Thursday September 22, 2005
Published in Guardian Unlimited
Organising a survey can be one of the most fraught parts of buying a house. You need to find a surveyor, arrange access to a house that isn't yours, wait for the report and, when it does arrive, interpret the jargon used in it. Typically the process will start after you have had an offer accepted on a property - the survey is designed to help you decide whether to go ahead with the purchase.
Choosing the right one
Simply put there are three types of survey: the lender's valuation, a homebuyer's report and a full structural survey. If you have applied for a mortgage the bank will send round a surveyor to carry out a valuation. Although the bank wants this done to guarantee its investment is sound, sadly you have to pay for it - usually at least £150. Although the valuation report can be useful for negotiating the price of an overpriced property down, it will tell you nothing about the fabric of the building. In fact, the lender will not necessarily pass on any details of what its valuation says.
To get more information about the property you need to commission a homebuyer's report, but according to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), four out of five homebuyers don't bother. The group's London chairman, Peter Bennett, says this is often because of confusion about the different types of survey. "People often think a mortgage valuation is the same as a survey, but it's not," he says. "Only a homebuyer's report or a building survey will tell you what you need to know about the structural health of the property."
A homebuyer's report typically costs upwards of £250 and covers the general condition of the house, major defects and any maintenance needed. Its main purpose is to give the person buying the property a professional opinion on the state of the building. This is what most people mean when they talk about "getting a survey done".
The third type of survey, and the most comprehensive available to the homebuyer, is a full structural survey. This involves extensive investigation of the property and costs between £400-£1,000. Buyers should commission structural surveys on properties over 100 years old, more than three storeys high, or of unusual construction, such as thatched or timber. A full survey is also advisable if you plan to renovate or extend the building as the surveyor can tell you if your plans are achievable.
Who do you turn to?
If you decide you want a survey but don't know any surveyors, don't worry, this is not unusual. Jeremy Leaf, RICS' housing spokesman, says the best way to find a surveyor is through personal recommendation. If that isn't an option you could use the surveyor-finder on the RICS website. RICS is the main professional association of surveyors in the UK. You can recognise an accredited surveyor by the initials ARICS, FRICS or TechRICS after their name. Most good surveyors will also have an ISO 9002 certificate, to show they have reached an independent quality control standard.
Another, very common way to get a homebuyer's report done is to ask the lenders' surveyor to do it when they carry out the valuation. Mr Leaf says that not only is this time effective, it will save you money too, as the £250 you pay for the homebuyer's report includes a valuation survey. He is more circumspect about using a surveyor recommended by an estate agent. While explaining that chartered surveyors have a "duty of care to their clients" - and an obligation under law to tell you what they find - he admits there is a perception among buyers that surveyors recommended by estate agents may be less critical. He says: "It is best to ensure there is no possible conflict of interest." And with the estate agent acting on behalf of the buyer, it may be better not to involve them in your choice of surveyor.
Once you have found a surveyor, you should do all you can to make sure you get what you want from their inspection, rather than just a standard 10 to 20-page report on the property. "Clients need to think about what they expect to achieve by commissioning a survey," says Mr Leaf. "Some clients want to be told about missing door handles and bath plugs whereas others only want to know whether there is a serious major defect." Pick up the phone and talk to your surveyor about any issues that are of particular concern to you. "This should help you decide how to proceed," he says.
Doing the ground work
Once you have engaged a surveyor he or she needs to arrange access to the property. This is done through the agent selling the property so you will need to pass on contact details when you instruct them. It is important that surveyors have easy access to attics, roof gardens, outside spaces and all the rooms on the day they visit, otherwise the survey will be incomplete. Surveyors will not climb into dusty dangerous attics without proper steps for example, so check with the estate agent that the whole property is accessible.
Before the report arrives you should consider whether you are prepared to act on its advice, even if this means renegotiating on the price or pulling out of the sale altogether. And when it does drop through the letterbox take time to read it through carefully. Don't panic if you don't understand some of it or if it all sounds like bad news. Surveyors use lingo and highlight the worst-case scenario as a matter of course. If you don't understand anything, phone your surveyor and ask them to explain what they mean and how significant it is.
If after the sale you discover that the surveyor has misled you or missed something crucial, then you have the right to complain. You should complain in writing to the surveyor first and, if that is not satisfactory, contact RICS which has an arbitration process.
Questions to ask the surveyor:
·Are you qualified for the survey required?
·When can you carry out the work?
·How much will it cost me in total?
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