Do I need a full Structural Survey when buying 1930s house?

united4ever

In the process of buying a 1930s semi. The bank who I have applied for the mortgage say the below two points:

• Evidence of movement was observed in the form of some out of square window and door openings and out of level floors. This appears to be long standing and non progressive and the likelihood of further movement seems remote. No structural works are considered necessary.

• Aspects of the wiring give some cause for concern and you should seek specialist advice.

Is it advisable to get a full structural survey when buying a house like this? If so I gather we are talking about £1000. And then any problems which do become evident I should be looking at reducing my offer to cover the costs? For example if it turns out it needs rewiring. We are due to complete in November so quite far down the road now.

Everything else in the report was fine and talks about it being a reasonable purchase at the price offered and it is in a typical condition for a house of its age.

Yorkie1

Sounds quite a lot for a structural survey. Have you actually got quotes?

I don't think the survey will tell you about the electrics. You'd need a sparky for that.

Mickygg

Yes defo you should get full buildings survey.Mine cost £700.
This does not cover electrics or gas, you need a specialist for that.
I would only renegotiate on big issues found, depending on what offer I had accepted.

dimbo61

Its a 1930,s house and unless the fuse box is new RCB,s and all the wiring/sockets/light fitings look new you can bet it needs a full rewire!
Cost £3000/3500
How can you tell? How many sockets in each bedroom ( at least 3 doubles) how many sockets in the kitchen 10/15 ? 4 doubles in the lounge and modern fuse box in the electric cupboard.
Same with the central heating ? is it a new combi boiler ?

united4ever

Not had quotes yet so if around £700 then that would be doable.

They have a newish combi boiler (3 years old) but didn't check the fittings to see if they looked new, also didn't check the fuse box to see if it looked new. It looks like a well maintained house generally.

Gonzo33

I have to be honest if it were me I wouldn't bother getting a buildings survey (full structural) purely for the fact that the surveyor has stated that the movement "appears to be long standing and non progressive and the likelihood of further movement seems remote." They are probably settling cracks from when the property was initially built.

With regard to the electrics I would probably go back and have a look at the fuse box, plug sockets, etc and see whether they look newish or not.

If the surveyor has said you are paying what the property is worth though I don't know if I would bother trying to renegotiate on price. Every survey that I have ever seen (used to be a mortgage underwriter) has stated that the electrics need checking as they are not up to current standard. Doesn't mean that hey are defective.

ebee1

Hi, my 1879 house that I have just exchanged on had exactly the same things written down.

Personally, I think that unless there are serious cracks inside/outside of the property then don't waste your money on a survey.

With the electrics, you could just get some electricians over to do free quotes as they will have a much better idea of what will need to be done. Then if you are tight for money you could reduce your offer accordingly.

You could also get a couple of local builders in to take a look at the the property and give their opinion regarding the movement, you will be able to tell if something is major that needs doing because they will most likely shy away from it! Old properties do tend to move as they have been there for years, but hey, if it has been standing for that long, surely it will be fine if there is nothing overly obvious. :cool:

Good luck x

the_flying_pig

I would get it done.

I recently bought a turn-of-the-century house. Based on the £1k survey that I had done I was able to negotiate about £8k off the price, so it was well worth it.

But the surveys can be quite difficult to read, for a layman. there's quite a lot of bottom-covering on their part & quite a lot of 'you should get a specialist to look a this'. Mine seemed to pick up about 10-20 problems, all I tried to do before buying is focus on [i.e. getting quotes to fix, negotiating with the seller] the 5 or so that seemed to be severe or that seemed to require immediate action. But I've subsequently found out that something that was explicitly said to be a "minor issue" [i therefore assumed cosmetic] will in fact cost thousands to repair & does need doing. I'm debating whether I want to fight them over it. Probably not. The boiler also seems to be knackered as is one of the sash windows.

1930s maybe isn't that old, but generally speaking older houses cost a good bit more to maintain than new ones, however nice they look when in good nick, you should always factor this into purchasing decisions.

SleeplessinScandinavia

If it were me, I would talk to the person who actually carried out the survey.

Yes - surveys can be difficult to read, but surveyors often use a form of words in their report which may give a particular impression. But when you talk to them, they may be more reassuring, and give you their 'gut feeling' about the property (which they're unable to put in a written report).

Best of luck:)

Lolzicles

i wouldnt bother.. we paid out about £700 for a full structural survey and it was only as detailed as my brothers homebuyers survey (he was buying at the same time as us so we compared).

Ours just recommended getting an electrician to look at the electrics "given the age of the property", a damp surveyor to look for possible damp, and an engineer to check the render... so they didnt actually tell us anything, just to get stuff checked by someone else... ours was a 1920s house but the surveyor thought it was "approximately 1960s".

No carpets were pulled up, he didnt go into the loft..and the length of the actual report was very similar to the homebuyers but he went into more detail about silly things like "the bathroom suite may require updating for cosmetic reasons" (i think i could work that one out myself!)

If youre worried id just cut out the middle man and get electrician to check electrics etc, cos thats all the survey will say if its anything like ours!

shellfish_abc

We've just been trying to get through a house purchase. Have looked at 3 houses all built in 1880s to 1900s (2 fallen through) and have used 2 homebuyers reports and a valuation on our last purchase (which hopefully will go through!)

Our 1st house didn't even get a full survey as the surveyor picked up on some bad subsidence and said it couldn't even be valued, therefore stopped us right there, and we didn't continue with the sale.

Our 2nd house had a homebuyers, and though there was a lot of detail in there, there was still a lot of gaps in the information as they couldn't do intrusive work. They also seem to give general recommendations, which are sometimes not suited to an older property.

Our 3rd house, we just went for the valuation. This still picked up on major issues, for example, they were unsure if a chimney had been removed and supported structurally etc. We've had a family friend who was an ex-surveyor and a qualified builder to look round the property for 2nd and 3rd opinions. We're happy to go ahead with this one as although there is some work that needs doing, we've had quotes for all the work that needs doing from our builder, and it's all very reasonable.

Basically, going through 3 surveys, we've found that the basic one seems to pick up on major faults, so as long as you can get 2nd opinions and get it checked over by other qualified professionals, I would consider going without a structural survey and just getting an electrician in etc.