Paying for a Homebuyers survey as the seller outside of Scotland

[Diversion]

Has anyone done this? 25 years ago we sold our first house, the survey brought up that the solid floor was uneven and was likely due to subsidence and our buyer pulled out. We had a structural engineer round who advised that there was no evidence of subsidence and that the issue was most likely due to a "Friday afternoon job" when the builders had run out of ashphelt. We had the issue rectified and sold without any further problems. We are considering seling next year and are looking at paying for a homebuyers survey to point our any potential issues that may come up for our future buyers. It will cost £500+. The survey we had done on this house prior to buying was not great with all kinds of potential issues, many of which were not what they actually were threatened to be and should no longer be an issue. We are aware that any buyer would still need to carry out their own survey but it might alert us to what may be considered an issue.

Anyone? I know that it is not usually the done thing for sellers in England, but wanted to hear from anyone who has please.

I am actually considering doing just this. I'm selling a property in Scotland - now under offer - and had to get a Home Report and valuation which costs around £500 and I think is probably equivalent in detail to the home buyers' survey, and everyone shares it. It was very useful in flagging up small issues which I could provide answers to and if it had flagged any big issues I'd have been able to fix them in advance.

I am now moved to England and selling a property on behalf of a family member and I feel the lack of a similar report. Estate agents don't get it and have the mindset that all buyers need their own, but I'd like my own as the seller and I'm going to see if I can just get a RICS surveyor to do one for me.

Will report back if I do.

Just to report I did do this. It cost around £800 but was a level 3 buildings survey from a RICS surveyor. Very useful and detailed and enabled me to decide what work I might get done - I've decided to replace a flat roof before Winter e.g., and reassured me about everything else. I also had a drains survey done - about £150 - and work done which is now guaranteed. The 'market valuation' - done by 'someone in the office' as a separate document - was useless though and I had to get 3 estate agents' valuations to sort that out.

I'm doing this currently for probate purposes but it was a very useful exercise for when the house goes on the market in a few months. You're allowed to share as much of your survey as you like with EAs / buyers and a full buildings survey has more longevity - doesn't stop people getting their own survey of course but you're pre-armed.

Appreciate not everyone wants to spend the money but I'm glad I did.

I think it’s a great idea. I wish I had done the same as we have just been caught off guard at a late stage in our sale by an issue raised in our buyer’s survey. I wish I had got my own done months ago so I could have either fixed it or at least been upfront with buyers an ensured they took it into account in their pricing.

Thanks for sharing your experience.