Hi! Ex-Estate Agent here who, with an 18 yr old and a 16 yr old has just joined Mumsnet!!,
Me and my fairly newly-wed, fell in love with and bought a 100 yr old house we knew had subsidence, 23 yrs ago..and we are all still standing!
The advice is : If the house that you intend to buy has been structurally altered in ANY way from the original build - full structural survey EVERY time!
Full Structural Survey (FSS to me) is the report that seems really pricey and where you normally pay the Surveyor directly - because it is a report that you pay to be written for you personally by the Surveyor that you are paying (I also recommend that you do not use the Estate Agent's recommended Surveyor ..they are likely to be golf chums and although that is unlikely to affect the actual report content the Surveyor does value the property as well - his/her valuation will involve his/her local knowledge backed up by ringing around local agents to discuss what they have sold recently that is similar - and a surveyors valuation is usually if not always less than what you are paying for as they are not marketing the property but surveying it! Equally, if you try to negotiate down to a surveyors valuation you are likely to be blown out by the Vendor as this valuation is not the marketable rate for the property which will be reached if market valued realistically in the first place.)
A homebuyers report is for your mortgage lender's peace of mind only and has no come-back for you at all.
Even if your purchase costs £120k (if so well done!) the additional cost is an extra 1/1000th (although my maths is probably wrong!) Let's face it, this is probably the biggest purchase you have ever made so far and although it's all money going out and you could lose the money spent on a FSS (full structural survey) it may save you loadsa money if there is a problem such as an unspotted rotten window or rising damp where a drainpipe is blocked... sagging roof due to unsuitable tiles being used to re-roof, tree roots undermining foundations or building regs not being correctly adherred to. There is a comeback and responsibility to the surveyor who writes the report (although you therefore need to expect doom and gloom within the report too that you probably wouldn't read in a home-buyers report.)
An FSS is there to point out everything that might be of a concern both now and in the future and you equally shouldn't expect rubbish comments like "central heating not tested" - they are there at least an hour or so so could switch it on... or eg, with regards to possible woodworm "couldn't access due to floor covering" a vendor should expect their carpet to be lifted at an inconspicuous place such as the corner of the room by every surveyor that inspects! Good luck, hope you fell in love too - we are about to be on our 3rd kitchen as what's the point in moving when you can play legoland with what you've got!
FYI... we actually didn't have a FSS when we bought our house... but we did adhere to the #1 rule above which is no structural alterations at all ... and as we were and are still only the 3rd owners of this lovely old house, which hadn't had any alterations from the day it was built until we bought it (makes me feel really bad!) we could see everything that had happened (woodworm damage, damp due to the air bricks being covered over, ceilings looking dodgy from damage before the roof was replaced with the correct type of tiles and the subsidence cracks - PLEASE NOTE, once you have had a property with subsidence, it is highly unlikely that another buildings insurer will take you on - we pay A LOT for our buildings insurance, even though we bought the property 23 yrs ago, removed the wall that had suffered subsidence and now have 6 foot of useless concrete under our kitchen floor that would have supported the wall if it were still intact and existing... we still are with "the Royal - i.e. MoreThan" because everyone else begs to quote us but after 45 minutes of wasted time both sides - even though they know we have had a subsidence claim in the past we are referred to the Underwriters who reject the quote each time!
We probably hate them just as much as they hate us!! They charge us a ridiculous amount that is ~50% MoreThan (oh yes!) our attached neighbours (we are one side of a semi) and our neighbours pay the same insurer, but we can't take this up in case it rests badly on their premiums!
Love property, hate insurance!