Confused with type of Surveys, one or two needed?

car0line123

I am buying a house in England. Could someone please clarify the possible type of surveys available? Do I need 2?

I understand the mortgage company will request a valuation survey.

I am not sure yet if I should pay for a Homebuyer's report, or a full structural survey. In any case, do I pay for this on top of the valuation survey, or can any of these cover the requirement from the bank (providing they accept the surveyor)?

(Apologies if this has been asked a million times, I couldn't find the answer to that question)

Thanks in advance, I am a bit lost!

stator

The bank requires a Mortgage Valuation Survey, it basically just confirms for the bank that the house is generally okay and worth what you want to pay for it so that if they respossess the house they should get most of their money back.
You can pay the bank to do a Home Buyer's Report instead. This provides all the same information as the Mortgage Valuation Survey but the surveyor should go into more details and spot more issues. When you pay the bank to do this the surveyor is still working for them but you get a copy of the report. It will likely highlight areas that need investigation. If the surveyor spots issues they may prevent you from getting a mortgage. If you have it done by the bank it usually only costs a few hundred pounts more than the mortgage valuation survey.
It is possible to have a Mortgage Valuation Survey done for the bank and get your own seperate Home Buyer's Report done. That way the bank wouldn't see anything in the Home Buyer's Report and so there is less chance of jepordising the purchase over something you think is minor. However you'd have to pay separately for it, so it might cost you £500 as well as the Mortgage Valuation Survey.
A Structural survey/Building Survey is completely separate and if you want one of these you should organise it yourself. You would have to pay separately for the Mortgage Valuation and Building Survey. The surveyor will take more time and should look at any structural problems, cracks etc and make a recommendation if they are a problem or not.

If the house is old (> 50 years) or of unusual design or you know it has some problems then get a full building survey done seperately.
If you think the house is in good condition then you might want to stick with just a Home Buyer's Report.

Mocha61

Hi, A homebuyers report is the most common one, normally your mortgage provider can arrange this together with their valuation report. My daughter has just had hers done, arranged by her mortgage provider, the valuation was free and the homebuyers report was done for £210 which I think is a good price. The report is quite detailed (33 pages). If the house is very old then a structural report would be advised.

LateStarter

Hello,

How old is the property you're buying? What condition is it in? Whether you should get either a Homebuyer's or Structural really depends on what type of property you've buying (and how much you're spending on it).

You are paying for the valuation (or the bank may be paying) as a condition of the mortgage. Any other survery you do doesn't replace this (very likely an industry rip-off, but I'm a cynic). The valuations company nominated by the bank may give you a deal if you commision your other survey via them, but it's worth shopping around.

Good Luck

car0line123

Many thanks for your very thorough and clear answer, very helpful

G_M

http://www.rics.org/uk/knowledge/consumer-guides/home-surveys/

kingstreet

<pedantmodeon>I really, really wish we could get away from using the word "survey" anywhere near the lender's mortgage report & valuation.

I know we're discussing the differences in this thread, but in many others, the term "valuation survey" gets bandied about and I'm very nervous that at some point, this might give someone the wrong idea about what the mortgage report & valuation actually is.<pedantmodeoff>