Useless full structural survey for 900 pounds

Sammy85_2

We were offered homebuyers for £500 or Full structural for £900 with Natwest. Their appointed surveyor, no choice in matter.

We spoke to the surveyors when they called to book the appointment, and we asked exactly what the difference was. We were told that the only difference is that with the full structural survey, the surveyor is accompanied by a builder.

We went for homebuyers instead.

Debt_Free_Chick

There is nothing - nothing - to prevent you from getting a survey from your own surveyor i.e. one you choose/appoint. The lender, however, will also want you to pay for a lender's valuation, but that's a separate matter. The lender can not prevent you from getting your own full structural survey - indeed, they wouldn't even know if you got one!!!!!!

The only reason you have to use the lender's "surveyor" is when you want that surveyor to do the lender's valuation as well as your own structural survey. To be honest, I tend to pay for both - pay the lender for their valuation (usually included in the application fee) AND pay a surveyor to do a structural survey.

It does sound as though you've had a homebuyer's survey, but £900 is outrageous.

Look at the report - who is it addressed to? You, or the lender?

Trollfever

My experience of RICS full structural surveys is as others.
Thirty pages long, lots of photos and lots of nit-picking.

vivatifosi

If it isn't what you ordered, ask for a refund and get another one done before you get any further down the route with contracts.

I bought a full structural survey that just after moving in discovered was not up to the task. There was a long list of things wrong with the house that wasn't picked up, from broken windows to the damp course in the extension being in the wrong place. Thankfully no major structural issues.

I had to have a second survey done and to take legal action against the surveyor. You only get back diminution of value (ie the difference in value of the house between it having the fault and not having the fault), this is not the same as the cost of having the repairs done, you only get back about 40% of the cost. It took over a year to go through all the legal hurdles.

Its much better to get this sorted out now rather than when you've moved in, especially if you can get some additional leverage to reduce the price.

Radsteral

what a builder will tell you for £100 ???
unlike most surveyors who have read a lot of books, the builder is likely to have done what the surveyor has read- therefore he s likely to be more acurate and even tell you roughly how much.
.
surveyor in a house i was working last week pointed out to the houseowner that the ceilings are in acceptable shape. Little did he know that i had told him a day before that these ceilings wouldnt reach christmas 2009.
by the time top floor gets occupied by tenants , it ll fall- that bad it was.
900 quid would have replaced these 3 ceilings for new

charliee_3

we got our own surveyor on top of the mortgage valuer we paid £199 for the compulsory mortage valuation and £250 for our homebuyers survey with a company i found on the internet. The surveyor was great and spoke to me for over an hour on the phone about his thoughts and findings and made loads of suggestions of how we can fix the things he highlighted. we were able to tell him about our plans for the place and he told us if he thought they were a good idea, etc.. worth every penny and they were acting only in our intrests, not the mortgage company, or the EA or anyone else... think they would have done a full structural for under £500 if we had wanted it and i dont doubt that it would have been thorough. Because of the work that needed doing and past sales in the area he valued it lower then we had offered (he could justify it) and we were able to use this as a negotiation tool to change our offer saving us £4k. The mortgage valuation was just a valuation, but he was in there 10 mins and it basically said 'its a house, it has 2 bedrooms, it appears to be standing, its worth 146k'

id do it again next time in a heartbeat...

Debt_Free_Chick

toja wrote: »

Hi everyone. I just paid £900 for full structural survey arranged by Woolwich (the only option they have) and got something like this:

Just a thought ......

Did you pay £900 for a survey?

Or did you pay an application fee of £900?

charliee_3

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Just a thought ......

Did you pay £900 for a survey?

Or did you pay an application fee of £900?

good point.. that sounds more likely....

charliee_3

i think you have grounds for complaint, according to this
http://www.personal.barclays.co.uk/BRC1/jsp/brccontrol?site=pfs&task=homefreeopenplanwealth&value=15116
it should be at least 15 pages and include photos...

hope that helps...

sian0203

toja wrote: »

Hi everyone. I just paid £900 for full structural survey arranged by Woolwich (the only option they have) ...


We just arranged a mortgate with the Woolwich and paid £275 for the valuation survey. It told us that it was a 3 bed semi, built approx 1940 was in good condition and was worth the £96,000 that we'd agreed to pay (about average for the area the house was in). We then paid roughly £300 for a homebuyers report which was about 30 pages long, quite detailed and came back saying there was problems with the chimney, a 'bounce' in the timbers of the downstairs floor which could have meant potential dry rot etc. Also told us to check the wall ties, it needed a new damp proof course, and on and on it went. Also it valued the property at £90,000 (it was done a week later than the Woolwich Valuation survey). By the way, we were only offered the £275 Valuation survey with the bank, no-one told us there were different options with the bank? I still think it's worth getting your own independent survey done.