RICS Surveyor - Dubious Conduct?

Cloth_of_Gold

I'm not an expert in this matter but would really be legally obliged to tell future prospective buyers about a 'bad survey'? You haven't had a survey commissioned and there is no written report from the one the buyers had done so you can't know what the substance of it is. Perhaps you could check with your solicitor what you obligations, if any, are for peace of mind.

saajan_12

While a surveyor putting people off your property does impact the number of offers you receive, there's nothing you can do as
1) You have no legal relationship with the surveyor
2) The buyer is not obligated to provide their findings
3) Even if you prove fraud, what would your remedy be - the buyer was likely scared off and won't come back to risk it.

Keep marketing for the next buyer, and if their survey raises issues then you can look into rectifying. There's no risk for you regarding declaring a 'bad survey' as you have nothing in writing to suggest it was a bad survey.. at best an incomplete one.

Hudsot

Thank you everyone for your comments.

The law is an *** because even when a bad survey is commissioned by buyer - not seller - and is therefore client-confidential, the sellers are still obliged to tell future prospective buyers about it!
As a new user I cannot post links, but google 'failed property survey' and check out the telegraph article. All we can do, is as others have suggested above, adopt the stance that the survey does not exist as it is not in writing, and keep our mouths shut.

We are adamant there is no structural movement, but accept that we have lost this particular buyer :mad:

I will however be looking into making a formal complaint about this particular surveyor, to RICS - for not following the survey reporting format outlined in their professional standards.

DaftyDuck

If you make a complaint, the non-issue you currently have immediately becomes a real issue.

There is no survey report, ergo, there is no survey. There is no reported subsidence, there is no valuation, there is no reported damp... There is no survey to grumble over. Nothing. The surveyor did not survey your house, and he wasn't paid for not doing that either. THERE WAS NO SURVEY!

Report to RICS and you immediately produce a problem.

The surveyor may well have done you a favour; now is your opportunity to get a PROFESSIONAL opinion on any subsidence or none, and deal with it before sale, or guess there is none, and sell anyway.

Also, the idea of a "bad" or "failed" survey is ridiculous. A survey is a bald statement of opinion on a property, and includes good and bad points. There's no pass, there's no fail. Buyers don't pull out because a surveyor tells them to.

Move on from this, learn from this, take advantage of this, but don't complain about this. You'll gain nothing whatsoever (except endless stress), and risk losing much.

MEM62

Hudsot wrote: »

But that still doesnt get around the issue that we are now legally obliged to tell all prospective purchasers that we have had a bad survey, together with the specific details of that survey.

Really? How so? As it was not you that instructed the surveyor and as you have no relationship with him you are not entitled to the details of the report. How would you therefore propose to discharge this 'legal obligation'.

Hudsot wrote: »

I will however be looking into making a formal complaint about this particular surveyor, to RICS - for not following the survey reporting format outlined in their professional standards.

Again, you did not instruct the surveyor. There is also no formal report prepared and presumably you have little or no documentary evidence to support a complaint. A complaint is therefore unlikely to succeed.

kilby_007

Hudsot wrote: »

Thank you everyone for your comments.

The law is an *** because even when a bad survey is commissioned by buyer - not seller - and is therefore client-confidential, the sellers are still obliged to tell future prospective buyers about it!
As a new user I cannot post links, but google 'failed property survey' and check out the telegraph article. All we can do, is as others have suggested above, adopt the stance that the survey does not exist as it is not in writing, and keep our mouths shut.

We are adamant there is no structural movement, but accept that we have lost this particular buyer :mad:

I will however be looking into making a formal complaint about this particular surveyor, to RICS - for not following the survey reporting format outlined in their professional standards.

Did they give you any further verbal information about where the structural defects are? To an untrained eye it might seem like there's no issues, but if there are what appear to be minor cracks running in a certain pattern it can point to more serious underlying issues so don't dismiss it completely without having someone look at it.

AnotherJoe

What Dafty Duck says. leave sleeping dogs to lie. At the moment there is no survey, no details.

Leave it that way.

martindow

It could just be the buyer changing their mind and little to do with a survey. Some people feel the need to give a reason for pulling out and blaming the survey or surveyor is an easy route to take.

I agree with the majority here that there is nothing for you to declare. You have not seen the survey or spoken to the surveyor and have no idea what has been said apart from hearsay.

a few years ago I got a report from a structural engineer for a crack in a house I was selling to allays fears and questions from potential buyers. It cost about £600 but a large proportion was for travelling from their office to the house where he spent about 10 minutes. I got a short report relating to the crack - not a report on the whole building.

camptownraces

martindow wrote: »

It could just be the buyer changing their mind and little to do with a survey. Some people feel the need to give a reason for pulling out and blaming the survey or surveyor is an easy route to take.

I agree with the majority here that there is nothing for you to declare. You have not seen the survey or spoken to the surveyor and have no idea what has been said apart from hearsay.

Absolutely agree with Martin's view above.
The most likely thing is that the buyers changed their minds, and just made the information up about a "failed survey" to justify their actions.
OP has no evidence whatsoever about the truth or otherwise of their allegations.

Hudsot

Thanks to all who have taken the time to read and reply - we will go with the advice given, forget about it, and move on.