FTB: Do I need a survey?

penguingirl

For anyone not considering getting a survey I recommend watching 'help my house is falling down' with Sarah Beeny, the show is a bit ridiculous but nearly all of the people on it bought 'bargain' houses without a survey and then get upset when it turns out is sinking/ has big holes everywhere/ is actually held up with cocktail sticks.

Also I always presumed that all mortgages required that you have a survey (or at least a basic valuation). We went for a homebuyer's report when we bought ours as it was recommended to us that we probably wouldn't need a full structural survey as it isn't an old house (it's 15 years old) and it cost us about £500 (but that was 'up north'). There's some info about surveys here http://www.home.co.uk/guides/buying/vands.htm

evoke

OP: learn about the three main type of survey. Your lender will automatically undertake a (basic) valuation survey to ensure that it is worth the asking price. You normally pay for this and it costs around £200.

The next one up is the Homebuyer's Survey. This is far more detailed and mainly for your benefit. It will cost around £450. It iwll highlight quite a few issues and you have the option to negotiate the asking price, ask the sellers to fix things or walk away. Floorcoverings are not lifted and bits of wall are not chipped away so it's mostly a 'visual' survey.

Finally there's a Structural Survey. This costs a lot (£800+). This is a very detailed survey on the condition of the property.

You pays your money, you takes your chance.