Is buyers survey mandatory in England

[IceCreamTime19]

As above.

I don't think it is, for the simple reason that our friends had their offer on a house that needed extensive work accepted because they said they wouldn't survey and their offer was not going to change therefore (post survey by other buyers). Having said that, I could be wrong...

Not if you are paying cash.

If you want a mortgage then a very basic one is required or no lender will lend.

However if there are problems with the property that a survey would have flagged up it is all on your own head.

No we are buying with the mortgage so I assume the bank would do their own survey but do we need to buy a separate one?

We bought our house last year and ported our mortgage. Lender didn't do a survey as the LTV was 25% so they used a desktop valuation. We didn't get our own survey as house was only 6 years old, in great condition, and still covered by the NHBC guarantee.

There’s a difference between a survey (done by the buyer) and a valuation (done by the lender). We didn’t have a survey done, but the lender did an in person valuation. No need to have a survey.

Not legally mandatory.
Lenders may require one.
Barring buying a new house off-plan, I personally think you're taking a big risk if you don't have one- for a newish house, a simple or mid-range homebuyers type should be sufficient if it isn't of unusual construction. And if you're buying an old house, say, pre-1960s, or anything of 'non-standard' construction, or in an area prone to problems like subsidence, it's seriously bonkers not to have a more detailed one- I go for the equivalent of the old 'full structural survey'. Rule of thumb- the older the house, the more detailed the survey needs to be.

IMO lenders'/banks' surveys are not detailed enough- theirs are often barely more than a valuation. I'd alway get my own, the level, as my post above, so I knew what I was getting into.

No you don't have to have a survey. We sold our flat to a FTB and she didn't have w survey. She purchased using a standard mortgage.

I've always had a survey prior to buying not that it's ever helped. Surveyors are overly cautious and most sellers won't discount off the back of survey results. I just use them to decide where to start my maintenance