Structural survey

[Mumofwho]

Hi everyone, is it worth doing a structural survey on a normal 1930s house with no obvious issues and no reason to expect structural issues or would you do a structural survey regardless?

Regardless... things can go wrong on any age house and it's a huge investment

Personally yes, I'd get a RICS Level 3 building survey done.

I'd have one for the peace of mind. A friend bought a house eleven months ago and didn't have a survey - she got locked out a few weeks ago because her front door had dropped, big crack in the brickwork above and below the step :( Looks like she has subsidence, she is waiting to hear what her insurance company say.

It's easy to spend other peoples money! Yes if you're a super cautious person and need peace of mind, but if the standard survey doesn't pick anything up and you haven't seen anything then there's little evidence indicating it would be needed so why do it? Always ask the question of the seller - "any structural issues seen or suspected?"

I would always pay for a survey to be on the safe side - but I have seen from a house nearby just what lengths people will go to to hide subsidence etc.

Always get a builders survey for an older house. We've just backed out of a sale when survey revealed major structural fault. There is no way we could have found out, and we also discovered seller had withheld key info on other things. Protect yourself.

@Salome61 surely mortgage company surveyor should have known?

@Loofah01

It's easy to spend other peoples money! Yes if you're a super cautious person and need peace of mind, but if the standard survey doesn't pick anything up and you haven't seen anything then there's little evidence indicating it would be needed so why do it? Always ask the question of the seller - "any structural issues seen or suspected?"

This.

So many caveats in them these days that I wouldn't bother
They can only see what you can see... admittedly they know what to look for though

@Mumsnorthernmonkey - my friend was a cash buyer, so didn't apply.

@Salome61 my house had subsidence many years ago. Don’t worry about it, because when insurance fix it, won’t happen again lol

No I wouldn't get a structural but I would get a full building survey. The surveyor will recommend if the thing anything else needs investigating.

@AriettyHomily a full structural and a building survey are the same thing.

You're spending multiple thousands of pounds; it's always worth doing a survey.

We had the buildings survey done today. We will get the report in about 7 days but the RICS surveyor call to highlight the main things we need to consider especially as part of a negotiation. These are things we would never have seen or known about until it was too late. Praising God that we did. I fully recommend others do a full building survey. I almost didn’t .

So glad for you, forewarned is forearmed. My friend is a cash buyer like me, and found a bungalow but could see the patio had a 'dip' in the middle, and the front door wall had a crack, so she did commission a survey. Results are just back and the subsidence is major, the surveyor said at least eighteen months of remedial works required :( I do feel for her as she had so many plans for it but hasn't got the £60K ish required to make good.