House survey

[Kirst0]

I bought my house in 2019. I was advised by my estate agent not to bother getting a survey. However I have accepted an offer on the house and they had a survey done. There is something wrong with the roof in the attic. This was only told to me because I mentioned to the surveyor that I was advised not to get a survey. He said he had surveyed this house in 2015 when it had been on the market and flagged up the same problem then . So someone bought it either knowing ( if the people paying for the survey still bought the house) or not knowing , if someone else then bought it ( if they had also been told not to bother with survey) So no one sorted it and I am going to have to , to proceed with the sale of my house. Can I do anything about this?

Was this your first house purchase? I'm surprised by lack of survey. Very naughty of the estate agent to suggest that.

I'd regard an Estate Agent advising me NOT to get a survey as an excellent reason to get at least a homebuyers report.

Is the issue by any chance to do with unsupported parts of a chimney where the internal chimney breast has been removed?

How did they “advise” you not to get a survey? Estate agents aren’t allowed to deliberately mislead a potential buyer about a property - so if they e.g. lied about a recent survey having been carried out and no issues identified then you may have a case for the Property Ombudsman (though unless you have concrete evidence that the agent was aware / had been informed by the seller that a survey would raise issues and to dissuade buyers from having a survey, it isn’t going to be straightforward.) If the agent simply said “I wouldn’t bother with a survey if I were you” then you aren’t going to get anywhere, although I’d complain to the head office about unprofessional language (though again, unless you have it in writing, it’s your word against theirs and no doubt they will say you misunderstood.)

Don’t let an estate agent advise you of anything outside their remit. They don’t have any professional qualifications when it comes to structural surveying, property law, finance, or building regs, their opinion on those things is moot.

I’m not a first time buyer but it was my first time buying alone. The same estate agent has advised me not to bother getting a survey on the house I’m buying now . The problem is a beam in the attic isn’t long enough so a lump of wood has been pushed in to keep it up. The previous owners had put curtains up all along the eaves so it was hidden to me. Yes I know it’s my word against hers .

Why would you take the “advice “ of an EA who is not qualified to give such advice!! And didn’t your solicitor query the lack of a survey?

Have you got this advice in writing??

I was naive I guess. No one questioned it .