Buyer wants our old survey - yes or no?

[kworth]

Hi all,

Long time reader, first time poster here!

We are selling our house after only living here for 18 months (not moving because of any fault in the house, just need to relocate). Our buyer can't get a survey done any sooner than around 8wks time and has asked, because we only had one done last year when we bought it, if they could see ours instead to save the delay?

I'm not sure whether to agree or not! I can see some pros - nothing surprising going to be highlighted by a different surveyor (so unlikely to see price renegotiated etc), not having to get everything perfect for surveyor looking etc. But there are also negatives - our survey highlighted quite a few things to fix and even though we've done most of them, would it be an alarming first impression for our buyer?, is it wise for them to know previous problems etc, might a new surveyor be less overzealous than ours was and include less anyway, and so on... I also have half a thought that by not paying for their own survey, is it showing less commitment and they'd back out easier?

What would you do? There's also been no talk of them giving us money for it and I don't know whether we would ask or not! All thoughts welcome :-)

I would say no, I was very embarrassed to find my estate agent had shared my £1200 full structural survey with my viewers - I'd had one done to see if I could have afforded to do the repairs on my listed house. I'd given it to them so they could answer any questions during viewings regarding the obvious roof/window/damp repairs/renovations needed. I didn't expect them to copy it and give it to everyone, I was horrified, it contained a paragraph explicitly stating it should not be shared with anyone.

Our buyers asked us to do this (we had only had the survey done 2 years prior) and we refused.
We refused as

1. We had paid quite a bit of money to get it done and felt it was 'unfair '
2. It had highlighted quite a few issues, only some of which had been addressed.

In the end, the buyer didn't bother getting a new survey done, which I suspect worked out well for us.

@Mumsnorthernmonkey I wasn't referring specifically to damp - I was making a general point. Any issue which a competent surveyor should spot and fails to, and which leads to a loss of value or leads you to incur cost in rectification, can be actionable by the person who contracted with the surveyor. As a vendor, if you make a false representation to a purchaser (which could include passing on a survey which does not reflect the true position) which causes them loss in the same way, they might well have a cause of action against you. It's not an absolute, but there is a risk.

Mmm, I don't agree with the others and I would say yes.
It isn't wildly unusual to pass surveys along, on the understanding that there is no ability to claim since the survey is produced only for the purchaser. You can point this out as you provide it- this is for info only, do notice para x. I did this earlier this year.
They aren't lying, it is really hard to get a surveyor at the moment because of the impact of covid and the stamp duty holiday. Any long delays might mean that they miss the stamp duty holiday ending in March, which could cost them up to £15k.
On the issue that your survey found things - you point out what you have rectified and you could reasonably expect that their survey in December would find the rest.
Do you have another buyer lined up if these pull out? And would that buyer be able to get their survey quicker or be happy to wait? There's your answer. How much do you want to sell speedily right now?

You should be able to find out how long you’d need to wait for this type of survey on your age property just now. Just phone some up for an over-the-phone quote and timescale.

Copy the report, annotate it with what works been done, highlighting if there’s a guarantee on the work.
Clearly write at the start of the report that the survey sharing doesn’t make you liable for anything relating to condition of property, para x still applies, is for interest only.

I think your buyers are foolish to do this as they’ll have no evidence that new issues haven’t arisen or that work you e done has sorted the problems.You could tell them (via EA) that yes, you’ll share the survey but you’ve had works done to the house and you will expect them to now complete quickly (by Christmas?). Tell them you’re doing this because you want to make sure you’re sold and out before end of stamp duty holiday.

Where are you? Surveys aren’t taking more than a couple weeks where I am?! My buyers had one on our house within a week & ours on our house took 10 days from enquiry.. 8 weeks seems a bit unlikely?!

Regardless, I probably would share if it speeded the process up. It’s them that serve to lose out by not having a new one, not you. I add receipts/evidence of any improvements you’ve made.

No definitely not. Your mortgage was dependent on it. I would have thought their mortgage is dependent on one they buy themselves. You don't want to be responsible for anything including their decisions. Your solicitor would warn you against this.

@Fozzleyplum again it doesn’t matter about damp, it’s about loss of what you would have paid than did pay.

No, its a contract between you and your surveyor, just tell them you've contacted the surveyor and they've said no you can't pass it on to a third party

but really its out of date and why would you want to let them have it,

@ivykaty44 if someone told me that I would tell them they’ve paid for it and they can share it with whoever.

The contract only matters if the new buyers wanted to sue the surveyor, which they can’t.

Out principle I wouldn’t.....

The contract is between you and the surveyor. It has no value to the new buyer. Seems really odd to me, surely they need the protection themselves?

We offered our buyers our old one as they were struggling to get a surveyor in. To us it meant we knew everything in it, could let them know what we have solved etc and it would speed the process up. As it was we both managed to get surveyors in in the same day(for our forward house too) so in the end it wasn't an issue but we were happy to hand it over free if charge, but on the understanding that it was at their risk - they couldn't go back to the original surveyor if anything came up in the future that hadn't been put in the report.

The contract only matters if the new buyers wanted to sue the surveyor, which they can’t.

no, but someone up thread said what if they try and sue the op if things go wrong

id just keep it to myself - and did when asked to share a survey

I’m surprised at how many posters would say no on the basis that it’s their survey and they paid. As though allowing the buyers to get a second, likely almost identical survey at the same expense will give them some sort of satisfaction. The cost of the initial survey is gone (clearly not forgotten) and now your focus should be the cash in hand for the next sale - not cheap points.

No problem with you having paid for it - that’s done and dusted. No way could you ask money for it as it is now significantly out of date.
As for buyer suing you absolutely no way - they wouldn’t have a contract or be owed a duty of care by anyone in this scenario. No cause of action against anyone. Unless you said you had done work which you hadn’t etc.
It just seems completely pointless for them to have it. Anything could have happened in 18 months and they don’t have any contractual protection by it. Why would they want it ?
If they are going to have to wait for mortgage valuation then why not wait for their own current survey. 8 weeks sounds extreme even now. You sure they aren’t flipping between two offers and delaying expense before final decision ??

Thered people sound very canny. If you dont sharevit with them it implies that you have something to hide which you do. I'd just share it. As my mum used to say 'the truth will out'!

No - tell them to instruct a different surveyor who can do it quicker. I suspect the "they cant get a survey for 8 weeks" is a ruse. By the way you do not have to get your house nice for a surveyor. They are not there to see how tidy or checking decor.

I wouldn't. But that's because for me the whole point of a survey is to see what nick the house is in so you go into the purchase eyes open. If something unexpected crops up the surveyor is liable. What would be the point if seeing an out of date survey that was done for a different client? If, god forbid, something terrible was wrong with the house there would be no possible course of action. But that's on your buyer, not you.

I don't think the buyer doesn't want to do his own survey because of delay.

The buyer doesn't want to do survey to save money. my buyer didn't do survey on my house because of money.

I’ve just arranged for a building survey on our potential new house - it took some ringing around a few surveyors to get one for 2 weeks time. I know it’s extremely busy atm but maybe the buyers can find another surveyor.

Buyers would be mad. If you've done something ill-advised structurally or if the house has had problems since you buying they'd have no idea.

When we bought our current house a sale had recently fallen through. We contacted the surveyor the previous buyer had used to try to buy their survey, for speed. They insisted on revisiting the house again as a) the survey was produced contractually for that buyer and b) their liability insurance wouldn't be valid for any issues.

I'd check what your survey actually says as there may be some wording in the Ts & Cs which prevents you sharing it.

I would say no as there's a risk - however small - that they come back to you with any issues as you ultimately provided the survey. And I absolutely wouldn't charge them because that implies a service.

I can understand why they've asked but they haven't thought through the implications are for themselves or you.

Absolutely no way.

Going against the grain, I would give it to them for free. It might speed the process up . I would email it with a covering note that it is for info only, you have done some of the work but not all, and they should get their own done if they have any further concerns after reading it.

I would give it to them. We're currently in the process of buying and local reputable surveyors have a 6 week lead time, so I doubt they're lying. If you don't I think they'll think there were major unaddressed issues. And at least there won't be any nasty surprises if they get a new one. I think it comes accross as a bit suspicious and obstructive but that's just me!

I gave ours without being asked when I sold my last house. It was 4 years old. But it had revealed that our house had nothing significant wrong with it. I used it as a prop to say I would t be entertaining any last minute price chips. We were moving to a house we couldn't really afford which we had had discounted as much as the vendor would go in knowledge of problems though and I literally couldn't afford to move if the buyer reduced their offer.

I think you let them have it on the basis that you have priced the property in view of anything outstanding. Time kills deals. If you don't let them have it they will think it has something awful in it. If they can't get a surveyor in a timely fashion the whole chain may fall over.

To those saying they are cheeky and you paid for it - I do t really get where they are coming from. You paid for it and had the benefit of it. It's a dead cost now. You could also have sued the surveyor if they got it wrong. Your buyer won't be able to do that.

Yes, share it. It will give confidence to buyer that you have nothing to hide. You can highlight stuff you have already fixed. Plus it will allow you to close the deal quickly. More time buyers have on hands, more chances of them changing their mind. With no deal Brexit, renewed lockdown etc news coming every day, its in your best interest to close the sale because general economic negativity sinks in. Compared to overall cost of a house sale, quibbling over the cost of a survey is silly.