One bed flat- Survey or not?

EddyBaloch

I am buying a <10 year old one bed lease hold flat in a large development (60 flats) which has been excellently maintained. My friend lived in that building for 3 years and said he had no issues. There is no gas in the flat. The floor is hardwood.

I am thinking of avoiding the usual homebuyer survey and do the following instead.
1- Do a detailed survey myself for damp / rott / etc.
2- Hire a certified electrition and plumber review wiring and plumbings.

Any feedback on my approach?

agrinnall

Do you need a mortgage? If you do then at least a valuation will be required. If not, then it's up to you whether to do anything - I'm not sure that there's any great value in doing either of the things you suggest. As it's under 10 years old does it still have NHBC (or similar) cover?

EddyBaloch

Mortgage valuation has been completed without any issues. Not sure about the NHBC (or similar) cover though.

G_M

If you feel competant to do a damp survey yourself, surely you're capable of looking at a Consumer Unit and chacking it's not falling off the wall?

10 years old? I'd just use common sense looking at the electrics/plumbing myself.

Which floor is it on? What makes you think damp might be a problem?

Hoploz

I wouldn't expect any issues in a building less than 10 years old. Electrics and plumbing should all be safe and pretty up to date, so I wouldn't waste money on surveys.

Just make sure you have a good look round yourself (eg looking for DIY additions to electrics) and make sure you know full details of maintenance costs both in the past and planned for the future, eg common parts internal decoration will probably be due every 5 years or so, so make cpsure you find out whether things like this will be covered or extra bills will be issued. It's a large development so things like lifts can add significantly to ongoing costs.

EddyBaloch

Hoploz wrote: »

I wouldn't expect any issues in a building less than 10 years old. Electrics and plumbing should all be safe and pretty up to date, so I wouldn't waste money on surveys.

Just make sure you have a good look round yourself (eg looking for DIY additions to electrics) and make sure you know full details of maintenance costs both in the past and planned for the future, eg common parts internal decoration will probably be due every 5 years or so, so make cpsure you find out whether things like this will be covered or extra bills will be issued. It's a large development so things like lifts can add significantly to ongoing costs.

That's the same thing my solicitor and mortgage broker suggested. Thanks for the tips. I will find that out. The management fee is around £1500 per annum. It is a straight forward bog standard flat, only owner occupied since new and seems to be in great condition.

EddyBaloch

G_M wrote: »

If you feel competant to do a damp survey yourself, surely you're capable of looking at a Consumer Unit and chacking it's not falling off the wall?

10 years old? I'd just use common sense looking at the electrics/plumbing myself.

Which floor is it on? What makes you think damp might be a problem?

The flat is on 4th floor - total 5 floors. I didn't see any damp etc. Being new to this I am most worried that the plumbing fails and water leaks between walls etc. The flat seems to be alright.

ReadingTim

If you were competent ought to do a survey yourself, you wouldn't need to ask the question.

Ultimately though, if the mortgage company is happy as to the condition of the place give you a mortgage, anything more is up to you: it's your money after all. Given the low quality of most new-builds, I'd get a survey done to make sure the 'excellent maintenance" and hardwood flooring isn't merely covering more serious problems.

EddyBaloch

ReadingTim wrote: »

If you were competent ought to do a survey yourself, you wouldn't need to ask the question.

Ultimately though, if the mortgage company is happy as to the condition of the place give you a mortgage, anything more is up to you: it's your money after all. Given the low quality of most new-builds, I'd get a survey done to make sure the 'excellent maintenance" and hardwood flooring isn't merely covering more serious problems.

Thanks for your input. Do you know whether any survey I do will also look at the outside structure of the building or do they just focus on inside given that it is just a small flat.?

Hoploz

I would be surprised if a surveyor would check under the hardwood floor!

Check also the ground rent increase schedule on the lease as it could go up above current level.

You're right to consider signs of water leaks between properties. It's not really something you need a surveyor for though. For example my mum has a smart tiled-in toilet in her ground floor flat, built 2009. We recently discovered it has had a small leak which must have been leaking for many months or even longer ... It has saturated her floor, carpet in bedroom next door and drawer units have gone mouldy from sitting on wet floor! She had to move out of her bedroom into smaller room for 3 months & has run dehumidifier while the floor dried out. Plumber said its v common with concealed cisterns and he has often attended to them. The flat upstairs had previously had the same issue - we'd alerted them when we spotted the mark on mum's ceiling so they had it fixed straightaway. Guess all toilets in the block will be affected if they haven't already.

G_M

EddyBaloch wrote: »

Thanks for your input. Do you know whether any survey I do will also look at the outside structure of the building or do they just focus on inside given that it is just a small flat.?

If you are doing the survey it's up to you what you look at.