Was I suppose to get a survey?

[Stawberrytrifle]

I'm a first time buyer and I'm not sure if this is something that I should have sorted...

We're 11 weeks in and the searches have come back, enquiries sent but I haven't booked a survey. The solicitor hasn't mentioned anything or asked if I've had one done. Do I only get one done if the mortgage lender asks me to?

Thank you

I always have a survey for my own piece of mind
There's some info on MSE that might help: www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/buying-a-home-timeline/

Are you sure your leader hasn't asked for one?

It's been a while, but when I bought mine they had something called Home Report or something, which was a survey in fact.
We paid for it along with mortgage fees. That was when we started the whole process, not 11 months in.

Lender, not leader.

Autocorrect not in English.

Mortgage lenders will usually just require a valuation survey (although sometimes they're doing these as 'desktop valuations' nowadays) - this establishes that the property is worth what you're proposing to pay for it, and is mortgageable, to ensure it's not a financial risk for the lender. But you need to bear in mind that this won't tell you whether there are issues which you'll need to resolve with the property, and if so how urgently. And pretty much every property will need something doing to it. So a property might quite legitimately be worth £X, while being in need of £Y amount of work. If you want to know how much £Y is, and whether it's affordable for your, get a survey.

As above, the survey is up to you, not your solicitor. Your lender will have a valuation survey which may not involve someone actually visiting the property.

It's usually considered good advice to have one unless you are either a very experienced buyer and know what to look for. A home buyers (level 2 report) is usually fine unless you're buying something really old or has other issues you can see but might want further investigation and can get a level 3 structural survey.

hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-buying/what-sort-of-survey-should-i-have/

All your lender cares about is if they would be able to recoup their losses should something happen to your ability to pay them back. They couldn't give a shit if there's a bit of damp, if the roof is leaking - unless there is major structural damage, any repair costs are all small fry to repair, against the amount they're lending you (and probably covered by your deposit).

I would definitely want my own through survey for peace of mind, so I had a good idea of exactly what might need doing in the short / medium term.

*thorough

We had a separate survey to the mortgage. We just got the basic mortgage survey but then a detailed building survey to tell us what to look out for. If you combine the two then the mortgage survey might withhold X thousand pounds until the electrics are replaced. We knew the electrics needed doing and had money set aside but didn't want the mortgage company messing with the mortgage offer. You probably don't need a full building survey if it is a fairly new house, but it does give some reassurance and we got an indication of which work was urgent and what could wait a bit.

I'm surposed your solicitor hasn't suggested you get one for your own peace of mind. They don't really get involved with surveys beyond that though. As pp have said, your lender will arrange a valuation surbey if the want one. They may well not release the valuation report to you though.
I'd say get a survey done (unless its a new build), but bear in mind surveyors are pretty busy at the moment and it may take a few weeks to arrange. If your searches are back etc it sounds like you could be fairly close to exchange in which case you might make yourself unpopular with the rest of your chain if this delays things. That's not a reason not to do it though!

As pps have said, it's up to you to get one. Your solicitor or mortgage lender won't mention it. A mortgage lender will only do the most basic level of survey (sometimes even a desktop one which is essentially just going on Google Maps and checking the house exists) so anything additional is for your own piece of mind.
Personally I'd never spend that amount of money without having a full structural.

Have you seen your mortgage lender's report, OP? If any problems were raised in that it would be worth you getting either some quotes for the work or an additional survey.

On MN I do see a lot of people getting their own survey on top of the mortgage lender's valuation. We've got quotes for work on anything raised on the mortgage valuation, but the only time we've done our own survey was when we were looking at a cash purchase (which fell through!). Having said that, in our day the lenders always sent a surveyor to look round the house and wield a damp meter, it wasn't a desktop valuation. I'd want someone to physically look at the property on the inside.

Bonkers not to do a full structural survey. How will you know if the roof etc is sound otherwise?

Ever had one personally , but I know what to look for , if you know nothing about buildings or the cost that go with them then a survey would be a good idea ?