Interrupted Supply

Apologies to our clients who have attempted to make contact with the office from last Thursday 12th. inst. until 1130hrs. this morning, and to those waiting for their survey reports, as a number of properties within the Milton Abbas/Milborne St. Andrew area have been affected by power cuts - hopefully normal service can now resume.

Best regards

Home Building Surveys

Is it Time To Put Your House In Order?

It is an inevitable part of my job that I have to provide negative news to potential purchasers regarding their proposed dream home.

The news often comes as a shock to the Purchaser and as a surprise to the Vendor and starts the process of negotiation which leads to either a reduced sale price or the collapse of the sale, which, more often than not, has a Domino Effect, toppling other sales in the chain and preventing these sales from taking place.

I have long advocated that, as with the sale of a vehicle, where an MoT is required to prove roadworthiness and safety, a building needs to come with at least a report to confirm its condition. Home Information Packs or HiPs were introduced in 2007 but scrapped in 2010 as those in power considered it an unnecessary expense, although in Scotland, a similar Information Pack is still required to be provided by the vendor and in some ways, their Pack is less onerous, as the EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) has at least become mandatory in the UK and is the vendors responsibility.

Common sense would suggest that a Pre-Sale-Survey would highlight deficiencies in a property and give the vendor a chance to put these in order, prior to marketing, rather than facing stressful negotiation and even the loss of a sale as a result of unknown faults. It could also highlight deficiencies in the Energy Performance of the house which could also be rectified and thus provide a better score when the EPC is eventually commissioned.

Major Element Reports are not uncommon and could easily be used to identify basic defects at a much lower cost of a Level II or III survey, and provide surety in an otherwise uncertain sales process; they could easily be tablet-based and completed entirely on-site, speeding up the survey process.

We would be happy to discuss the needs of vendors, either directly, or with enlightened Estate Agents and even Conveyancing Solicitors that want to engage with this simple idea.

Look forward to hearing from you.

2 weeks and counting

Hello,

I realise that blogging has not been on the agenda for some time, as we have been busy over the past 9 months due to both the interest raised by the Stamp Duty Holiday and also serving existing clients - thank you to all that have helped us get through this challenging time.

I am hopeful, like many, that we will be allowed out to play from the 21st. inst. although I will be staycationing this year!

Malcolm

Roof Spread

We recently inspected a property in Southbourne that my clients were aware had problems with the roof, namely roof spread, with the agent helpfully suggesting that all was required was a few additional supporting timbers.

Fortunately, our inspection revealed that the vendor had effectively encapsulated the timber rafters with roofing felt stapled to the underside of the rafter; with no ventilation from the eaves, this action had created the perfect conditions for the timbers to soften and for rot to manifest, which had exacerbated the roof spread problem with the result that the inner walls of the cavity had been pushed outwards, taking a budget of £5K for minor roof strengthening to £40K + for renewal of most of the roof structure and associated rebuilding.

So the moral of this little story is…… Always get a second opinion - whether this is from a building surveyor or qualified builder/roofer - it could save you a great deal of money!

Building Regulation Completion Notices - be warned!

You would hope that receiving Completion notices for building work carried out on a property that you wish to buy, would mean that the work had been passed by Building Control and hence comply with The Approved Documents.

A recent RICS Level 3 survey in Sholing, Southampton, left me wondering whether a Building Control Completion Certificate, proudly left on the kitchen table by the vendor for me to see, along with a guarantee for Woodworm treatment in the loft, were fake documents, as clearly, the extension had not been completed and the loft not treated.

Rainwater from the rear roof slopes of both properties (semi) including rear extensions, discharged via one downpipe to the rear corner of the extension - no gulley or soakaway and the builder had “forgotten’ to supply a cavity tray where the extension abutted the rear wall - two big school boy errors! Add to that, roof lights that consisted of single panes of glass siliconed to upstands a third of their approved height, backward sloping waste pipe runs, blocked sub-floor ventilation to the existing building and lack of ventilation to the flat roof were enough to make me pick up the phone the Eastleigh Borough Council and ask for a site meeting - they have yet to reply.

The roof timbers were affected by a recent and widespread outbreak of common furniture beetle and large areas of the woodwork were covered by building paper, yet, there on the kitchen table, was a spanking new piece of paper, declaring that the loft had been treated!

Simple moral to the story really - don’t take things at face value and expect your surveyor to question the veracity of completion certificates and guarantees.

Questions that you should be asking an Estate Agent

I touched on the subject of misrepresentation in my blog back in October 2017 but had occasion recently to review the whole subject when surveying a property that had obviously been the subject of numerous building surveys and had a multitude of problems, which, as it turned out, the agent was well aware of but had “failed” to pass on to my client.

This happened when carrying out a RICS Level 3 Building Survey on a property in Ashtree Road, Southampton which was being marketed by a well-known agent, beginning with “C” in Totton.

When returning the keys, the manager looked up and said - “All OK then?” to which I replied, no, and then listed 8 serious defects, the last being progressive structural movement, to which the agent, almost incandescent with rage said “we are aware of the first seven, but none of the other surveyors picked up progressive structural movement” - I rest my case!

We have to face the cold facts that Estate Agents do not act for the purchaser, they act for the vendor and unfortunately, unless you, as the prospective purchaser, ask some direct questions, you may find yourself paying for a survey which the agent either knows will be negative, or have their fingers crossed that the surveyor misses the defect(s) and gives the green light.

However, Estate Agents do have a legal obligation to pass-on any knowledge they have of a property and this includes whether they have lost a sale on the property due to an adverse survey or other inspection, so ASK THE QUESTION - preferably by email so that you have a written record!

And remember, it is illegal, under the Misrepresentation Act 1967, for a vendor to obscure defects and this includes filling-in structural cracks and not telling anyone - who would do such a thing?

Metal-framed Buildings

We had the opportunity to carry out a survey of a BISF (British Iron & Steel Federation) house in east Dorset recently, which made me realise how difficult it is not only to find relevant information on non-traditional methods of construction, particularly steel framed buildings but how difficult it can be to spot them.

The post war era saw many steel and concrete framed system-built houses being built, predominantly in what was then termed “Council Estates” and these included Airey, BISF, Reema, Mowlem and Wimpey - yes, Wimpey and Mowlem both tried and now build timber sheds with brick outer skins and call them houses :) - apologies, but I have a pet-dislike of timber framed buildings!

Many of these system-built houses are still in existence and many have undergone external insulation and finishing (EIFS) where external insulation and a finish (Brick/brick slip or render) is applied, often making the construction of a house difficult to assess.

Fortunately, the house in question had retained its original concrete-panel external cladding and the tell-tale signs of corrosion to the steel frame were evident at the bottom external corners of the structure and internally which could have easily been missed by the untrained eye, which is often the case when purchasers do not engage a building survey.

Our clients were fortunately saved from the expense of refurbishing the structure, so if you are thinking of buying such a property, consider having a survey - it could save you money!