Buying house, need survey?

CarefulBill

Hi,
My wife andI are buying our first house and don't wish to go in blind.
However all the sample survey results I've seen suggest a full survey will simply advise we get a damp expert/electrician/engineer/roofer etc in to assess any problems.

Is it not cheaper to save £800 on a building survey and instead spend that on getting these experts in individually?

All advice appreciated
CarefulBill

dawyldthing

if your getting a mortgage you will have to get a basic survey done regardless. I had to pay 285 for the basic survey then paid 180 to upgrade to the homebuyers report, but it was an eye opener tbh

CarefulBill

Had valuation survey done by mortgage lender, who has queried the support on chimney - (chimney breast removed downstairs but not upstairs).

I mean should I commission another homebuyers reprot or full building survey to pick up on damp, potential roof problems, asbestos etc?
If will mostly say "recommend inspection by roofing expert" is it more cost effective to skip the additional survey and simply get a roofing expert in?

Yorkie1

The valuation survey was, as you say, done by your lender. You need your own survey to rely on as you are not the client for the valuation survey.

Unless you are an expert in looking at houses and identifying problems that may exist, I would not advise that you dispense entirely with the homebuyer's or full structural survey. If you simply cherry pick specialist reports based on your guesswork of what a general survey would reveal, you run the risk of something important not being surveyed.

Surveyors are not experts in gas & electric therefore never provide conclusive advice on their condition. However, you can often tell whether you will actually need follow-up specialist reports from your own inspection, the contents of your survey, or from talking to the surveyor after receipt of the report.

Whether you choose to opt for homebuyers or full structural survey is entirely up to you. If the house is of some age, or given the potential structural issue raised by the chimney breast removal, you may wish to have a structural survey done. However, has your solicitor asked to see B Regs sign off for example for the work? That might indicate that it was all done fine at the time.

billybear1

This isn't for gas and electrics though, this is for the structure which has already been highlighted to you!

I think £800 is for a very large and expensive house and will in the end be a very small proportion of the money you are spending! (E.G £800 = £400,000 house buy which equates to less than 0.1%) surely that must be worth it. Also you have been told there are potential issues.

If this was me, which I know it isn't, going into purchase a house which I have been warned about by a surveyor without knowing all the potential issues, is unthinkable.

CarefulBill

Will probably go for full survey then.
House is 1950 built, valued at £120,000, so might need a second quote given that's less than the 400k mentioned!

Mortgage valuer states
"obtain advice from an engineer or chartered building surveyor with regard to the adequacy of support to the structure above removed chimney breast and undertake all recommendations"
Except that he IS an RICS surveyor so we're confused.

Moomum

We paid £560 for full survey in London on a 1889 large detatched worth 800k

evansmummy

CarefulBill wrote: »

Will probably go for full survey then.
House is 1950 built, valued at £120,000, so might need a second quote given that's less than the 400k mentioned!

Mortgage valuer states
"obtain advice from an engineer or chartered building surveyor with regard to the adequacy of support to the structure above removed chimney breast and undertake all recommendations"
Except that he IS an RICS surveyor so we're confused.

If they have suggested a chartered surveyor I would pay for that done seperately.
We recently had our house 'homebuyer reported' and even though it was extremely indepth the buyers were still recommended to have the electrics checked and damp proofing checked. They ended up having to pay additional for those too.

It totally depends on your opinion and how cautious you are.

CarefulBill

Vendor simply states that "narrow chimney breat removed, wooden beam, no proofs" but I know that
A) he needed building control regs permissions and
the council confirm he never applied.

Am I right by insisting a regularisation certificate be produced and any all works necessary be either carried out prior to signing contracts or asking price reduced accordingly?

CarefulBill

We are considering getting a surveyor round ASAP to quote for potential costs of any remedial works.
However we would then have to pay for another survey post works which seems like unfair expense on another fellas property at this stage.

Should we get a quote for leverage, or wait and hope vendor plays ball to prevent paying twice?

CarefulBill

Anyone? Will get full survey instructed tomorrow unless advised otherwise.