House Surveys
Should I have a house survey, structural survey, valuation or homebuyers survey?
This is a commonly asked question – a full structural building survey is the answer if you are buying a house. Why? Find out below.
What is a house survey or full structural survey?
A house survey is carried out by a qualified Building Surveyor who inspects the property from chimney pot to foundation externally and internally to check its condition.
Your surveyor will write a building survey report, which will detail any structural issues such as subsidence and provides details of any structural changes, such as walls that have been moved.
Your survey will also identify any areas of the property that require major repairs or alterations such as if the roof needs slates replacing or extra support within the roof structure is required, which can be costly.
A house survey is also known as a residential building survey, structural survey or building survey.
GEM Chartered Building Surveyors – we don’t just tick boxes we provide specialist detailed structural surveys fast.
How can having a house survey save me money?
A house survey will save you money as you are buying a property with full knowledge of any property problems and associated building works costs.
Building surveys from GEM Surveyors will not only detail any property problems but also give details of action required to resolve any issues as well as anticipated costs.
These property issues and costs can be brought to your attention during the negotiation period and used to negotiate a reduction in the price of the property.
The price of your house survey is money well spent, as you will save money by using the building survey report document as your negotiation tool.
What is the difference between a building survey and a homebuyers report?
There are fundamentally three types of building survey:
- Mortgage valuation survey
- Homebuyers survey
- Building survey also known as a structural building survey
Mortgage valuation survey
A Mortgage valuation survey a survey carried out by your mortgage company to ascertain if the property they are going to lend money against has sufficient value.
This survey is not a ‘survey’ in its full sense and is organised by the lender with the borrower having to pay for the survey although the lender retains legal ownership of the report.
If the mortgage valuer carrying out this report for the lender fails to identify a costly property defect you will not be able to make a claim against him.
Although this is the cheapest option this really is mainly for the benefit of the lender and we would highly recommend that when investing a large sum of money in a property you have a full structural building survey carried out.
Homebuyers survey
Some might describe a homebuyers survey report as a “tick box” survey. These surveys are carried out by surveyors using a survey template with standard wording relating to the condition of the property.
Surveyors will often carry out several surveys in one day and are unlikely to inspect areas such as the roof space or lift manhole covers.
You will be employing the surveyor directly who carries out a homebuyer’s survey therefore you will be able to make a claim if they overlook a property defect. However, homebuyers surveys are full of exclusion clauses and caveats so beware you may have issues if a case ends up in court trying to prove negligence!
Building surveys – house surveys – full structural surveys
A building survey or full structural survey or house survey is carried out by a Building Surveyor and although the more costly survey it certainly is value for money. A building survey is a detailed inspection of the property externally and internally carried out by a highly qualified Chartered Surveyor.
The building surveyor will lift manhole covers, have ladders to climb up into the roof space to inspect the roof timbers, use cherry pickers to inspect the roof itself and even, with the permission of the vendor, lift floorboards where necessary if major dampness is an issue.
If you want value for money and peace of mind choose a Building Survey from GEM Surveyors 01234 355 358
Why use an Independent Chartered Surveyor for a building survey?
A building survey carried out by an Independent Chartered Surveyor is regulated by The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and is not working for the mortgage lender, financial institution or estate agent they are working for you and only you.
An Independent Chartered Surveyor is 100% impartial and has your best interests at heart.
Often, in our experience, Estate Agents are not happy if a building survey is being carried out and will recommend one of their Surveyors however remember they are in the business of selling houses and want the sale to progress quickly. An Independent Chartered Building Surveyor will provide an in depth building survey report, which will provide you details of any property issues which you can use to negotiate the best price and give you peace of mind so that you know exactly what lays ahead if costly building works/repairs need to be carried out.
Independent Chartered Surveyors provide the best building surveys money can buy. For a free survey quote call 01234 355 358 today