Selling survey to subsequent buyer - advice needed

[cazzabazza]

We recently lost out on a property we were in the process of buying due to our buyer withdrawing. They have since found a new buyer for the property. The vendor's agent has been in touch to say the new buyer is interested in purchasing the full building survey we had carried out on the property. Before we respond I wanted to get some advice.

a) Can the vendor's agent ask for a copy of the survey? For info, our buyer withdrew before we got the survey results so we didn't ever get to negotiate based on what he survey found

b) Do we need to disclose the fact that several issues did come up on the survey? The agent is asking for details.

c) What sort of rate should we offer to sell it for?

Any advice before I respond to the agent would be much appreciated!

I think most surveys have a clause in them to say they can't be sold on - presumably because it's a snapshot of the property at the time of the survey, and the surveyors won't want to be held responsible for problems that have arisen/worsened in the intervening months. You can probably give them a summary of the main points, but I'd check the small print of the survey itself first.

How cheeky is that?! 🤬

We did this with searches as they were still valid and as they were for a London property we knew that new ones would take at least 4-5 weeks.

sorry, I phrased that badly! I don't think there's anything stopping you actually selling on the survey, because you've bought it; it's more that the report is only valid for the person who commissioned it. So if there were problems with the house that were missed on the survey, the third party wouldn't have any comeback on the surveyor, or be able to call them to discuss the findings.

You could say, 'Apparently, there's damp, three ghosts, and the roof's about to cave in,' but if they're planning on buying a house with significant issues, they (and their lenders) should want their own detailed, usable version.

Not cheeky at all is it? They are willing to pay OP for the survey.

I would sell it to them- at least you can recoup some of your losses.

I did this once (for information only, as the surveyor had no potential liability to anyone but me). It was arranged via the estate agent on behalf of the vendor, their client for £50 - survey cost about £180, long time ago.

I never got the money from them. Make sure they pay it to you up front.

You're right grendale17 misread the op about them willing to pay! Apologies

Sounds like a sensible thing to do. I would charge half what you paid.

The new buyer can't rely on it, but can probably get a cheaper valuation survey to appease their mortgage company, and use your survey to assess what needs doing and negotiate.

You don't send or disclose anything to the agent or new buyer until you have been paid.

Anything is better than nothing for something you can't use. How much did you pay for it yourself? Have they made an offer?

Thanks all, that’s been helpful.

They haven’t made an offer, the agent is asking us how much we’d sell it for. The agent has also asked for details of the issues picked up the survey. No chance they’re getting that info out of us! That’s up to the new buyer to disclose if they want to negotiate on price.