Which house survey ?

mishkanorman

We've had an offer accepted on a bungalow but I am slightly unsure what survey to have done,
There are some obvious issues of things that need updating, the fuse box is outdated and some of the switches are older style, there is a brick lean to which has some gaps, minor surface cracks through each room and a bricked up window that may have been a diy job. There were also the odd patches of mould dotted about and the gas meter also had a bit of a gas smell lingering in the cupboard.
Other than being a bit dated though everything looked pretty solid, my dilemma is do we get a full building survey on a house that visually looks pretty sound or do we save the £600 odd and not get a survey knowing the boiler and electrics need an update and we may need every penny we have for that ?

Any thoughts ? Is a homeowners survey a better compromise?

jackjassiek

I would at least get a homebuyer report, unless you want to renovate a room or extend the building then it is good to consider the full building survey with very technical terms.


It also depends on the age of the house too.

illusionek

I guess all depends on the age of the property. Over 50yrs I would go with structural survey. However the truth is a lot depends on the surveyor. I got done a structural survey which I found to be a good value for money, very detailed therefore read like a horror story. However I followed up with the surveyor on the phone and he explained what's what. Unfortunately my experience with damp&timber survey was completely opposite. Found it a waste of money as the surveyor did not even picked up on all details mentioned by the structural survey and his recommendation of remedial work was also way less details than the other survey. So as far as I can see a lot depends on the surveyor rather than type of survey.

Cakeguts

I would get a structural engineers report. You know that inside the walls needs updating so you just want to know if those walls are going to remain standing.