Stupid survey question

[m0therofdragons]

A mortgage requires a valuation and for us it will be £250.

We are hoping to buy a very old cottage so want a more thorough survey which will cost more. Do we need to pay for both or will a more thorough survey be fine on its own? If we're paying £1k for a structural survey then I don't want to pay an extra £250 unnecessarily. Any advice is gratefully received. Thank you!

You have to have a separate valuation so if you do a full survey (sensibly IMO) then you have to do them separately. If you go through a co any suggested by your mortgage lender you might get a bit of money off but yes, you do pay for two,

Hmm - I thought the cost stepped up from valuation to homebuyer's to full structural. If you use the surveyor instructed by your mortgage lender you don't normally pay twice for something - they do the valuation for the lender and give you a copy and any higher level of survey is for you.

Thank you - I'll check with the lender. I'm sure last time we had a homebuyers survey and just paid a higher rate but was done by same surveyer. That was 12 years ago though.

You've got to pay for the mortgage valuation if you need a mortgage. That's for the bank's benefit, not yours. If your buying a very old cottage you need the more detailed 'building survey' (structural survey) not a homebuyers report. It's worth asking the mortgage lender how much they would charge for arranging this to be done with the mortgage valuation, but bear in mind that they will take a chunk of the fee for themselves. It would be worth calling some local surveyors directly to see if they can do it cheaper, they will often drop their prices if you say you are calling around for the best price.

Great, thank you!