Should we push for a discount on this house with problems?

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/apr/10/discount-for-house-with-problems

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Q My wife and I are in the process of buying a property for £250,000. We are living with parents so are chain-free. The seller of the property has moved in with his wife so the property is now empty.

The survey results have come back with a lot of work to remove rising damp and it is recommended the roof is replaced within the next 1 to 3 years.

The estate agent has informed us that the seller is willing to pay something towards the work that needs doing (we've had quotes stating the total cost of damp-proofing and roofing will be around £13,000).

I'm wondering what you think the best option would be? Shall we get the work done before we exchange? My worry is we will both pay for this and then there's a danger he will put the price up (the property has fallen through twice in the past due to the work needed and from looking on Zoopla it seems he's already dropped the asking price by £30,000).

Or shall we ask him to lower the price by the same amount as whatever money he's willing to put towards the work? That way, if we stuck with the same mortgage offer would we receive that extra as a cash sum from the mortgage provider? BM

A If you want the work on the house done before you exchange, the seller of the house should pay for everything. Until you exchange contracts, you are not legally committed to buying the property (and the seller isn't legally committed to selling it) so paying for repairs to a property that you have no legal claim to doesn't really make sense. But if you did leave it to the seller to deal with the damp-proofing and re-roofing, you are right, he may want to put the price up once the work was complete. You might also need to pay for another survey to be done to satisfy yourselves that the work had been done to a proper standard. So to keep things simple, I would ask the seller to lower his price by the £13,000 that it will cost you to have the work done. Or, if he's not prepared to knock that much off the price, at least reduce it, as you suggest, by the amount of money he's prepared to spend on repairs.

As far as the mortgage goes, you need to talk to your lender because a change in the asking price will affect the formal mortgage offer it is prepared to make. In addition, as there is work to be done on the property, the lender may do one of the following: either your lender will offer to provide the full amount of the mortgage when you buy the property subject to the work being done within a certain time; or your lender will offer only part of the mortgage on purchase and hold the rest of the loan back until the work has been done and has to be paid for.