help! which type of survey?

[MrDarcysMa]

I've had an offer accepted on a period flat in SE. First time buyer so I am new to all of this.
I am now not sure what kind of survey to instruct - homebuyers report/ building survey or full/structural survey? I'm not too tight on price however I don't want to pay full whack if it's not necessary.
I am aware from a previous fall through on this property that the loft conversion was not done in 80s to current regs so I am expecting this to show up again.
Any idea which type of survey I should get?

You're buying with a mortgage? Your bank will most likely order a homebuyers report with a valuation, which might be quite comprehensive (ours was with Nationwide and was very detailed). From this you may be encouraged to order further surveys e.g. full structural or damp survey depending on any problems they have found.

We bought a house with a non building regs compliant loft conversion too - just be aware that it's not safe to be used as a bedroom (ours is home office). However it's very important that it's not being considered as a bedroom in the valuation of the property (i.e. it should be valued as a 3 bed + loft, rather than a 4 bed for example). After we moved in we got the advice of a structural engineer on the works needed to bring it up to building regs and it was fairly straightforward (and cheaper than getting a whole new loft conversion!) so you'll possibly have some opportunity there to add value in the way of an additional bedroom, however make sure your solicitor organises indemnity insurance via the vendor to protect you just in case.

Good luck!

No that's not the case - the mortgage company will only order a valuation report from a surveyor. There is usually an option for the buyer to add their survey to the surveyor's visit.

Is this a flat in a house that has been converted into flats or a block of flats? Will you own a share of the freehold?

On the building regs point: if the loft conversion was before the current building regs regime came in in November 1985, then lack of building regs is neither here nor there. There is no requirement to bring it up to current regs. Any issues with the conversion would surely have manifested themselves by now 30+ years later? Building Control have ten years to enforce building regs usually so unless they were notified and the process never completed and signed off there's unlikely to be an issue.