Abortive purchase: Selling survey to new buyers

IHJ

We lost our purchase after covid, having been in the chain for 5 months and being ready to exchange. I want to sell our full structural survey onto the new buyers at 50% as I have been told by many that they have done this, but the estate agent is asking for written confirmation from the surveyors that this is ok?!! We own the report, and plenty of people decide not to even have surveys anyway, so why can't they just use ours! 

davidmcn

Because it was commissioned by, and addressed to, you. The surveyors wouldn't owe any duty of care to other parties ie your purchasers wouldn't be entitled to sue the surveyors for negligence, which is a large part of the value of any survey. The surveyors may be willing to readdress it to the purchasers but they'll probably want a fee (though that ought to be cheaper than a whole new survey instruction). 

AdrianC

They can use yours.

They won't have any comeback against the surveyors in the event of them having missed something, and you don't "own" it. The surveyors retain the intellectual property rights. Their lender will also still insist on a fresh valuation carried out for them.

So, no, I wouldn't pay you 50% of the cost.

BTW, the vendor has remained the same... it's new buyers.

AnotherJoe

I'd be very surprised if there isn't a clause in it that states, in effect 

Also, as said , the report will be only of use for information to the new buyers, they would have no ability to make a claim against the surveyor or even ask any questions of them. 

IHJ

The point is surveys are basically for your information. Most of the chains I have been in half the people haven't even got a survey done, it's not compulsory. The survey is clearly on the house and recent, it's better than not having one! I have read many cases of people being happy to buy as it moves the process forwards and the stated amount is always 50%. But no why wouldn't we all just chuck thousands of pounds around for things that are completely outside our control and never reclaim any of it due to ridiculous legal clauses. Sounds like a perfectly reasonable system to me 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄. 

steve866

IHJ said:

The point is surveys are basically for your information. Most of the chains I have been in half the people haven't even got a survey done, it's not compulsory. The survey is clearly on the house and recent, it's better than not having one! I have read many cases of people being happy to buy as it moves the process forwards and the stated amount is always 50%. But no why wouldn't we all just chuck thousands of pounds around for things that are completely outside our control and never reclaim any of it due to ridiculous legal clauses. Sounds like a perfectly reasonable system to me 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄. 

An agent recently offered to sell me a survey report at 50% of the cost. I ended up proceeding with a different property, but I would certainly have paid the 50% for a copy of the report. I don’t know about the legalities of it or what type of contract you have with your current Surveyor.

IHJ

steve866 said:

IHJ said:

The point is surveys are basically for your information. Most of the chains I have been in half the people haven't even got a survey done, it's not compulsory. The survey is clearly on the house and recent, it's better than not having one! I have read many cases of people being happy to buy as it moves the process forwards and the stated amount is always 50%. But no why wouldn't we all just chuck thousands of pounds around for things that are completely outside our control and never reclaim any of it due to ridiculous legal clauses. Sounds like a perfectly reasonable system to me 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄. 

An agent recently offered to sell me a survey report at 50% of the cost. I ended up proceeding with a different property, but I would certainly have paid the 50% for a copy of the report. I don’t know about the legalities of it or what type of contract you have with your current Surveyor.

Thank you that's good to know. I think it happens fairly frequently, I'm just not sure how they go about it. 

silvercar

We just told the estate agents that we had a survey that we were happy to sell on for 50% of what we had paid. They sorted the rest. The EAs should be relatively keen as it means the new buyers may proceed quicker. Although the surveyors have no liability to the new buyers, it gives the buyers some peace of mind to read a report written by qualified surveyors, so it means they may have less inclination to delay proceedings while they wait for their own survey to be done. Up to the new buyers whether they then go for a cheap valuation or have a full survey commissioned.

AdrianC

IHJ said:

The point is surveys are basically for your information.

To an extent.

They also come with professional indemnity against the surveyor missing anything.

Most of the chains I have been in half the people haven't even got a survey done, it's not compulsory.

And such is their prerogative.

You're right - nobody NEEDS a survey.
Anybody with a modicum of property maintenance experience can take the time to do one for themselves, if they don't feel they need that professional indemnity backing. Even where people don't have that experience themselves, they usually know somebody who does.

Anybody who needs a mortgage will need a surveyor to produce a valuation for the lender, though, and the lender certainly won't want to skimp on a smallish amount of the buyer's money by taking your second-hand report.
 The survey is clearly on the house and recent, it's better than not having one!
Yes, it is. But it's not as good as having one done for you, because of the comeback (or lack thereof).

I have read many cases of people being happy to buy as it moves the process forwards and the stated amount is always 50%.

It's a random number. Many people may be willing to pay it. I wouldn't be.

But no why wouldn't we all just chuck thousands of pounds around for things that are completely outside our control and never reclaim any of it due to ridiculous legal clauses. Sounds like a perfectly reasonable system to me

Put the melodrama down. It doesn't help anything.

And, no, half the cost of a survey is not "thousands of pounds". Assuming you're talking about a standard HBR, then we're probably talking about a saving to the next buyer of a few hundred quid at most, perhaps less the cost of the valuation that their lender will still require.

IHJ

silvercar said:

We just told the estate agents that we had a survey that we were happy to sell on for 50% of what we had paid. They sorted the rest. The EAs should be relatively keen as it means the new buyers may proceed quicker. Although the surveyors have no liability to the new buyers, it gives the buyers some peace of mind to read a report written by qualified surveyors, so it means they may have less inclination to delay proceedings while they wait for their own survey to be done. Up to the new buyers whether they then go for a cheap valuation or have a full survey commissioned.

Ok thank you, so they didn't say you needed written consent from your surveyor then? Such an annoying situation!

blue_max_3

I'd also say that as you were happy to proceed and had a survey, the conclusion of the report was clear. That's if there was another reason for pulling out/losing the property, which there clearly was.