survey

poseidon1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82172284#Comment_82172284

I suspect you did not read the attached article.

There may well be feedback to the estate agent by the surveyor but only if directly instructed by the buyer client. As the article sets out the surveyor's report is entirely confidential to the buyer if deliberately or inadvertently released to others without buyers say so, surveyor could find themselves in hot water with their client as well as their own governing body.

https://ww3.rics.org/uk/en/journals/property-journal/opinion--who-to-tell-about-your-surveys-.html

This 'friendly ' chat with the vendor you and others believe to be reasonable, is specifically referenced in the article as something to be avoided by any surveyor for what ( to me at least ) are obvious reasons.

However I accept that I come at this purely from a lawyer's point of view (rather than as an uninformed lay person), so it is from that perspective I would be holding a surveyor's duty to me as buyer strictly to account. Other prospective buyers maybe more relaxed about the whole issue or simply unaware of this strict confidentiality aspect owed to them.

stuart45

' information unless disclosure is required or permitted by law, or the RICS'

Would this section taken from the site mean that something potentially dangerous would not be included. I think that's what Section62 was talking about.

poseidon1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82172376#Comment_82172376

It could well be, but I would expect RICS to have prominently mentioned that possibilty in one of their 9 examples relating to the operation of Rule 5. They didn't.

thebullsback

Hopefully we will get a decent guy/gal conducting the survey and after been asked politely if they could give us a clue as to how the inspection went the will reveal some information . I'm counting on not all of them been

Olympians. thanks for all your replies

jimi_man

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82175014#Comment_82175014

As I said, it’s worth accompanying them around the house as they do the survey, so you can get a picture of what they see/do.

eddddy

A RICS surveyor will always work in their own client's best interests.

FWIW, back in the day, RICS surveyors would say to me "If you pay me £x for a survey, it's almost certain that I'll find issues which will help you to negotiate more than £x off the price."

And some RICS surveyors seem to actively promote getting a survey as a tool for negotiating price reductions.

https://www.corinthiansurveyorslondon.co.uk/blog/negotiation-price/

https://www.housesurveys.co.uk/blog/negotiating-after-survey.html

As a related anecdote, a RICS surveyor recently said to me "As a surveyor, I have to estimate the cost of that [minor] roof repair to include scaffolding. But I suspect you'll find a roofer who will do the repair from a ladder [so much more cheaply], but I can't say that in my report."

It all adds to the complicated game of selling and buying a house.

theartfullodger

Nothing to stop you ordering a survey from them on your property. Cost a bit mind.

WIAWSNB

If the surveyor does not share any info with you, Bullsback, and the buyer then tries to use the survey to negotiate a discount, then I presume they'd need to evidence the content - say by directly quoting from it - and not just claim it exists?