We paid £600 to get the house surveyed before we bought it....

[TheNoiseHurts]

...just in case something huge like the roof needed doing.

We got what we thought was a decent surveyor with good reviews.

We have lived here 6 weeks, the roof is leaking and is going to cost us 8-9k to repair.

What exactly is the point of surveyors?!

Fuck.

Most surveys, even full ones, state in the small print that they haven't been out onto the roof because of safety issues.

Whereas even the shittest roofer in the UK (and I've met them all ...) will send a drone up with a CCTV report for you ....

For a 5 bedroom house, depending on the value of the house, that strikes me as incredibly cheap for a full structural survey.
I'm so sorry you have this hassle.

This is why we got the cheapest survey because even if you get the most expensive they still just sit in the car outside and go "yep, that's a house". They are so full of caveats they are not worth the paper they're written on. Crikey! Never met one of those. Ours was great. Very detailed and, because of the age of the house, he did lift some carpets upstairs - with the vendors permission. Had a good root through the loft too!

@thatmustbenigelwiththebrie We went with the mid-priced option and the surveyer definitely got out out of the car and had a look round, the sellers moaned about it to us. I ended up chatting to the surveyer about a few things he'd flagged up and he was incredibly helpful.

It all cost a lot less than £600 as well.

I paid £900 for my full structural survey with countrywide for a 2 bed grade 2 listed cottage and it was excellent.
After reading it I pulled out of the sale straight away as the house would have cost me £50,000 before even walking through the door.

Reviews mean nothing. A lot of companies pay review companies for publicity and remedial measures. For example, one person complained about a company and gave 1 star; another 5 fake customers would post 5 5*! That's how it goes. Be very careful. Ask them for compensation. If no good, you could report them to their proprietary ombudsman body. I once helped this woman to get her electrics sorted out as the dodgy but suave man traded with some initials - some NEIECC something like that. In the end, the body dishing out the initials offered repair service free. Direct mail me if you like and I see if I could fiddle out some names or contacts for you. I hate cowboys like these with a vengeance and if you don't get reported, they will do the same to somebody else.

Same thing happened to us. Recommended surveyor etc.
We got him back to show him the leaks.
He shrugged and said, 'You can sue me'.

Not sure if it's applicable where you live, but here in NL, we have a right to claim compensation from the seller for any "hidden faults". For instance several weeks after we moved in, it turned out we had a huge waterleak that had gone undected. The insurance of previous owner fully covered the repair works. If it'a evident that the fault existed before you moved in then you may be in with a chance. Also, if felt needs replacing then it should have been noticeable during survey. Check for any painted over damp/watermarks.

We have just paid about £900 for a full survey the house we want to buy is really old. It was pages long with photographs and very detailed it went over everything. We have since had some quotes and expert opinions and the general consensus is that surveyors are over cautious to avoid being sued! They literally pointed out every fault that could ever go wrong. They flagged up some important things, will not stop us going ahead but we have been forewarned and can see how much we need to set aside for repairs. I have to say it ws very thorough.

That's seems really cheap for a full survey. We paid £800 for a homebuyers report last year when we moved, which is only one above a mortgage valuation. Our buyers spent £5000 on a full structural survey of our house. The man was there all day. He went up on on roof and in the lofts too.

OP FWIW we watched last year surveyors turn up at houses that were opposite our rented house, we think that they may have been bank or building society appointed lucky if they were there 15 minutes. When we eventually moved to our new house, our surveyor stated there were no smoke alarm despite 2 being in the hall way area, there was no main drains there were 2 in the garden and also the loft insulation was inadequate despite the recommended 10in in 95% of the loft area. It also took 3 attempts to get the report and even when we got the pages were not shown correctly! We are not novices and have moved 10 plus times. I think the issue is that their reports are not challenged enough and they seem to think if they go to an address no one will question their report and the report language would appear to be cut and paste stuff

Sue the previous owners.

The point of surveyors, is you can sue them. The other point is, they are regulated by a professional body, RICS. Their work must meet RICS standards. If it doesn't, you can sue them. They are insured for this purpose.

This is one of the reasons why you commission your own survey, giving you a direct, contractual relationship with the surveyor.

To everyone who thinks surveyors turn up, see a house and drive away - they do if it's a survey to get a mortgage.

We had that too.

But we paid for a separate company to complete a full structural survey. It's different. They have been asked to do different things at totally different levels.

Our Homebuyers report cost £300, and he was brilliant.

He spotted some problems by a surface examination that didn't become physically manifest until eight months later. None of the specialists we brought in to look at it at that point had seen the problem before or understood the solution - they had to follow the precise instructions he put in the report for fixing it.

He gave indicative costs for all of the solutions he suggested as well. Bloody brilliant!

We didn't bother with a survey on our current place but we were cash buyers. Nothing would have put me off it anyway. It needed pretty extensive upgrading (Georgian terrace, listed) and most of the issues were self evident.

I'd contact your surveyor urgently to get advice re the roof. Good luck.

I own a roofing company and my partner owns a scaffolding company. 9k is extortionate even for a big - ish roof. I’d continue shopping around. If you’re in South Wales, PM me. I don’t have any availability as we’re booked up with contract work but I can get you in contact with some excellent and reasonable contractors.

I'd be seeking legal Advice to see if you can claw back the cost of the repairs

Our "homebuyers report" which was the middle-cost compromise option was full of "Our surveyor didn't notice any evidence of ... ... ... but we cannot guarantee that such evidence doesn't exist. You should commission an expert in ... ... ... to make a thorough check for this if you wish to be sure" - for everything from wet rot, dry rot, subsidence, everything. We concluded that as a report it is only useful for knocking the price down if evidence of something is found, but should not be actually considered evidence that things are OK if nothing is found.

It sounds like you should have some comeback against the surveyors - the roof must surely be checked in a full structural survey. They will have insurance. (I read about a surveyor who would not do the survey on their own house - because if they missed anything they wouldn't have the insurance cover.)

I learned in future not to bother with a survey as they are not worth the money. Mine missed woodworm and didn't even look at the flat roof which fortunately was ok.

If you have a general builder you trust, they can go round the property and do a better job for a lot less money.

A full structural survey with a 34 page review with photos.
What does the survey say, and what do the photos show, of the roof?

You should speak to the surveyor company about this, but you need to remember:

• in dry weather a roof leak would not be apparent unless it was causing lasting damage to the structure or fabric of the building. When was the survey done?
• knackered roofing felt lets the breeze blow through but doesn't cause leaks (except in the worst driving rain). Leaks will be worn/damaged flashing or broken/missing tiles/slates. Can you see the cause of the leak from ground level or from inside the roof space?

If the roof is leaking, think about how you've discovered this. Have you gone into the loft and seen it coming through, or is it because it's caused discoloration/damage to ceilings in rooms below? Check those areas against the survey photos.

I'm suspicious cynic, so I'd also be looking at the areas you've found water damage and asking myself if they look a little too "new" - have they been painted/repaired not long before the house was put up for sale?

Surveyors are not worth paying the extra. It's up to you as buyers to get a roofer in to check the roof or an electrician to check the electrics etc. The onus is on you.

A roof in beed of replacement would be self evident to buyers' eye as much as a surveyor. Have you asked the roofing companies whether it needs total replacement or if a smaller job is possible.

Review what the surveyor said about the roof and check for caveats and look at whether there is any recourse against them for failing to notice whatever the fault is.