Surveys

Jet

Having seen how detailed the mortgage valuation survey is from my buyers mortgage company (it took 7 mins! :eek:), I think I would like to get a more detailed survey done on the house I am buying.

My mortgage company charges £125 for a valuation and £525 for a "homebuyers" survey. I presume a structural survey is a lot more money.

Now I assume I don't have to go through my mortgage company for anything other than the valuation, so who else do I approach and how much is it likely to cost and what would you guys advise to do?

The house I am buying is a 3 bed early 1970's semi.

marybishop

You can commission your own survey from a Chartered Building Surveyor. If you go to the RICS website www.rics.org and click on 'Find a Surveyor' you can get details of practices in your area and then ring a few to compare prices. A building survey (formerly called a full structural survey) is not necessarily a lot more money than a HB but there will be a difference simply because it's a more detailed report.

cattie

Depending on surveyor & location & price of house, the charges for a homebuyer's survey will likely be in the region of £500-£650 & vat may have to be added to the prices quoted by surveyors. A builing survey can be anywhere from £700 to over £1k, again, with vat to be added.

The more expensive the house, the more the survey costs.

Often it's more cost effective to get the mortgage lenders surveyor to do a homebuyer's report for you while he is at the property doing the valuation.

If you feel that the report given to your buyers was very comprehensive for a valuation, then perhaps you could use the same surveyor?

marybishop

Sorry Cattie - can't agree with you on your price for a building survey - we don't charge that anyway! So they do vary which is why it's worth shopping around.