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Which house survey?

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seasonalbiz
seasonalbiz Posts: 80 Forumite
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in House buying, renting & selling
Hi,

Looking at buying a 3bed detached house in the Cambridgeshire fens.

The house is well in excess of 100yrs old, although appears to be in good condition. Being the fens, subsidence isn't uncommon.

Its been along time since I purchased a house, and that was fairly new.

Any advise on the type of survey I should have carried out would be much appreciated.

Thanks.
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  • ssparks2003
    ssparks2003 Posts: 809 Forumite
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    I would go for a building survey, personally the full structural is a bit overkill but it depends on your appetite for risk.
  • seasonalbiz
    seasonalbiz Posts: 80 Forumite
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    I'm financially sailing close to the wind with the purchase and therefore have zero appetite for risk.

    The house was built in 18something and although not close by, there was a younger property on the same road which was up for sale recently with subsidence issues... I think thats my main worry.
  • goodwithsaving
    goodwithsaving Posts: 1,311 Forumite
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    Building survey.
  • hazyjo
    hazyjo Posts: 15,470 Forumite
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    ssparks2003 wrote: »
    I would go for a building survey, personally the full structural is a bit overkill but it depends on your appetite for risk.

    Same thing. Or is that what you mean?

    I would also go buildings survey although am also buying and changed my mind from a buildings survey to a homebuyers.
    2023 wins: *must start comping again!*
  • AndyTails
    AndyTails Posts: 153 Forumite
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    seasonalbiz wrote: »
    I'm financially sailing close to the wind with the purchase and therefore have zero appetite for risk.
    Zero appetite for risk? Have you considered not buying a house? Who's to know whether house prices are going to tank? On the other hand, who's to know if they're going to soar, in which case not buying a house would be a risk. Oh dear, there are no risk free options!


    Certainly if you have no appetite for risk I wouldn't buy an old house. Anything over 100 years old is going to need maintenance, and some of it could be unpredictable.


    If you're risk averse I'd suggest a new-build, with a 10 year NHBC warranty. It's still not "no risk" in terms of things going wrong, but there is some protection. On the other hand new-builds may have a higher risk of house price drop.


    If you do want to go with the 100 year old house, the higher level surveys reduce your risk, and give you more protection if something does go wrong. So the full structural survey / buildings survey (or whatever other name they might call it) sounds like the way for you to go.
  • Ithaca
    Ithaca Posts: 269 Forumite
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    edited 7 September 2017 at 1:03PM
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    Have a chat with a couple of surveyors. If subsidence is your main worry you could ask for a homebuyers' survey and if there are obvious signs of subsidence (which should be apparent to a decent surveyor as part of a standard survey anyway) you can negotiate to upgrade to a more in-depth survey.

    That's how we did it... homebuyers survey with an agreement that if anything looked concerning we'd discuss and go for a structural (but without paying full whack for both).
  • seasonalbiz
    seasonalbiz Posts: 80 Forumite
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    AndyTails wrote: »
    Zero appetite for risk? Have you considered not buying a house? Who's to know whether house prices are going to tank? On the other hand, who's to know if they're going to soar, in which case not buying a house would be a risk. Oh dear, there are no risk free options!


    Certainly if you have no appetite for risk I wouldn't buy an old house. Anything over 100 years old is going to need maintenance, and some of it could be unpredictable.


    If you're risk averse I'd suggest a new-build, with a 10 year NHBC warranty. It's still not "no risk" in terms of things going wrong, but there is some protection. On the other hand new-builds may have a higher risk of house price drop.


    If you do want to go with the 100 year old house, the higher level surveys reduce your risk, and give you more protection if something does go wrong. So the full structural survey / buildings survey (or whatever other name they might call it) sounds like the way for you to go.

    Your right, maybe I over emphasised myself. I am laying down 30% deposit, and my idea of sailing close to the wind, is moving out of a comfortable comfort zone... theres a contingency but I just know little about surveys and looking for some advise on how to make sure the place isn't sinking into the ground.
  • Debtslayer
    Debtslayer Posts: 447 Forumite
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    If it's a 100yr old house I'd want a full survey especially if subsidence isn't uncommon, to me it would be worth the extra pounds
    Current Mortgage 01.10.17 £113,513.88
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  • ThePants999
    ThePants999 Posts: 1,748 Forumite
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    I'd go for a full survey.

    FWIW, though, get some quotes, see what the difference is. On my last purchase, a local surveyor had a "full structural for the price of a homebuyers' report" offer going on, which made it a no-brainer!
  • Davesnave
    Davesnave Posts: 34,741 Forumite
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    A buildings survey isn't going to cost a huge amount more than homebuyer's, and if anything was flagged-up re subsidence, it would probably fall to a structural engineer to determine ongoing risk.

    Being in the Fenlands, have you have looked at the Environment Agency's flood map and obtained insurance quotes for the exact addess?
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