Once you’ve found a property that you’re interested in purchasing, secured the mortgage and have acquired the services of a conveyancing solicitor, you’re just about ready to start thinking about a structural survey.
What is a structural Survey?
It’s a report that is designed to satisfy a consumer that the property has no obvious structural defects. The survey is basically there for consumer protection. There are three main types of surveys available:
Basic valuation
Homebuyers Survey & Valuation
Full structural
Buying a property is an expensive process, so it’s only natural that buyers want to make as many financial shortcuts as possible. One of the most common shortcuts is skimping on the survey. Buyers tend to rely on the information provided by the basic valuation when deciding whether or not to purchase a property. That’s probably acceptable if the property is fairly newly, but relying on an valuation report for an old or unusual property is a big gamble, and I would never advise it. Remember, a survey will give you a legal recourse and benefits the borrower than the lender, a valuation won’t.
Forking out £1k on a structural survey may seem steep, but it doesn’t sound all that expensive when you consider how much money it could save you. You could purchase a property without doing a survey, and then later on find out that the entire roof needs restructuring, which could cost you £15k. Once contracts have exchanged, the vendor is no longer liable for that property.
