Vague survey result

girl_withno_name

We had our survey back yesterday and a couple of the sections seem to be very vague and I wondered if anyone else had had this?

Sections E9 and F9 are both called 'Other', one for the inside of the property, the other for the outside of the property and both say:
"There are other minor defects in parts of the property. These are not urgent and individually will not be costly to repair and are no more than what I would normally expect to encounter in a property of this type and age. However, in due course some expenditure will be required."

They are also both category 2 defects, but no further information is given.

This strikes me as the surveyor covering their backs, although I have little faith in legal stuffs if these general 'cover all' comments do indeed cover all!

BitterAndTwisted

You are the one paying the surveyor so they are the person to whom you should address your questions. Just ring them up and ask.

I can't see the house from here so I have no idea what these minor defects may be.

girl_withno_name

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

You are the one paying the surveyor so they are the person to whom you should address your questions. Just ring them up and ask.

I can't see the house from here so I have no idea what these minor defects may be.

I appreciate this and we have emailed to ask, although haven't received a reply yet - just wondering whether this is sort of a standard phrasing put into most (or all) surveys?

G_M

Look. Every property will have 'defects'. Some scratched/worn internal paintwork that will need freshening up in a few years... Some external wooden wndow cills that will need maintaining. A crack in a slate/tile or two on the roof.. A squeaking dining room door needing some WD40....

He's saying this is not a brand newly built house, it is a few years old. "no more than what I would normally expect to encounter in a property of this type and age."

He is reassuring you that whilst these 'issues' exist, they are not significant, not urgent, not expensive, and not to put you off. Indeed, he is saying that if you back out of the purchase and instead buy another property of similar "type and age" (ie next door) you will come across identical or similar 'issues'.

However, as others have suggested, if you are concerned, ask.

girl_withno_name

G_M wrote: »

Look. Every property will have 'defects'. Some scratched/worn internal paintwork that will need freshening up in a few years... Some external wooden wndow cills that will need maintaining. A crack in a slate/tile or two on the roof.. A squeaking dining room door needing some WD40....

He's saying this is not a brand newly built house, it is a few years old. "no more than what I would normally expect to encounter in a property of this type and age."

He is reassuring you that whilst these 'issues' exist, they are not significant, not urgent, not expensive, and not to put you off. Indeed, he is saying that if you back out of the purchase and instead buy another property of similar "type and age" (ie next door) you will come across identical or similar 'issues'.

However, as others have suggested, if you are concerned, ask.

I am very aware that every property has defects, no property is perfect, etc., etc.

I am more concerned at the vague nature of this statement, and I'm not particularly happy that having paid for this information it doesn't actually say anything really! If the survey's going to mention defects then I'd like it to actually mention what they are ...

The other category 2 issues actually provided some details and we were able to assess whether these were things we could live with, or deal with.

Thrugelmir

What type of survey did you have done?

girl_withno_name

Homebuyer's Survey (property built 29 years ago, no concerns about damp or cracks or anything from our viewings)

G_M

girl_withno_name wrote: »

I am very aware that every property has defects, no property is perfect, etc., etc.

I am more concerned at the vague nature of this statement, and I'm not particularly happy that having paid for this information it doesn't actually say anything really! If the survey's going to mention defects then I'd like it to actually mention what they are ...

The other category 2 issues actually provided some details and we were able to assess whether these were things we could live with, or deal with.

I think you are really answering your own question.

You've paid for a report (incidentally a 'homebuyers', hence NOT the most expensive / detailed option!) and the main purposeof paying for this is to get an expert to tell you if there are any significant issues/problems with the property which would affect your purchase, or your subsequent ownership.

He appears to have done so:

The other category 2 issues actually provided some details

He has then reminded you that the property is not brand new, has a few other insignificant issues about which you do not need to be concerned.

Had you paid for a full structural survey, you would have received a report 5 times as long, listing every paint-mark.

girl_withno_name

Ok, maybe I've just misunderstood what to expect from the survey...

We did purposely choose not to have the most expensive or detailed option (as we would have chosen for other properties we've been interested in while looking), so I wasn't expecting every inch of the property to be examined and commented on.

However, comments like this seem in line with carrying out a scientific experiment and saying "we noticed / found out some other stuff, which may be important now or in the near future, but we're not going to say what these things are".

G_M

"There are other minor defects in parts of the property. These are not urgent and individually will not be costly to repair and are no more than what I would normally expect to encounter in a property of this type and age. However, in due course some expenditure will be required."

"we noticed / found out some other stuff, which may be important now or in the near future, but we're not going to say what these things are".

Two very different things. (my bold).

girl_withno_name

On the other hand, Category 2 is stated as "Defects that need repairing or replacing but are not considered to be either serious or urgent.
The property must be maintained in the normal way."

I'm not sure how we go repairing or replacing defects which aren't specified!

You could argue they come under that maintenance part, but Category 1 also mentions maintenance "No repair is currently needed. The property must be maintained in the normal way."