replied - £3,500 off the asking price.
I informed that I want split responsibility for the work, which would be fair considering these issues have been present under their ownership. They agreed.
All is well in the world again, until it comes to bills.

I'm aware that I'll get the work for cheaper than the £14k, this was a higher end estimate in an absolute worst case scenario if all lintels failed.
I'm happy with this and all I was looking for was shared responsibility for preexisting defects.