Buying a House: Structural Survey?

[Arsenal123]

Hi all - My partner and I have had an offer accepted on a house. I am wondering if to just have a basic or in-depth survey?

The house costs £215000. It was previously bought in 2015 for £179,000. No significant work has been done.

The kitchen has a flat roof extension.

Should I go for the full works in terms of survey? I am worried about backing out if theres a big problem but then again I wouldn't be able to afford major work to fix it. It all looked great when I viewed.

How old is the house?
To be honest I would always get a full survey done - it could highlight some hidden problems that cost a lot of money to sort out.

DH and I have just had the full survey back for a house we're offering on - we knew it needed a little work, but it turns out that there's at least £70k worth of hard-to-see structural stuff that has to be done. We're reconsidering.

The older the house is, the more I'd be inclined to go for a full survey - have you seen all the documentation for the extension yet? Do you think there might be issues with damp, the roof, drainage?

Flat roofs do not last forever. I would want info on how good the roof is. I wouldn’t buy an extended house without a full survey, nor an older one. You do need to know if there any nasty surprises which challenge your financial position. If it’s all ok, at least you can proceed happy in that knowledge.

Go for the full survey.