Unsure if a wall was removed in property we're buying

Buyingahouse25

Hi, hoping someone can help

We're at the closing stages of buying a house. It is a second hand semi-D with no wall between the Kitchen and Dining area. Our surveyor's report came back saying this wall "may" have been removed, so our solicitor went looking for Certificate of compliance from the vendor's solicitor.

The vendor's solicitor says the wall was never removed and the house was bought like this as various different flooring plans were offered when they were built, some with a wall and some with no wall. Our own solicitor is now asking us to confirm this, I guess to wash their hands clean of any liability.

How exactly would you go about confirming this? Would there be a way to confirm the original floor plan of the house, or would you need the surveyor or someone else to go back again and inspect?

T.I.A

Victor

One could look for the drawings the vendors receiver from the previous vendors, which would be indicative.

Otherwise, it could be a matter of opening-up the ceiling to see what is there - no vendor will agree to this.

bunderoon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058409247/unsure-if-a-wall-was-removed-in-property-were-buying

Knock on your neighbour's door and ask them about theirs.

Buyingahouse25

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123428655#Comment_123428655

The people we are buying off are the original owners. They don't have a record of the floor plan as it was purchased in late nineties so no email records unfortunately.

Iguarantee

Check the neighbours houses as was suggested above.

I found out from our neighbour that our house had a kitchen fireplace as standard, ours had been removed but a few of the neighbours retained theirs.

baxterooneydoody

What makes the surveyor think this, are there cracks or visible signs of deterioration to make him ask this. Imo he's overstepping the mark and going outside of his remit. His job is to make a report on what he can see, not what he thinks may have happened

Claw Hammer

Go to the Council planning office and look at the files for the building.

Victor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123428987#Comment_123428987

I disagree. The surveyor is expected to convey their full professional opinion of the property.

Buyingahouse25

Thank you, might try that as there might be one of the neighbours that are also original owners and might know.

I've queried with my surveyor to get their thoughts, but they are paid up for the initial report and will hardly commit to any confirmation.

Buyingahouse25

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123428987#Comment_123428987

No idea, that is why I've asked them to comment on why the said there "may" have been a wall removed that has raised my solicitor's suspicions. Doubt I'll get a reply that will appease the solicitor.

To be honest the whole surveyor report seemed like a couple of sentences of pure drivel that you could write yourself, such as "Gutters need to be cleaned, Could do with a few more electrical points" filled with pages of copy and paste material to beef it up.

Victor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123429622#Comment_123429622

To be honest, this is much better than "severe cracking in foundations"-type reports.

It is unlikely that the surveyor will object to a follow-up phone call / email.

Buyingahouse25

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123429720#Comment_123429720

Absolutely, and that is the last thing we needed! ( my pessimistic side expected something like that!)

We'll see, but not sure this will be resolved without something like "You'll need an engineer before we can sign off , and that is another 800 Euro".

Half tempted to just lie to the solicitor and say "yeah all good" from the Surveyor side. We'll likely never sell the place, and if my kids do, they can deal with this 🤣

mykrodot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123429812#Comment_123429812

unless you're getting a mortgage you can still buy even thought something has been flagged? In other words you can disregard what is in the report and tell your Solicitor you want to proceed with the purchase anyway, (your Solicitor may want you to sign a waiver). It's only if you need mortgage approval that a query will absolutely hold up the purchase.

ted1

what type of floor has it ? Is their a skirting board ?

Normally there are signs you can watch out for. Like lift the carpet and you’ll see was their a wall.
pants skirting board patched or was it replaced in that room.
is the ceiling different than other rooms ?

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123430478#Comment_123430478

"Unless you're getting a mortgage..."

Realistically, how many everyday Irish buyers - which the OP clearly is - are buying without a mortgage???

Former Former Former

The bank will not see the report, it won’t affect the mortgage.

If the wall was removed a long time ago and the ceiling hasn’t caved in, what’s the risk and is it really worth losing the house? Because the OP can either take it as is or walk away, there’s no other option.

mykrodot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123430770#Comment_123430770

I bought 2 years ago without a mortgage, plenty of people do. I sold my previous house in Meath and moved to a different county. Lots of people buy houses who are not first time buyers.

I moved to a house where the wall had been removed between kitchen and sitting room to make one space. The kitchen would have been dark and pokey without this and most of the neighbours have done the same. I got my brother who is an builder to look at it and he said no issues at all. The wall was not a supporting wall and a concrete lintel was used.

Sorry I sensed the OP was a bit older when he said the house would be his kids could deal with any issues in the future :-)

Buyingahouse25

Thank you everyone for the responses. The bank isn't looking for anything. We have the loan offer proper and are ready to sign the contract once this piece gets resolved.

Our solicitor just wanted to give us piece of mind (and cover themselves I assume) if the wall was removed, which our surveyor said it "might" have been, that the paperwork is there to back up the work should we ever want to sell.

We've talked with a friend today who is an engineer and he reckons (after seeing photos) it is impossible to tell without thoroughly inspecting the place.

We chatted with our solicitor after that, and he's asking the vendor's solicitor to include some clause that has them declare that a wall was never removed/there, so if we find out it was, they are liable. They've also asked for the original plans as they are the only owners so far.

I do appreciate the the post from Former Former Former above though - If the ceiling hasn't fallen in by now it probably won't which was my thinking🤣