Buying a house without having a survey done?

[MirandaGoshawk]

I know this seems like a no-brainer ("Don't do it" screams at me) but DH insists that it will be a waste of £500. We had a Homebuyer survey done on our current house and it didn't tell us anything we didn't already know. We had already spotted the damp. Now we are selling, and the buyer's surveyor has been. He had a tick-box form and asked us lots of questions. He tested for damp and wrote down the bleedin' obvious, like when the house was built, made of brick, tiled roof etc.

DH would rather get a friend of ours, a builder, to look it over after we've moved in.

It is about 30 years old, and has been well looked after. There's no damp or evidence of subsidence (cracks). What else is there to look for? It's private sewage but the surveyor wouldn't look at that. Is the £500 a waste of money? I'm inclined to think that it is, but we'd have no-one to sue if things went wrong. But I don't know if I'd every sue anyone anyway.

Anyone any words of wisdom?

I would definitely get a survey and would up it to a full structural. We dropped out of a purchase because of uneven floors which would not have been noticed by an untrained eye. The upshot was that it may be due to old movement and settlement but it could still be active and without tearing the place apart, the surveyor wouldn't be happy.
We didn't need a mortgage so could have fought for a reduction but having also been told by insurers that they wouldn't insure it without a structural report, we walked away. After a further lengthy spell on the market, the vendors withdrew it.
Furthermore, the survey serves as a useful snagging list of jobs to sort out when you move in which you might otherwise not have noticed and might cost you more money if left.
You sound like you've been convinced anyway but I thought I'd throw my weight behind your decision.
BTW, the person buying our house decided to save the money and asked to see our old survey. We had sorted out the niggles from that so we didn't have an issue with her seeing. However, the house had new niggles which she has probably encountered since (not deal breakers but hassle). She was happy to go ahead with her mortgage valuation and our old survey but I personally think she should have had the full monty.

I live in a 9 year old flat and, having been told that a homebuilder's survey would be a waste of money, went only for the valuation for the mortgage company. A big mistake as, not only am I sorting out various problems with the property, but had I had a survey I could have negotiated a reduction in the price.

So another £500 or so spent on a proper survey could have saved me a few thousand quid, therefore skimping on a survey is a false economy and I will never make this mistake again.

OK, thanks for all your feedback. Am off to ring round surveyors!

A homebuyers surveys led our solicitor to ask questions that resulted in the discovery that the house had a two storey extension which had been built with no planning permission or building regs.

Never, never, never would I consider buying a home without one.