What exactly surveyor do?

Mutton_Geoff

I paid (Santander) £940 for a mortgage valuation only on a recent purchase. It took them all of 5 mins and in that price range they don't offer any options to upgrade to higher levels of survey. I would have had to instruct my own surveyor at an additional cost of 4-5k for what I'd want to know but as I planned a major refurb anyway, I put the money towards the refurb.

The only surprise I've found so far was asbestos cement board in the garage and utility room I hadn't spotted that cost me £2k to remove. I had knocked £100k off the original asking price, which I felt was already reasonable, to cover works so still happy with my decision to skip the survey.

It's the fourth house/flat I've bought without a survey but I am pretty keen eyed looking around a place and I work on the basis that buildings that have stood for 10-200 years aren't about to fall down and the older a place is, the more work it will need.

My only mistake was underestimating how hard it is to do anything to a (grade two) listed building despite the listing referring to only a minor part of the house (old exposed timbers on part of one elevation). Most of the rest of the house is 1950s construction but the listing covers most of what was there in 1975 when the listing was carried out.

"Grade II listed" might carry some appeal in the agents particulars but it's a lot easy to get on with improvements & modernisation without it.

Back to surveys, I'd say if you're not familiar with the way houses are built or want to minimise risk to your budget and buy yourself a bargaining tool, then use a surveyor. After all, a house is an expensive purchase anywhere in the country.