Surveyor - Old Photos

Ared

We have had a home buyers report done and currently investigating.

Is it standard procedure for the surveyor to use old photos? In the report they refer to a room conditions and it has come to our attention that this was not taken at the time of the actual survey. When I viewed the flat there was no furnishings but his report shows a room with furniture!

TadleyBaggie

Or perhaps furniture was put back in after you viewed...

Aylesbury_Duck

Read the contract terms.  Does it permit the surveyor to use library photos, or oblige him to provide new ones?  It's been a while since I had a survey done, but mine have never included photos.

user1977

Sounds odd. Even if they had previously surveyed the property, I wouldn't expect them to refer to photos from the old survey. Ask them.

But more of a house-buying question than a consumer rights one?

TELLIT01

If the surveyor had been to the property recently to survey for somebody else is it acceptable to use photographs taken possibly just a few days previously?  What were the photo's showing?  Is it just general room layouts and defects which wouldn't change from one recent survey to the next?

Ared

@TELLIT01, so having looked at the survey and they are showing defects and comments provided are tagged as green. When my builder started working he was a little confused that these issues should have been flagged more like red. When I looked more closely at the pictures it came to my attention that these were not taken around that time as there was lots of personal belongings and furniture, walls has been painted. I have asked the surveyor to confirm when the pictures he used in the report had been taken. The neighbours below me said that the lady had moved out with her belongings the year before !!! So something doesn’t seem right to me.

TELLIT01

Given the likely timescales I agree with you.  It would appear that the surveyor had been there before, but potentially many month previous.  To me the surveyor has not actually done the job they have been paid for, unless they can prove that they attended the property after you requested the survey.  The estate agent should know as they will probably be holding the keys for an empty property.