Understand what a survey is for & when to get it

Updated: 22nd Aug, 2024

A survey is an inspection of a property’s condition, conducted by a qualified surveyor. It tells you what repairs are needed, or what big structural issues or defects there are with the property. It costs £300-1,500+, depending on what type of survey you choose to get and the property.

Do I need a survey?

You don’t legally have to get a survey, but buying a property without knowing what issues it has could be a big risk.

Your survey results allow you to:

🚫 Withdraw your offer, if it finds significant problems with the property such as subsidence (property is sinking), damp, or structural problems that would require lengthy & expensive repairs.
🤝 Negotiate down the price, e.g. you might reduce your offer by the amount the repairs will cost, or by half the repairs cost (effectively splitting the repairs bill).
🛠️ Plan any repair work that you need to do before moving in (replastering & redecorating are easier to do before you move lots of furniture in).

When should I get a survey?

Generally, people get a survey within the first few weeks after getting their offer accepted. But, similar to legal searches, the timing of exactly when is a bit of a trade-off.

Reasons why you might want to book a survey early on are:

🪧 The estate agent may tell you they won't take the property off the market, meaning other buyers could view & offer on the property, until you get a survey booked in.
🐢 Waiting to book in a survey can drag out the house buying process.
🏦 You might want to get a survey before getting your mortgage, as there's some extra admin to change your mortgage amount if you want to lower your offer on the property after getting your survey results.
🏚️ If you know the property is in a bad condition and aren't 100% sure you want to buy it, it might be better to get on with the survey before bothering with anything else.

But there are also reasons you might want to wait to get a survey:

💰 Surveys are non-refundable unless you have home buyer's insurance.
🏦 Waiting until both your and your seller’s mortgage applications are accepted will reduce the likelihood of you wasting money, as sales can fall through if one party can’t get a mortgage.

You'll need to weigh up these different factors to decide when to book in your survey.

Is a mortgage valuation enough?

A mortgage valuation is not the same as a survey. A mortgage valuation is a more basic assessment of the property, carried out on behalf of your mortgage lender, solely to make sure the property's value more than covers their loan amount.

You won’t get to see the problems they find. The outcome of a mortgage valuation is how much money the lender is willing to lend to you for the property based on their valuation of it, or the lender’s requirements for repairs before they will lend you the money.