Homebuyers report worth it?

magicmcone

Hi everyone,
We are in the process of buying an small (43sq m.) 1 bedroom leasehold flat in London. 

We would like to renovate it a bit and have put aside about £5k for this.
I have had few quotes for homebuyers report, all around the £500 mark and given the nature of the flat and the fact that we will refurbish anyhow, I am not sure if we would be better putting that money through renovations rather than a survey for which I have read very mixed reviews.
Do you guys think it’s still worth getting the survey done in this case?

Many thanks in advance 

AdrianC

Are you getting a mortgage? If so, then the minimum requirement for survey/valuation is dictated by them.

That apart, it's entirely up to you whether you want to or not.

Crumble2018

How old is it? We recently bought an 11 year old flat and didn't bother.  We took a calculated risk.  We moved in and found that the bathroom tap was broken, the extractor fan had seized up, and there was water damage under the flooring.  Oh, and the boiler timer was broken.  The whole lot cost us less than £300 to fix, so cheaper than a survey.  We also have a minor leak in the roof (we are top floor) but this is down to the freeholder to repair.  So for us our gamble paid off.

magicmcone

Thanks both for the answers.
The minimum dictated by the lender is the valuation survey, that’s why we are wondering if adding the homebuyers one or not.
The flat is 25 years old and the building seems in good shape. Taking a calculated risk is also what we were considering, since we are happy with the price agreed and don’t think would be able to negotiate much as the value of the property is defined by its location rather than almost anything else. 

As I said, we will refurbish a bit anyway, so thought that those £500 could be use through repair any bits found.
Only worry is how likely is that major problems that I’m not thinking of could be found in a property like this....