Free mortgage survey

[Skl2021]

So our mortgage comes with a free survey does anyone know what the surveyor will look for or how in depth it will be? I know you can pay for a more in depth one.

Usually the free one is just a valuation survey where they check whether they can lend to you, whether the house is worth that money, that you're not buying something next to an abandoned mine with likely shafts under your house etc, just the bare minimum, unless it's something other than this?

@JaneandtheLaundry our mortgage broker just said you get a free survey with the mortgage. She said they would go in the house and check everything? So not like a desktop/drive by valuation. Just wondered how much they check x

Oh that's interesting, that sounds like the survey we got with our first house (not free, I think ours was about £700). They looked at all sorts, I can't remember all of it but the one that sticks out is that they flagged up that the electrics needed a total re-do. If it's a survey like that, you've got a very good deal there. Hopefully my comments will at least bump the thread so someone who's had this same free survey sees this and gives you some useful info. 😅

@JaneandtheLaundry yes I specifically asked if they came in the house and checked things and she said yes. I thought like you it would just be a basic valuation one. Guess I will have to wait and see! Thanks

I would try and clarify exactly what the broker means.

I suspect they are referring to a 'mortgage valuation survey' which is a 20-30minute visit, quick once over, pop their head in the loft, make sure there's nothing obvious to suggest the house is about to fall down.

As opposed to a buildings survey or homebuyers report which take anything from 2 - 4 hours and can be 30/40/50 pages long.

Yeah I'd double check OP- a mortgage valuation survey isn't always a drive by, sometimes they still come inside the property but this still isn't the same as a building survey or a homebuyers report. If it's the former, it'll just value the property and not give you any further detail.

Double check. Our first mortgage came with this, they came in the house for about 20 minutes but literally counted bedrooms and bathrooms. It was a valuation, not a structural survey. We also had a structural survey independently that flagged loads of stuff (old Victorian house, expected) but the bank one literally said “worth xx amount of money” and that was it.

There's 3 levels of survey. The most basic valuation survey that is usually offered free by lenders does not require the surveyor to come in. They will check the listing and look at the outside and confirm that it's reasonably priced for what it is and where.

The next level up is usually called a honebuyers survey and does include the surveyor going in. However they won't be checking and testing everything. The report will be full of arse-covering caveats like "There is a central heating boiler in the cupboard in bedroom 3 which appeared to be functioning and radiators appeared to be warm at the time of the survey however the surveyor is not a qualifying heating engineer and no assessment has been carried out as to the functionality of the boiler and you should commission a full assessment from an appropriate heating specialist if you want to be sure it works"
Also - the surveyor saw no evidence of wet rot, dry rot or woodworm in the timbers that were visible but did not take up carpets or go into the attic so you should commission a full assessment from an appropriate timber specialist if you want to be sure it isn't riddled with these issues"
These reports often scare off First Time Buyers but they are always the same - the surveyor will highlight any problems they find but will be very careful to word any "no problems found" statement very cautiously to ensure that you can't sue them if they didn't spot something. It sounds like this is probably what you are being offered.

The Full Survey does include more testing and checking but is not immune from the above arse-covering.

Thanks everyone. Seems likes mixed replies some have come in and some not. And if they have its basic counting rooms checking heating etc. Thanks for all the replies!