Which survey?

[marthabear]

I need to decide which survey to have on a 1910 detached house. I've heard the Homebuyers reports often just give lots of advice for further specialist input, so i'm torn between getting a full structural survey or a valuation report followed up by paying for a few separate expert opinions (plumber, electrician, structural engineer). Are the homebuyers reports really that useless? Does a full structural survey include everything ( plumbing, electrics...)? Am I missing any necessary experts, maybe someone to do with damp/timber?

I would go for the full building/ structural survey given it's probably one of the biggest purchases you will make and the age of the property. Me and DH recently bought a house and although we got homebuyers report and it was ok, I d wished I d stuck with my instincts and gone for the full building/ structural survey for piece of mind.

I could not imagine regretting paying for the full building/ structural survey but I could imagine regretting not doing so. The more information you have before you purchase the better Imo. You can always get an Electrical Condition Report/ Gas Safe Inspection done separately.

Structural survey for a house of that age I would say and a valuation survey for the mortgage lender. It will cost you more but you will get better value and peace of mind for your money IMHO.

When we sold our last house the person doing the homebuyers survey for the purchase wouldn't go into the loft as he would have to use a ladder. He checked for damp and looked at the gas/electricity meters etc. The structural survey we paid for on the house we were buying took the surveyor 6 hours to do (vendor was a bit about the amount of time he was there) and probably didn't cost more than £100 more than a home buyers survey would have done.

I think it was good value and I still refer back to the report (about 70 pages) which detailed what work should be needed to put right the issues he flagged. This has probably saved me money as I know in reasonable detail what I'm asking tradesmen to quote for as we get round to all the many jobs that need doing.

I would say structural survey but make sure you instruct a surveyor yourself and don't let the mortgage company organise it (they will insist on doing at least a valuation themselves though). Find a good local surveyor and speak to them on the phone at least before you instruct them, tell them if there's anything you're particularly concerned about. I was blown away by the difference between the two homebuyers surveys we had done on our last and current house, purely because we instructed the most recent one ourselves, he was so helpful and talked us through everything. The one the mortgage co sorted wouldn't even take our calls to answer questions after we found parts of his report was actual gobbledygook (suspect a copy and paste mistake, but it was awful...).

Ditto above. Although be careful difference between full buildings survey and structural survey. I've had full buildings survey (also 1910 house) and it wasn't much more than homebuyers and has lots useful things in although it also suggests doing 5 more surveys (I think they all do that to cover themselves!).

It was cheaper to get an independant survey and pay for mortgage valuation seperately than go through mortgage company and as above mortgage valuation arrived today and has several nonsensical parts including recommending a cavity wall survey due to cavity wall tie issues when there is no cavity wall! They wouldn't even talk to me on the phone to establish where this non existent wall is as HSBC is their customer not me (although I paid the fee!). Now have to wait 5-7 days for HSBC to look into it and get back to me... Definitely better for your peace of mind to feel they're working for you.