Should I get a full structural survey through my mortgage company?

deshg

Hey everyone,

Myself and my girlfriend are currently buying a flat in London. We obviously have to have a valuation report done by the lender which costs about £350. We can opt to have a full structural survey done by them for £695 instead if we want. I definitely want a full structural one done so we know of any issues but i've always had them done in the past by a separate company (not the lender) as it seems the lender is probably more likely to undervalue the house if they look at it in detail and find any problems?

I wanted to see if this logic was shared by others as it will be much, much cheaper (and quicker) if i get the lender to do it, so if it doesn't really matter then it's easier to do that, but i'm worried it might cause more problems than the few hundred pounds it's saving?

Thanks so much for any comments you may have,

Dave

kingstreet

Why do you feel you need a structural survey on a flat?

Is there a specific issue you're concerned about?

Will the surveyor have access to the whole building to make the extra cost worthwhile?

Personally, I'd make the saving and have the same surveyor do both. At the price you've quoted, are you sure it's a structural on top of the mortgage valuation, or is it a Homebuyer's Report?

The lender only gets the mortgage valuation report. Any additional survey is given only to you.

deshg

kingstreet wrote: »

Why do you feel you need a structural survey on a flat?

Is there a specific issue you're concerned about?

Will the surveyor have access to the whole building to make the extra cost worthwhile?

Personally, I'd make the saving and have the same surveyor do both. At the price you've quoted, are you sure it's a structural on top of the mortgage valuation, or is it a Homebuyer's Report?

The lender only gets the mortgage valuation report. Any additional survey is given only to you.

No the surveyor is unlikely to have access to the whole building and yes i am sure it's a full structural and not just a homebuyers report. There are 3 things i particularly want the surveyor to look at:

1) Is the floor of the attic bedroom supported legally according to building regs (it's advertised as a bedroom on the estate agents details) or is it just an old conversion where they haven't reinforced the floor properly (and it's just sitting on the old ceiling)?
2) There's a weird separation of the bricks at one point on the inner parapet wall on the roof (which doesn't appear to be visible from the other side). My step dad (who has run building firms and been doing developments his whole life) said he thought it was very old movement and didn't think it was anything to worry about but worth having the surveyor look at it.
3) I want to knock a wall down between the kitchen and the sitting room and just wanted to check whether this wall is structural (i'm pretty sure it is) and whether there's any particular reason this might be difficult/costly (not sure if a structural surveyor would do this last one as part of a structural report?)

My worry is that number 1 definitely would have an impact on the value of the house if it turned out not to be properly reinforced (i'm not so bothered about that myself as we're going to do work up there anyway, i just want to know, plus that might allow us to get some money off!) so i wouldn't want the mortgage company know, similarly point 2 may worry them even if it isn't anything to worry about.

When you say the lender only gets the valuation report that's great news, however presumably if they unearthed something during the full survey (eg that the floor wasn't properly reinforced) then this would contribute to the final valuation (even if it wasn't detailed on there specifically)?

Thank you so much for taking the time to get back to me, it really is greatly appreciated!

Dave

kingstreet

Trust your instincts then and go for what will give you greatest peace of mind.

Chances are, if something is going to affect the value it would come up on both reports anyway. He's unlikely to find something serious on one that he wouldn't have found doing the other.

kingstreet

On the attic floor issue. Your solicitor will also check for building regs approval with the vendor's solicitor, so you have a double-check for that.

deshg

kingstreet wrote: »

Trust your instincts then and go for what will give you greatest peace of mind.

Chances are, if something is going to affect the value it would come up on both reports anyway. He's unlikely to find something serious on one that he wouldn't have found doing the other.

Thanks for your super speedy response! But presumably they wouldn't look at whether a floor was properly supported in a standard valuation survey would they, i'm worried about raising this as an issue when they might not have noticed? Having said this whilst i want peace of mind finances are extremely tight and i do not want to have to spend lots more money (and time as we'll need two surveyors) if it's not needed.

Thanks so much for your help,

Dave

kingstreet

It's not a question of seeing it.

The surveyor will know the attic is being used as a bedroom. He won't tell you if the joists have been strengthened, he'll suggest YOU check that it has been done and the necessary building regs approval obtained.

Just as if he finds damp, roofing issues, timber problems etc he'll suggest YOU get specialists in to establish if there are genuine problems needing attention and what is needed to put them right.

Think of a surveyor as a GP who will refer you to a specialist.

deshg

kingstreet wrote: »

It's not a question of seeing it.

The surveyor will know the attic is being used as a bedroom. He won't tell you if the joists have been strengthened, he'll suggest YOU check that it has been done and the necessary building regs approval obtained.

Just as if he finds damp, roofing issues, timber problems etc he'll suggest YOU get specialists in to establish if there are genuine problems needing attention and what is needed to put them right.

Think of a surveyor as a GP who will refer you to a specialist.

The last house i bought had the same problem (bedroom in attic with staircase but no strengthened floor) and my surveyor (after the structural survey) was the one that told me about this and that it had just been built on the ceiling joists? Would a structural surveyor (if it was accessible) not have a look and check the joists, this was my understanding of the sort of thing they do? I appreciate he may not give final advice and would advise more investigation but presumably they'd usually give you an indication? Or do you think there would be no more investigation into this whether it was a valuation survey or a full structural?

Thanks again for all of your advice!

Dave

DannyboyMidlands

1. How will the structural engineer find this out? Are you providing the x-ray specs? Will a builder be on hand to rip up carpets and floor boards? As has been said above, the solicitor will be able to find building regs approval. If it doesn't have this then you should renegotitae or pull out of the purchase.

2. Without monitoring a crack over time it can be hard to tell if any movement is historic or ongoing.

3. You can ask them as part of their brief to pay particular attention to anything that you want.

deshg

DannyboyMidlands wrote: »

1. How will the structural engineer find this out? Are you providing the x-ray specs? Will a builder be on hand to rip up carpets and floor boards? As has been said above, the solicitor will be able to find building regs approval. If it doesn't have this then you should renegotitae or pull out of the purchase.

2. Without monitoring a crack over time it can be hard to tell if any movement is historic or ongoing.

3. You can ask them as part of their brief to pay particular attention to anything that you want.

So is the general consensus from you and kingstreet (and anyone else who wants to get involved!) is that we may as well have the full structural survey done by the bank as they're unlikely to uncover anything additional that's going to affect the valuation?

Thanks so much for your comments,

Dave

kingstreet

deshg wrote: »

Would a structural surveyor (if it was accessible) not have a look and check the joists, this was my understanding of the sort of thing they do? I appreciate he may not give final advice and would advise more investigation but presumably they'd usually give you an indication?

He would more than likely be able to tell you if strengthening work had been done but he won't give you a warranty that it was done sufficiently well or that it isn't a future problem in waiting.

He'd ask for confirmation of building regs approval which would show it had been done to the correct standard and further investigations if it didn't have approval, or hadn't been strengthened at all.

This would be the same for a mortgage valuation, homebuyers, or full structural.