RICS Homebuyers Survey - what are they looking at?

[Bol87]

We’ve got a survey on our house next week. It’s an intermediate level homebuyers. What exactly do they look at?

Our house is 15 years old ‘news build’ style townhouse. Bog standard really. Are they looking cosmetically? For example, our shower had several cracked tiles on the bottom row of tiles when we moved in. We replaced them but the colour doesn’t quite match up. It’s obvious they are replacement. To us, it’s just cosmetic. The base panels around the outskirt of the shower are also a bit lose. Doesn’t affect the shower, just sometimes if I kick it accidentally getting in, the strip of plastic moves.. there’s also a very small cracked tile butting up to the toilet. No idea why it’s cracked, it was when we bought it..

Our toilets have quite worn flush buttons. They work perfectly well but only the ‘larger flush’ button works on all our toilets. The smaller flush button is jammed down.

We’ve not had our boiler, electrics or gas serviced. We are getting the boiler done in a couple weeks.

Under the sink, the woods a bit worn from an old leak.. I could re-cover it I suppose with something..

Are these big issues? Our house has sold for a really reasonable price for the area. I don’t feel it’s overvalued at all. Houses sell for a lot more.. 🤔 I just keep looking around & seeing all the minor problems that are in our house. Mostly cosmetic or extremely minor. I think I mostly worry it’s going to state that the en-suite needs replacing due to dodgy tiles 🙈

Thanks!

They look for signs of leaks, subsidence, damp, structural issues, sign of deterioration to roof, gutters, etc they'll fail the gas and electric because they don't test them, so I always get a gas safety certificate and electric certificate issued beforehand.

They may point out the minor wear and tear but they may not, if function looks fine. They tend to be over cautious and say something needs 'further investigation' but to be honest your property is only 15 years old I doubt there will be anything significant at all to investigate. Personally I wouldn't have wasted my money on a survey for one that age!

Forgot to say - they will check toilets flush so just get the buttons/mechanism repaired beforehand.

We have just had one done on a 1970's property we are buying, they looked at gutters, sofits, windows, the roof (both from outside and sticking their head in the loft), down the manhole, they looked at the gas and electricity (what they could see easily - they want a certificate for a gas check and electricity check before they are happy) and for signs of damp, subsidence and if it was generally falling down! There was a general comment on decor and a comment on the state of the kitchen. In our case where the house doesn't look like it has been redecorated for 30 or so years they just commented that the decor is 'dated' and the kitchen is 'worn but still serviceable' I would have thought that the small issues that you have mentioned would not be a problem at all.

Are you saying you haven't had your boiler serviced since ypuve moved in? That's potentially dangerous. Sorry to be mean but it may well need replacing and buyers will want some money off. Be prepared.

No, we’ve had it serviced in the past but we are behind with getting it done this year.. lockdown & new baby and all. It’s been about 18 months now! As I say, I’ve now got one booked in but not before the survey!

It’s only 15 years old.. we’ve had zero issues with hot water or anything. I can’t imagine it needs replacing

I’ve never heard of an electric check.. how much do they usually cost?! And would a local electrician be who I should contact to do one?

We asked for an intermediate level homebuyers survey on a fairly modern house we bought last year. It's somewhere in between the minimum for a mortgage and a full on detailed survey. The report mentioned that the bathroom was dated (it really was) and that some of the tiles were cracked/loose (so your tiles may be mentioned) but we were planning to replace it anyway so no issue to us. The report also mentioned that they had not been able to check the electrics as outside the scope of the survey and recommended asking for an electric check before buying. The same thing was mentioned on the house we sold and the buyer asked for one- but we could not find any electrician who knew what this would mean and we were told that it's something commonly brought in surveys but there's not actually a standard check (not like a gas check).

I suspect that your lack of boiler service will be mentioned and the buyer's solicitors will ask you to have one and send them a copy of the documentation- so shouldn't be an issue if you've got one planned anyway.

We had our normal electrician go and look at the consumer unit and estimate the age and condition of the wiring. We trust him. It cost under £100. He just chatted to us afterwards.

18 months is fine. 15 years would be more worrying.

Thanks so much for your help all! I might hold off on the electrics & see if the buyer requests one after the survey... I’ve never actually needed an electrician while we’ve lived here so I’ll have to ask around!

We were the buyers and paid for the electrical check. No need for you to pay.