Press Article
METRO - 18 August, 2011
Which survey is best?
By Jo Eccles
One of the questions that buyers often ask is whether they should have a survey, when it should take place, and what sort of survey is best, so I thought I’d clarify a few key points:
Before your mortgage application can be finalised on your chosen property, your mortgage provider will arrange for a valuation survey to be carried out to ensure that the property is worth the amount you would like to borrow. This survey checks the value of the property but it won’t outline any potential problems with the property you’re buying.
You can also arrange for a more detailed survey which will check the condition of the property and can highlight any problems or issues which need to be dealt with now, or could become problematic in the future. This can cost anything from a few hundred pounds for a small flat up to a few thousand pounds (+VAT) for a big house, depending on the property and how detailed the survey is. I would always recommend having a full structural survey if you are buying a house, whereas, if you are buying a flat, this can be difficult as the surveyor cannot access all the other flats in the building to conduct a full survey. A ‘Homebuyer’s Report’, which gives a general overview of the condition of the flat itself and the common parts of the building, is an alternative option – it reports on things such as the overall condition of the outside of the building, and the state of the electrics and the boiler. A Homebuyer’s Report will usually cost between £250 and £750 and the results are highlighted using a ‘traffic light system’ whereby any points which need to be dealt with immediately are highlighted as red, any points which need to be monitored/dealt with in the future are highlighted as amber, and any aspects of the property which are in good order are highlighted as green. One tip to save on survey fees is to ask your mortgage lender if they can quote for the Homebuyer’s Report and valuation survey to be carried out at the same time by their surveyor. This can sometimes be cheaper than instructing a separate surveyor to carry out both.
The structural survey or Homebuyer’s report will highlight defects with the property, but don’t be alarmed by the findings – a good surveyor will be able to give you cost estimates on each point, and also tell you who's responsibility it is to rectify the issue i.e. whether it’s the owner’s responsibility or the shared responsibility of all the flat owners (the roof for example is usually a shared responsibility). If an expensive and unexpected maintenance issue is raised in the survey, you could use the evidence to try to re-negotiate the price you have agreed with the vendor. Send the report and cost estimates to the seller – the closer you are to exchanging contracts, the more likely the seller may to be willing to meet in the middle on price if there are any large unexpected costs, as they may not want to have to start the whole sale process again with another buyer. That said, the seller may argue that they paid for any maintenance while they owned the property, and you should contribute (and benefit) to the maintenance and upkeep of the building while you're the owner.
Remember, all properties require on-going maintenance. I rarely get a survey report back for a client, especially if they're buying a period property, which has no amber or red points, so don’t panic at a first glance, as some red points may be very cheap and easily rectified.