Which survey?

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Have had an offer accepted on a house and now just trying to work out what survey we need. It’s been a long time since we last bought a house! We are funding it mainly with cash but we do need a small mortgage. Have seen things about level 2 and level 3 RICs surveys, a survey using a traffic light system and a more comprehensive one with greater detail and an actions list! Any thoughts as to which one is needed or will the mortgage company require a specific one?

Mortgage companies usually do their own valuations. They simply want to protect their loan. I would always go for the most detailed survey so you know what might need attention, urgently or not. It’s a huge purchase so get as much info from the survey as you can. Possibly not worth it for well built houses that are newish. Anything from 1980’s backwards I would get a full survey.

Make sure you use a surveyor authorised by the mortgage provider. Our buyers didn’t and ended up paying for four surveys.

Note to that, our mortgage provider didn’t accept any third party 3rd level surveys, nor they did it themselves. So we paid for a full building survey ourselves and the basic mortgage valuation.

Parents bought an old house many years ago. Was 100 years old and clearly needed work. Had what was the described as a full structural survey....Christ it sounded like it was falling down when I read the report. One aspect was that the front wall, which had been there since the original build was suffering sulphate attack. 30 years on e wall looks the same and hasn't budged an inch!

They used the report to negotiate....took 20% off the price!

The mortgage lender will do their valuation which isn't really a survey. Some let you piggyback to get a proper survey, but ours wanted to charge well over the odds for it so we're doing surveys for the repairs and modernization the property needs separately.

Some surveyors put up example reports on their websites or will give them to you when you ask for a quote. I found these really helpful to see which one suited us and what details we already have. Ours went through a repair scheme in 1991 which we now have the paperwork for and I found the LV 3 ones of the surveyors in my area relied heavily on photos compared to more details given in writing in Lv 2 (so for roofing, there was a photo and a small blurb of potential issues for Lv 3, but in Lv 2 it listed what the roof tiles were made of and other things I wouldn't rely myself to be able to tell on sight). So, we're doing a Lv 2 Homebuyer's report.

We're also doing a gas & plumbing safety & condition survey as this is our top priority for updating if there are any issues (and we already know we're dealing with the electric immersion heater that was rated 'very poor' on the EPC) and an electrical safety survey as the electric storage heaters and some of the rest of it are likely to need updating in the near future & I figure might as well get it assessed while the property is empty.

You should always have your own survey, how old is the house?

Just because a building is standing up it doesn’t mean it’s in good condition. It’s often better to do slight remedial work your survey tells you about instead of leaving it to get worse. Stitch in time etc.

I also think lots of buyers simply don’t understand what they are reading and cannot make decisions because they don’t know how serious a defect is. Often asking the surveyor for a bit more info is helpful.

We got a full survey, house is old. It didn't particularly bring up anything we didn't know.

Friends bought house of same age - didn't get a survey - they are now finding things the survey would have bought up.

And sulphate attack on any mortar or cement should be dealt with and not ignored.

Thanks all