to not get a homebuyers survey?

[ellenalex]

We are buying a 3 bed semi in the South. My DP is very against getting a survey because of the cost and from his friend's experience, it offers no protection as it is full of caveats.

We wouldn't bargain down on price regardless because we got a fairly good deal and there's literally no other houses we like the look of. We were lucky to get this house as every house in our area is selling in days for more than asking (commuter town in home counties).

We had a few small concerns that anyone would have but from reading the homebuyers guidelines they won't even answer it: my concern is that the boiler is not in compliance with regulations as it is not easily accessible. (does anyone know about this, it's in the loft with no ladders attached, you have to manually bring up a ladder in a tight space and it's not exactly safe...?) but they've explicitly said they will not tell you if it complies with regulations and won't 'crawl round the loft' and will only have a look.

We would be looking to build an extension in the next few years. Maybe this is when a survey is helpful? but homebuyers seems inadequate and building still seems inadequate and expensive. Searches showed no issues regarding water/sewage lines.

So are you glad you got a survey? do you think I'm mad in not getting one?

Sorry should have said, the mortgage company did one included in the price of the mortgage package etc. It came back fine but I think it was pure valuation

In the majority of circumstances I would get a full survey tbh.

Yes that is just a valuation normally. Not a survey per se.

When we bought this house we had the full survey plus a drain survey after the initial one picked up standing water in the drain.

Apparently most people don't do this (according to the estate agent). Presumably most people don't mind spending thousands on a new heating system (looked fine but could actually have caused a fire), repairs to the roof, new windows and a huge job to repair a collapse in the drain.

We negotiated the price down, they had the drain fixed.

OK thanks all, so is it a no to homebuyers but yes to a full structural?

We only get the mortgage valuation, but then DH is a surveyor and therefore does it himself.

I agree that the homebuyers report is so full of caveats as to be unhelpful.

We always get full surveys. Saved us from buying a house with serious structural issues that we couldn't have spotted ourselves, and saved us £10k on our current house (which was spent on remedying the damp issue the survey uncovered).

In November our son was going to buy a 2 bedroomed flat from a married mate of his, who had a 6-month old child. We saw the flat - it was lovely and in an old converted Police Station, about 1900. They had done the flat up and it was beautiful. Then I suggested we had a full structural survey done because I was concerned there were so many roof slates and they might be in a poor state [flat was on first floor under the roof]. Just before Christmas survey revealed ALL the brickwork of the entire building [4 flats] was in an awful condition - crumbling bricks, bowing walls and rusting wall ties... The roof itself was fine!!!
Each flat is jointly responsible for maintenance of the building. Transpires that for very many years, the owners have literally only each paid a quarter of the whole building insurance [about £60 a year]. There is no sinking fund for work that needs undertaking and 2 of the tenants have no capital anyway!!!
The surveyor said he wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.
Our son could have taken on a bottomless pit of expense... His mate had reaped the benefits of low expenditure since he lived there, to the detriment of the maintenance of the building.
We felt really bad letting our son's mate down but the whole scenario could have turned into a nightmare for our son.
The full structural survey cost £500. The surveyor estimated the building work needed could cost upwards of £50,000. Our son would have been responsible for a quarter of that. The cost of the survey was the best money we ever spent.
Mortgage valuation surveys are NOT structural surveys!!!

Yes to full structural. We had the basic one which didn't uncover any of the myriad problems we have since discovered, including dry rot (we think) in the kitchen floor .

Worth it for the reasons outlined by PPs

The last house we sold the had the homebuyers survey.
They didn’t look in the attic and notice that there wasn’t a fire wall in the entire terrace.

For those of you that had the full structural survey done and found major issues, was the house you were buying an older house?

The house I'm buying is only 18 years old. I didn't go for homebuyers for the reasons others have stated on this thread. I thought full structural would be OTT for a house as young as that?

Seeing the quality of the houses they are throwing up around us I'd be getting a full structural on any house however old.

Get a full survey, I'm amazed what they spot. And they can save you from buying a money pit.
Homebuyers surveys are pretty feeble.

Buying a house is usually the biggest purchase you will make. Why would you take the risk and not bother with getting a survey?

Get a full structural survey.