Property Tips by Chartered Surveyor Ian Rock FRICS  –  from the Haynes House Manual series

Decyphering Survey Reports  –  Understanding ‘Surveyor-Speak’

Survey reports rarely make uplifting reading. After all, you’re not paying the surveyor to tell you how lovely the views are.  But there is sometimes a danger that less experienced surveyors (who’s expertise is likely more suited to doing mortgage valuations for banks) could over-react to minor defects, causing buyers to run a mile from properties that are actually perfectly sound for their age.

Imagine reading that there’s an apparent outbreak of  ‘beetle infestation’ . Then it’s only a short leap of imagination to visualising the full Dr Who scenario – a house alive with creepy crawlies running amok over the bedsheets. If a spot of beetle doesn’t bother you, then perhaps the word ‘asbestos’ might ring alarm bells.  Or ‘rising damp’, ‘settlement’, ‘cracking’, or ‘wet rot’.

Either way, no one would blame the poor old purchaser for running a mile as they grimly envisage their dream home morphing into a house of horrors.  But the fact is, most of the defects noted above are actually quite common, and are rarely serious. Estate agents are all too familiar with the challenges of placating worried buyers trying to make sense of their survey reports.

Making Sense of Your House Survey

Surveyors have a whole armoury of scary words at their disposal. So as well as picking the right survey it’s important to pick a surveyor who’s experienced, independent and can afford to take time do a thorough inspection.

And who preferably won’t scare the living daylights out of purchasers with careless use of killer words.

Part of the problem stems from banks sending buyers a second-hand copy of their mortgage ‘survey’ – which isn’t really a survey at all, just a valuation for the bank.

Despite this many mortgage lenders insist that valuation surveyors use prescribed standard phrases in mortgage valuations, which if you’re not careful can automatically trigger the requirement for a specialist report before the mortgage can be approved.  Then it’s not long before white van man turns up – with a vested interest in advising expensive treatments. For example, it’s estimated that around 50,000 cases of timber treatment are carried out in Britain each year, the vast majority of which are quite unnecessary.

In period properties, finding a few old wood beetle boreholes is par for the course. The chances are they’re probably inactive or have already been treated at least once. A certain amount of damp is also not unusual, and needn’t be an issue. Many timber & damp contractors have got rich carrying out totally unnecessary treatments that can even make the problem worse.

This doesn’t mean it’s safe to proceed without a proper survey. If you do, it’s sod’s law that the property will have genuinely serious defects that would justify fifty grand off the purchase price. Or more commonly, a whole shed-full of less major problems that together will cost an arm and a leg to rectify.

The surveyor’s skill is being able to judge based on their professional experience and technical knowledge whether a defect is serious or just looks worse that it really is.

So the moral is, always instruct a ‘proper’ survey – either an RICS Homebuyers Report or a Building Survey.   And be sure to pick an experienced local independent chartered surveyor, not the valuation surveyor acting for your bank.

Above all, don’t simply rely on a second-hand copy of the lender’s mortgage valuation, many of which today are meaningless ‘drive by’ or ‘desktop’ valuations where the property isn’t even visited.

If you do find anything worrying in the report, be sure to phone the surveyor afterwards and ask to explain it in plain English  –  always assuming you can hear what they’re saying through the loud chomping noise of Deathwatch beetle!

See Rightsurvey.co.uk for a quick guide to survey prices

Check out our other posts for more info that will help you pay the right price for the right property.

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 Ian Rock’s Rightsurvey property tips are taken from the Haynes House Manual series.