Mortgage company survey or independent ?

Slimgimli

Hi!
We have to have a basic valuation survey done for our mortgage but can also upgrade this to a home survey report which would then work out cheaper than getting one from an independent survey company.
Is there any reason why it would be better to go for the independent one?

mrstick

It might work out cheaper to upgrade (marginally, probably), but if it finds anything that otherwise wouldn't have been found by a valuation then the lender might not give you the full amount.

kingstreet

A mortgage lender instructs a chartered surveyor to carry out a mortgage report and valuation. Can we please keep the word "survey" out of this, as it is certainly nothing of the kind.

You may be able to have the lender's chosen surveyor carry out a survey on your behalf, normally a homebuyer's report. However, as the corporate survey firms favoured by lenders have fewer surveyors qualified to this level, you may find doubling up cheaper, but delays the issue of your mortgage offer, especially at holiday time.

I would always advise my clients to have their own independent survey following the issue of the mortgage offer, so they can limit potentially wasted expense until the point they know the mortgage is safe. Smaller, independent firms often produce less formulaic "copied and pasted" reports and are more approachable after the inspection when you would like their opinion on something in their findings.

Daerve

Upgrading can be cheaper as you only have to pay an extra couple of hundred quid but the lender will also get to see the lot, warts and all and may not lend against the property.

An independent survey can be kept to yourself.

Pay your money etc.

waamo

Given the amount of money you are going to be forking out over many years get the best survey you can afford.

Kingstreet has got it spot on. The last thing you want is a nasty surprise a couple of months down the line. Spending a bit now may just save you thousands. It also gives you that extra piece of mind.

TBagpuss

I agree with Kingstreet. Get your own, fully independent survey done separate from the mortgage valuation.
The house I nearly bought last year had no issues at all so far as the mortgage valuation report was concerned. My surveyor identified some pretty big issues, including an urgent need to repair to the roof and a potentially very major issue with the way the extension had been tied into the original house. He was happy to discuss with me why he had flagged up the issues (i.e.what led him to the conclusions he had drawn) and also the best and worst case, and most likely scenarios for each issue.

If I had relied on the mortgage lender's report then I could have made a very expensive mistake. (as things turned out, the sellers pulled out anyway)