RICS Level 3 Survey

DevilDamo

I have recently had an offer accepted on an old 2-bed Victorian semi-detached property. Is there any major benefit in having a Level 3 Survey carried out? I ask because…

- The property needs a lot of work and so will therefore require a complete refurbishment.
- I have already had a builder, electrician and plumber accompany me on the second viewing.
- I have a reasonable amount of property/construction experience.
- I had a Level 3 Survey carried out on another property and it didn’t really flag up anything you wouldn’t see from a visual inspection. That coupled with the fact it made recommendations to “seek advice from a professional.”

tacpot12

The major benefit is that it looks at the structure in a bit more detail, including considering whether structural changes have been made correctly. 

I've bought and sold a number of houses, and done a 'full' renovation on a Victorian terraced property. Recently I checked over a 1950s council house that my step-daughter was looking to buy. I thought I knew quite a bit, but the problem I spotted of a crack above one of the windows was quickly identified by the surveyor as being caused by the use of 'boot' lintels in the property. Your Victorian house won't have boot lintels, but the point is that a Level 3 survey basically means you have a profession, who spends all their working day looking at houses, spending more time looking for structural issues than they would when doing a Level 2 survey. 

My step-daughter had a Level 3 survey done becuase it was clear for other listings of similar houses on the estate that some had had structural alterations to the point where is wasn't clear what the original design of the houses was and whether the house she was looking at had had walls moved around.  

If you are happy that no structural changes have been made to the property, then you are probably ok to have a Level 2 survey.

Bigphil1474

"I have already had a builder, electrician and plumber accompany me on the second viewing" - if you are happy they know what they are doing, then not sure what extra benefit a L3 survey will give you. 

Albermarle

Bigphil1474 said:

"I have already had a builder, electrician and plumber accompany me on the second viewing" - if you are happy they know what they are doing, then not sure what extra benefit a L3 survey will give you. 

Or any benefit from  a Level 2 one ?

Bigphil1474

Yep, same for me. I wouldn't have a L2 survey done either in the circumstances described. The only downside is that you wouldn't have any comeback on the builder, electrician, plumber's opinions but presuming they are gonna do any works identified, not sure it's either here nor there, as long as you can trust their opinions.

Tabieth

Well I would because I’m hopeless and wouldn’t be able to spot many issues myself. And it’s a very small sum of money in the grand scheme of buying / renovating a house. But I can see that it might not be that helpful for you. 

DevilDamo

Bigphil1474 said:

"I have already had a builder, electrician and plumber accompany me on the second viewing" - if you are happy they know what they are doing, then not sure what extra benefit a L3 survey will give you. 

Exactly my thinking. They are all competent, can self-certify, etc... They are more specialised in their areas then an all round and general surveyor.

The cost of instructing a Level 3 is not a major concern of mine, especially when you compare it to the purchase price of the property. But it is more of a case what can that tell me which I wont already know or find out during the complete renovation. And also, I would not even think about haggling the price following the outcome of a Level 3 Survey as it was already a very good price and a lot less than the asking price.

Chief_of_Staffy

What I did was assess what I could myself. That left me with two structural aspects I wasn't sure on. I found a local structural surveyor who was willing just to report on those two things. So I got expert advice on what mattered for a fraction of the cost a full structural survey (less than 1/4 the cost to be precise). He just grabbed the keys from the EA, did the job, gave a verbal report over the phone, sent the written report on a few days later and the bill followed on a week after that.

kinger101

Don't fall into the trap of thinking the survey is waste of money if it doesn't tell you something you didn't already know.  The key thing is it might, and on a Victorian property, I'd always go level 3.

youth_leader

My daughter is a FTB with her boyfriend and they fell in love with a Victorian property.  They couldn't see anything wrong with it but I encouraged them to have a L3 survey and offered to pay.  Seems the 'extension' had not been built well, single skinned and the whole of the MDF kitchen was mush because of water ingress.  They didn't have a penny to spare for any renovations so had to withdraw.

DevilDamo

youth_leader said:

My daughter is a FTB with her boyfriend and they fell in love with a Victorian property.  They couldn't see anything wrong with it but I encouraged them to have a L3 survey and offered to pay.  Seems the 'extension' had not been built well, single skinned and the whole of the MDF kitchen was mush because of water ingress.  They didn't have a penny to spare for any renovations so had to withdraw.

The main difference in my situation is that I would not think buying a Victoria property would not come with its issues. This property needs a full refurb which I have accounted for and a budget of around £50k should help go quite a way.