Your guide to mortgage surveys

One of the most important things you can do when buying a property is to arrange for a home survey. Skipping it could be a considerable risk. You would effectively be buying blind, unaware of your potential new home's actual state or condition.
 
Surveys highlight obvious defects and hidden structural problems. They worsen over time and become more expensive to fix once you've moved in. A study by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RCIS) found that buyers who didn't organise a survey faced an average repair bill of £5,750 after purchasing their home, and 17% of these had to pay out more than £12,000.
 
Many people don't realise that when a mortgage lender says they're going to organise a property valuation, it is to make sure it's worth lending you the money. It is for their benefit, not yours, and is not a detailed inspection of a home's state.
 
Think of a survey as a health check for the home, an opportunity to understand more about the condition of the property you want to purchase. There are two principal types: a homebuyer report and a building or full structural survey. Let's look at them in a little more detail.

Homebuyer Report: This is the most popular type of home survey. A lender may instruct a surveyor to carry out a homebuyers report at the same time as a valuation, or you can arrange one at any time. The report covers major sections of a property, drawing attention to problems that could affect its value and advises on repairs and maintenance. Also highlighted are structural issues such as subsidence and damp. Surveyors do not look under floorboards or behind furniture, so only surface-level problems are identified.

The report has a traffic light condition rating system that details a property's state and how urgently it needs repairs.

Condition Rating 1 (green): no repairs are currently needed.

Condition Rating 2 (amber/orange):  repairs needed, but they're not urgent.

Condition Rating 3 (red): serious defects that need urgent repair or suggest further investigation with specialized reports.
 
A Building Survey (previously known as a structural survey): This is the most detailed survey you can get, an in-depth analysis of a property's structure and condition. It includes all visible and accessible parts of a building (i.e., floors, walls, chimneys, cellars, windows) as well as garages and outbuildings. The report will list any defects and significant issues such as damp, timber damage, subsidence, structural defects and presence of dangerous materials (i.e., asbestos). It will also advise on repairs and maintenance.
 
The RICS chartered surveyors are not qualified in some areas such as gas and electrical, and so your surveyor will recommend experts to assess these areas for you.

October 2020