Damp Survey - who pays?

[jicms]

Rising damp has been found in my (first time buyer) son's mortgage valuation report. We've had a quote from a damp surveyor who is quoting around £2000 for work to the cure the damp and inject a new damp course. This figure is only really the start as no allowance has been made for replacing radiators/skirting boards/electrical sockets/pipework or redecoration. He is purchasing below the agent's advertised price. Can we expect the vendor to stump up the cost for this? It has been valued at our purchase price.

Aside from the cost, if the work is ongoing after purchase the house will not be immediately habitable even though he will start paying the mortgage. There is mention of walls drying out for months before redecoration.

[tater03]

I would imagine you can try to get them to pay for it but I am really not to sure how that would work? Beings that you are already paying less then the asking price I am not sure they will agree to anymore. But again I don't know how the laws work for sure there.

[brian]

So far as I understand it, such an issue becomes a negotiation point - either in terms of demanding a reduction in price to cover your costs of fixing this, or else making it a condition of sale to purchase at the asking price, but only once the seller has ensured repair work has been carried out.

[cassiem0221]

Originally Posted by brian

So far as I understand it, such an issue becomes a negotiation point - either in terms of demanding a reduction in price to cover your costs of fixing this, or else making it a condition of sale to purchase at the asking price, but only once the seller has ensured repair work has been carried out.

Yes, this is what I was thinking. I have always went with that. Either you can reduce the purchase price to the point where it is equivalent to cover the repairs or purchase at the asking price and have them to repair the home before you close the deal.