When buying a house you already have a lot to pay out, so the thought of paying for something else on top of that can seem rather annoying. Yet having a survey carried out on a property can be invaluable as it can highlight things that would otherwise remain hidden, as well as those things that are visible but perhaps not to the untrained eye.
What surveys are available?
There are many different types of surveys available and it can be quite confusing trying to decide which is right for you.
Homebuyers survey – If your property appears to be in a reasonably good condition then this survey might be a good one to go for. This will include a property valuation and will check for any major faults and repairs needed to the property, giving an average repair cost too.
Full structural survey – This is the most in-depth survey you can have and is often referred to as a ‘building survey’. It’s common for older properties or listed properties with extensions to have a full structural survey as it checks for major and minor faults, along with estimated repair costs. This gives you the ability to challenge anything with the buyer from a legal perspective.
Condition Reports – These are common for fairly new build properties and is a good way to find out what condition the property is in. It doesn’t include any advice or recommendations for repair or maintenance work.
Mortgage Valuation – This often comes as a free service that most lenders will offer. However, it is purely a valuation of the property for the purposes of the mortgage lender. To be clear, this isn’t a survey and you often won’t even receive a copy of the report at the end.
Each survey comes with a different fee, the more in-depth costing the most money, and these costs can vary between each lender or local surveying firm.
