Sellers' structural survey... can I trust it?

[cakehoover123]

We're looking at a house that has a few cracks in the walls. The sellers are commissioning a structural survey which they will share with viewers. Could be just a bit of movement, or something more serious - unclear at this point.

My question is about how much weight to give to the structural survey, given that the sellers are paying for it:

1. If the structural survey suggests no major problems, can we trust it enough to make an offer? (I'm thinking yes)
2. if our offer is accepted, can we also trust the sellers' structural survey enough to just do our own building survey in the usual way - or would it be advisable to do our own structural survey too? (I'm thinking we should also get our own!)

Very grateful for any advice!

Well if it’s done by a properly qualified structural surveyor I would expect it to be reliable - they are professionals with quite a lot of responsibility so certainly shouldn’t just write what the seller wants. But you will probably find the report itself excludes liability to anyone other than the person who commissioned it so you will have to check that. Probably best to check with your solicitor though.

@Fleur405 Thank you, that's really helpful.

Personally I'd always commission my own survey. But I would be careful to be nice about it to the vendors, I'd just say 'I will be interested to see yours, of course, and thank you for that, but I always have my own done so will be sending a surveyor myself as well' so they didn't think I was being stroppy about it.

Just a point for OP. If you need a structural survey using a surveyor is a waste of money, you need it done by a structural engineer as the surveyors report will conclude that a report by a structural engineer is required.