Do we need a survey when buying an older property with no mortgage?

[allthemind]

I am helping my mother downsize from a 4 bed semi, built in the 30s, to a 2 bed maisonette, built in the 60s. Its in a small development with 30 properties in total and is very popular due to location and good size rooms. Lots of unmodernised ones being snapped up and done up for a profit or buy to let (in the recent past) She is under offer for her sale, 2 links in the chain, and has had an offer accepted for the purchase, no chain. She will be buying the flat with proceeeds of the sale fo her house.

The flat is in need of modernsiation, but looks to have been very well kept by the current owners and was last refurbed, I would guess, when it was last purchased in 2001, or around then. It has a much newer boiler. She plans to do a refurb to include new kitchen and bathroom and then just decorating and new carpets etc in the other rooms.

We were all set to do a Level 2 HomeBuyers report for due dilligence, but I am wondering now whether we need to do a survey, or maybe could get away with a Level 1 Condition Report - due to the fact that lots of flats, including some in original 60s condition, have successfully been sold and modernised in the last 5 or 6 years including 4 this year. We don' have to do a survey as there will be no mortgage or finace on the purchase as it is cash/proceeds of house sale.

Her buyers have apparently, according to the estate agent, declined to do a survey on her 30s semi because their Dad is a builder and he has been round on a couple of occasions and done a good walkround. I personally am quite risk adverse so if it was me buying a 30s house I would have done a full survey (and have only ever purchased with a mortgage so always had to anyway) but is has made me question whether we need to do one on a small 2 bed maisonette in a development where over half of the 30 properties have recently (last 10 years) been sold or re-sold and modernised. What do you think?

I think it’s incredibly naive to save a couple of hundred quid when buying a house and risk buying something which much bigger problems than you have anticipated.

Yeah that is my natural position too. I am very surprised the buyers arent doing one (presumably because they have already sold, don't need a mortgage and are saving money towards refurbing her house).

But a Level 2 Homebuyers Report seems to be about £900, which is a lot to her as she only has her pension and doesnt have any funds from the sale as yet, I will probably have to lend her the money. Level 1 Condition reports are a few hundred.

I think you are right, it's not worth the risk.

So Level 2 Homebuyers Report or Level 1 Condition Report survey? Thoughts please.

At least a 2

About 10 years ago I bought a 250 year old cottage without a mortgage and I had a homebuyers report done. It was useful, if only to help prioritise the works to be done - as with you I was only planning to do kitchen, bathroom and decorating.
In the end it's up to you but I'm inclined to think that I would get one done. My mum lives in a 1960s block and inside is great but some of the communal areas ... not so much. If you are commissioning the report rather than the Mortgage Lender you can ask for an opinion on the fabric of the block: the roof, any external walkways and access.

My dad bought a 100yr old property and didn't bother. His feeling was it's been there this long. I often find the reports not really worth the paper they are written on as so much is covering the back of the writer- this might/you could.

Unless you think there's something major structurally that you could discuss with the sellers - roof / subsidence you may find its not worth the £900, especially if you are doing it up anyway.

It might be worth it for future protection if f it a leasehold property? If someone later says you all need to pay for a new shared path or walkway or whatever then you have info to say it’s fine or not?

We've purchased our last five houses without a mortgage and haven't had a survey on any of them. They've ranged in age from 160 to over 400 years old.

All have been renovation projects and we do most of the work ourselves (DH changed careers to become a conservation builder a few years back) so know what to look out for on a viewing. Tbh, we have come across so many errors/generalisations/arse-covering in surveys we wouldn't want to waste our money.

I bought my current house without a survey. Unless you’re prepared to pay for a level 3, everything from a level 2 is noticeable by you.

All good points and food for thought. I think we will definitley do a survey - just trying to decide whether worth spending the extra for the Level 2. I will get some quotes I think and see where we are.

I probably would if it’s brick built

It is, I've found a local surveyor who will do a Level 2 for £400, not as expensive as AI said! So we are going to do that as a hopefully happy medium, thanks for all the input - really useful perspectives and, like everything, seems to be context specific!

A level 2 won’t tell you anything useful.
id suggest that if you ah e concerns about an aspect, get a survey for that.
anything standard for a level 2 you can see yourself

If a block of flats needs a new roof, does each flat have to pay towards it? My concern would partly be the shared areas, not just the flat.

We bought a 14th century property with no survey but we are Architects and could see it was fine

My main flag in your case OP is the red flag of the EA mentioning your sellers aren’t doing one
Maybe I’m cynical but I find that suspicious.
So yes I’d get one done. But I don’t know the difference between the different types I’m afraid

You may want an asbestos check done

I found this suspicious too ... I think they are delaying tactic because they maybe lied about having a buyer? Dunno. They have been round with Dad and vaeipus builders a few times. We shall see.

1960s properties will nearly always have asbestos unless they’ve had a major refurb and removed it all

It is worth having an asbestos 'management survey' done, which will explain how to renovate or redecorate safely.

If in a block the block management will be required to have an up to date asbestos report which will be in the homebuyers report.

The big issue with blocks are works required to be carried out on the building. I inherited my mother's flat and the probate valuer took me through all the problems. Essentially no cyclical maintenance had been carried out for 35 years and everything was showing its age. I am a Director and have helped push through the works needed to ensure the building is watertight and set for the next 35 years. Long time owners have been fine. They have known about the problems for years and are relieved they are getting fixed (new roof!). The problems have come from the two most recent purchasers who, presumably, did not have surveys done, and for whom the lengthy list of works has come as a surprise. They will benefit as maintenance and insurance costs should fall, and the value of their flat should rise, but I don't think they see it this way. They simply bought a second home/investment property that seemed cheap at the time, then found themselves paying for it.

We 'sold' our house twice, both buyers had full structural surveys. Two surveys, 2 surveyors and not one single issue in common, not a thing. The first one brought up some pretty major things that made the buyer pull out ( things that weren't correct) I concluded surveys are an absolute rip off

When we bought we didn't have one, instead we did a damp survey and electric and central heating checks. We also took a builder to look round as it needed a refurb.

We don’t do surveys but we are super savvy on anything renovation so we don’t see the point. They are a bit of a rip off IMO on properties in general.

This is absolutely not true. Could you distinguish settlement from subsidence? Could you tell an active damp spot or woodworm infestation from an historic incidence that just needs a lick of paint and recognise the source? Do you know what a failed DPC looks like? Can you spot a serious defect in a roof when it looks like a couple of loose tiles? Do you have a damp meter and know the difference in the readings? Can you put an estimate on the rebuild cost of your property or the cost of repairs? Can you look at a central heating or electrical system, tell when it was installed and when it might need replaced? Do you know the signs of asbestos and which type it might be and what needs to be done about it?

Surveyors don’t just drive by and send out a boilerplate report. They are chartered and regularly checked by the RICS to make sure their training is up to date. It makes me laugh to think people will skimp on the price of a survey when they are making the most expensive single purchase of their lives.

Yeah this. Get the survey done @allthemind

We didn’t get a survey on our house, it is over 100 years old, but bil did give it a once over and he is a surveyor, so quite lucky in that respect. Also, our buyers didn’t bother getting one on ours either which I was suprised about as they were ftb.