Building survey specific to older/historic properties

[Chocolateorange6]

Trying to research cost online but it’s not very obvious. Just got a quote back for a standard level 3 at £1100 so guessing a specific older house survey is going to be more 😬

is it worth it? I’ve read a lot about some surveyors not understanding older properties and misdiagnosing damp etc, but guess that comes with a cost!

How old is the house?

Not 100% sure, trying to work it out. But certainly pre 1900

And it’s a cottage, estate agent upfront about issues being flagged in a previous survey

If it’s a very old property and/or listed, @Chocolateorange6, a specialist survey might be wise. Especially if you have any concerns.

We had one when we bought our 400-year-old house and tbh it was more of a reassurance than anything. A standard survey would almost certainly have freaked out at the many, many quirks and oddities of our house; as it was, the (excellent) surveyor was a period-property expert and set our minds at rest that eg the sloping beams and floor levels were absolutely fine.

They are undoubtedly more expensive, unfortunately. But a good one is very detailed and should help you plan any works needed.

We used a period property specialist for our survey and it was £1000.

He wrote war and peace in it for us pointing out all the bad and good things about the property. He wrote half a page on a fireplace and surround listing everything about it followed by a page about the previous DPC someone had done had damaged the integrity of the property and it was regrettable they had done it.

It was a super balanced report and id it was given to an FTB Incan imagine the post on here listing literally every little bad thing before running away but it really made me understand what needed to be done to the property and how to fix the damage caused.

A specialist surveyor is worth the price.

Sorry @Chocolateorange6, I cross-posted with your reply. Your property isn’t perhaps excessively old then? 19th century shouldn’t be a problem for a properly RICS-accredited surveyor. Our previous house was maybe 1880s and that’s the type of survey we had - I don’t think it was called Level 3 then, just a full structural survey, but effectively the same thing!

£1100 does seem quite a lot, though?

Yes that is what I was hoping - they’re be able to distinguish what is actually a concern and will be costly and what isn’t, and how to remedy it without causing more damage.

the £1100 quote is with a company who specialises in historic/listed buildings, and they offer homebuyers, building survey, and then a listed/historic specific survey. But I’d guess if their company specialises anyway, the building survey would consider all the above. But it is costly! I think I need to go and get some more quotes 🙈

If you post in your old house uk - repair and conservation on Facebook, they will probably tell you the age of the property if you post a link, and maybe recommend someone.

Re costs, I was quoted £900 for a L3 two ago, so that sounds about right.

If they’re a specialist company anyway that sounds good, @Chocolateorange6 - they should know what they’re doing.

I bought a listed property and got a specialist survey. It's a whole book!

The best bits are where the surveyor gets over excited about some historic joinery and then admits it's not relevant, he just thought it was cool.

It was worth the money as the advice in it was sensible and not arse covering. And at no point does he recommend a damp survey, just says there is some damp but it's fine.

This is what I had. It was brilliant learning about the property.

I really loved the half page about one specific fireplace where he was talking about it in great whimsical detail, the long entry about the walled garden, the massive paragraph on the old servants quarters and what would have been in there originally.

Obviously the survey pointed out the issues as well but it was so much more detailed than any survey I have ever had before and probably the most balanced and providing solutions when it comes to the negatives instead of just saying there is damp get it tested by a specialist.

Again I say its worth its weight in gold

I think a specialist report would be well worth it. Recently selling my 1910s property (so not unusually old) I saw the survey and there was an awful lot in it that was just kind of scaremongering because the surveyor was reviewing a 100 year old house on the basis of 2024 building regs. So the report was saying the stairs were too steep, the short bit where they go round a corner with walls on both side needs an extra bannister, the loft needs extra ventilation (despite being bone dry). I remember when I bought, the survey had a bit old rant about the lathe and plaster ceilings and telling me how I needed to replace them all urgently with plasterboard, despite them being perfectly sound. I don't know how much a specialist report will be but at least you'll get something useful for your money. If you pay 1100 for a report for a standard level 3, you may as well just set fire to that money because you'll get nothing that'll help you.

And this post is the type of stuff that makes buyers walk away or think they need a huge discount when in reality everything is ok.

On another forum I frequent a buyer wanted to know if they should pull out because they had 3, yes 3 reds on their survey

Red issue 1 - even though the fusebox is the most current I cannot test it is electrically safe.

Red issue 2 - the boiler was installed this year but I cannot test it to see if it works.

Red issue 3 - due to the time of year the heating was not on and I cannot test it.

The buyer was genuinely concerned and wanted to know why they shouldn't pull out. It doesn't help when people who have no idea what they are talking about were suggesting a discount was needed.

Honestly, forums take away peoples own accountability and ability to google. How many posts do we see here all the time asking what to offer under and the stupid advice some users give.

Totally agree re scaremongering and peoples fears and forum posting! I am definitely not of that ilk.. and want a surveyor that can give me decent advice about what actually needs doing and doesn’t and what is right for a building of its age and construction. I also fear my partner would run a mile though at a scaremongering report - so maybe a good idea to avoid a surveyor without historic experience/specialism

Just to say, years down the line we had a problem with some expensive work we'd had done on the house by (supposedly) expert period property builders. It created a major issue, caused us a lot of stress and left us needing to challenge the company concerned. We went back to the surveyor who’d originally done our building survey to ask for advice and he was fantastic - went above and beyond to help us, even getting other experts he knew to write reports on the things the company were insisting were fine. They did back down and reimbursed us - and I’m pretty sure their reputation took a hit because he’s very well-known in his field and he was most unimpressed (to put it mildly!) by their work.

Eeek! That sounds very stressful! But glad you could use his expertise and it got sorted