Survey - Is it really necessary?

vo-vo

Hi,

We are FTB and just got valuation done by the mortgage company and all seemed to be fine. We are wondering if we need to instruct any further survey on the property. The flat is a new built and is only 1 year old and look perfectly fine.

Is it necessary for another survey besides the valuation?

Thanks.

Scaredy_Cat_3

I'm no expert, but I would have thought on a new property you should be ok. The mortgage company carry out a vmp (valuation for mortgage purposes), also called a survey. This is just a very basic thing to tell the mortgage company that the property is worth the amount they are lending you.

If you had an older property, or any reason to suspect issues like subsidence, flooding, damp, structural problems etc etc etc., then it would be a good idea to get a more detailed survey done. I think most people just get the standard vmp done and leave it at that, particularly on new-ish properties.

Maybe you could have a word with the estate agent, or your solicitor. Both should have experience of buying/selling properties in your area, and could tell you whether other people buying flats in this area have requested more in-depth surveys.

Tiglet

The valuation is done by the lender for their own benefit. All they want to know is whether the property represents adequate security for the money they are lending you. It doesn't look into the structural integrity of the building, beyond anything that is obvious.

If there are problems with the building, then it will be your responsibility to put them right, not theirs. Getting your own survey done gives you a degree of peace of mind in that you will have a professional view of the state of the building. It may be tempting to think that only old houses need surveys, but I would say that this is dangerous. Buildings are complex systems and there are a lot of things that could have been done wrongly, not all of which would be obvious.

octavius_2

We are also FTB's and in the process of purchasing a property. Our's is consderably older than your 1 year old flat, but I think it would still be worth having a homebuyers carried out, even if it is for your own peice of mind. We did and despite the property looking in fab nick, we discovered almost 4k's worth of work needed doing. We are now negotiating a reduced offer.

Good Luck

O

Doozergirl

I'd settle with the valuation report if it is happy that the building is worth what you're paying. Everything else is still covered under the builder's warranty until year 2 and the building only under NHBC (I assume it has!) until year 10.

vo-vo

Thanks for all the replies.

1) How much does the homebuyer cost roughly? We paid £350 for the basic mortgage valuation.

2) How can we confirm whether there are builder's warranty & NHBC on the flat?

Doozergirl

Any major developer will offer warranty and NHBC Insurance. Your solicitor should be asking for the documents as a matter of course, in fact, I think there are relevanr questions in the Sellers Information Form. A quick call through the EA for a 'yes' or 'no' will help set your mind at ease though.

The homebuyer's report is not an in depth structral survey either so they are also going to be looking for the really obvious structural stuff same as a valuer plus stuff like whether your windows, roofing, electrics, boiler, insulation etc are up to standard, which they will have to be so that element is a complete waste of time and money.

If you want to be really sure that the house is structurally fine, then you need a full structural survey but for a house of that age? It's barely had time to settle onto it's foundations.

space_rider

I have bought a house that is just over 1 year old and only had the valuation report. I received the NHBC certificate after I completed.

cwcw

Don't bother. As Doozergirl suggests, a Homebuyer's survey is next to useless anyway, especially for a virtually brand new home. Further more, a full structural survey on a block of flats would surely cost a fortune, especially if it is a larger block. I would think it could run into thousands. There's peace of mind, and there's unnecessarily OTT.

Loosecannon_3

For reference Ive just had a homebuyers report done - was £355 with hsbc.

Brought up some good points for me, but the house was built in the 50's....