When buying a home there is much talk from solicitors, estate agents and other professionals about ‘the survey’. But it’s not always made clear what this really means. Here’s our guide to the part that a property survey plays in buying a home.

Mortgage Valuation Survey

Most people buy their home with a mortgage, so before they hand over the cash, lenders want to know what a borrower is buying and whether it’s worth the offer price. This is why they always carry out what's called a Mortgage Valuation Survey.

After an offer has been accepted and the buyer knows how much they want to borrow, the lender will then arrange to send a surveyor to the property who will take half an hour to look at the property to check it’s worth what been offered on it. They also check that it’s in good structural shape.

If they think the buyer has offered more than the property is worth, the lender may revise downwards what they will lend and the buyer may have to then renegotiate the offer with the seller. It happens, but not that often.

Cost – usually free but some lenders will charge the borrower if the mortgage doesn't get approved.

Home Condition Report

This is the most basic property survey one can ask for. It is the best kind of survey if the property being bought is ‘bog standard’; probably fairly new, and of a similar size and design to other homes on the street.

Cost - £250*

Homebuyer Survey

This is the next step in survey sophistication and, like a Home Condition Report, it is not obligatory. But if someone has any doubts about the structural quality of the house, or they just want complete peace of mind about it, then a Homebuyer Survey is a good idea.

It’s designed for older homes that may need some TLC but that are otherwise of a similar design and layout to other homes on the street – so for example Edwardian or Victorian semis.

A surveyor will visit the property and inspect it for several hours and look for problems with damp, the drains, subsidence and rot or woodworm plus any defective previous work on the house or problems with the roof.

Cost – £400*

Structural Survey

This is the granddaddy of surveys and is an in-depth reckoning of a property. It takes up to a day to complete.

They are most commonly used by buyers who are purchasing non-standard, weird or wonderful buildings. That can mean timbered or historic houses or bespoke-built Grand Designs, for example, or a property that has been added to or altered many times over the years.

Cost - £1,000*

And don’t forget...

Remember to tell your lender if you decide to go for a Homebuyer Report or a Structural Survey because some lenders have approved lists of surveyors that they ask you to choose from when commissioning an extra survey on top of the lenders’ Mortgage Valuation Survey.

And if you go for a Homebuyer Report, then it can be done at the same time as the Mortgage Valuation, while a Structural Survey is best done after the Mortgage Valuation Survey has been completed.

To find a qualified surveyor, go to the website of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.

Sources: *MoneyAdviceService.org.uk

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