Property extended - Which survey: Home Buyers or Full Structural

lizzyshep

It's worth saying I did have to pay for Nationwide's valuation in addition, but it still worked out cheaper than doing everything through them :-)

Sammie_UK1

I've had a little shop around and the cost for an independant full building survey is in the region of £300-370. A lot lower than I thought.

Asides from costs, is it more preferable to get the full building survey done through the lender, or is it more advantageous to go independant and get my own surveyor in to do the job?..

Any advice welcome please..!

grnglide

We went for a homebuyers on the basis that the house wasnt that old and was in reasonable condition.

I am fairly certain that the structural survey was configurable so you could just ask for the extension to be done. I also beleive that the standard structural survey doesnt include a valuation unless you ask for and pay for one.

It is always better to get an independant survey as long it is by a reliable Chartered Surveyor (RICS). The lenders dont pay much for their surveys and this may be reflected in quality.

You could ask your solicitor (NOT THE ESTATE AGENT) if they can recommend anyone.

Sammie_UK1

grnglide wrote: »

It is always better to get an independant survey as long it is by a reliable Chartered Surveyor (RICS). The lenders dont pay much for their surveys and this may be reflected in quality.

Good point!! At least with an independent surveyor they have a reputation to uphold.. As opposed to lenders surveyors who can hide behind the company should things go wrong..

Sammie_UK1

grnglide wrote: »

You could ask your solicitor (NOT THE ESTATE AGENT) if they can recommend anyone.

Good tip!! I rang my conveyancers and they recommended two local RICS Surveyors. I'm just checking them out on the internet and will book the better of the two.

lizzyshep

Independent definitely - in our case it was cheaper, and we didn't want to risk a retention on the mortgage, we wanted to decide ourselves if we were going to ask for a price reduction if work needed doing rather than being forced into it.

Sammie_UK1

Thanks for all the replies so far peeps!!

I'm just waiting on the mortgage being approved before I instruct the building survey.

I noticed that the property has not sold/exchanged ownership at least since 1995, when Land Registry records started. The current vendors state that the extn was done before they bought it. So this would suggest that the extn work is at least 17yrs old. When did building regs come into law/effect? Should the building work have regs with it being done so long ago? If regs existed and were attained, surely the current vendor would have evidence of this passed onto them from their seller?

What are the implications of buying this property if it does not conform to building regs at a time when building regs requirements were enforced by law?..