Is it worth me getting a buildings survey?

KiKi

I'm selling up and moving to a larger property.  Standard Victorian terrace in Brighton, so built prob c 1890s.  Still standing, recent loft conversion with all permissions.  Assume therefore it's not about to fall down (and no evidence of that on viewing!!).

For my previous flats and current house, I've always done full buildings surveys.  However, my experience is that they point out the obvious things I can see, or they have huge caveats in them.  Such as (obv paraphrasing) "the roof seems fine but will need ongoing maintenance as expected in a house this age and you should get an expert in to review it to be on the safe side", or "the windows are of a standard typical of a house like this, but whilst we couldn't see evidence of timber rot, you may want to get a specialist in to check", or "I assume an RSJ has been inserted but this will need checking."

I sort of feel that anything really obvious I would have seen, and taking my builder round (who's happy to do it) would be better, looking at the obvious issues which might need fixing.

There was absolutely nothing I saw that gave me any cause for concern. 

TOTALLY understand I'm not RICS qualified, and not a surveyor; I'm not suggesting I know better, I obv don't (hence the builder).  But wondering if other would spend £1500 on something like this?  Or is your experience the same as mine?  Appreciate it's a gamble, I'm not asking for a crystal ball; just asking for experiences.

Tiddleshalifax

With a house that old, it would be an incredible gamble and one I wouldn’t take.

SameOldRoundabout

I wouldn’t take on a house of that age with no survey. Our full building survey was £450 so shop around. I like to think I’m fairly savvy and had noticed all the many issues with my house, turns out I’d totally missed a wall bowing that needed a few thousand spent to remedy. We all miss things if we don’t know what we’re looking at. 

KiKi

Thanks both.

stuart45

As it's Brighton the walls could be Bungaroosh.

KiKi

They're not, but thank you.

Thrugelmir

Would you buy a second hand car without it being checked over? 

stuart45

That's a good start then. What area of Brighton is it. I worked in Brighton for around 30 years.

KiKi

Thrugelmir said:

Would you buy a second hand car without it being checked over? 

Never bought a car.  I was asking based on my previous experiences of surveys to see what other people did.  No need for sarcasm, but thanks anyway.

Falafels

I know what you mean about knowing the basics; we've looked at some lovely properties on a drive past, seen some lovely bowed walls and tie bars with monumental cracks radiating out from them, and not even booked a viewing. I also sympathise with the kinds of comments you describe above, the ones which amount to "This is an old house and will need maintenance!"

However, while taking the builder round is an excellent idea, I'd still have the full survey on a house of that age, in case there are issues which aren't immediately noticeable. Alternatively, if there's nothing significantly wrong it will give you peace of mind.

The cost seems a bit steep, however, and it might be worth shopping around a bit more for your surveyor. 

greensalad

I think you'd be silly not to, but also £1,500 seems excessive. I was looking in the South East and was quoted £700, £795 and £850 for FSS.