Do I Have to Have a Survey When Buying a House?
Most of the time, you should have a Level 2 Home Survey to protect your investment. While you might be tempted to skip it, your RICS surveyor is trained, qualified, and experienced to identify potential defects.
According to RICS, on average, homeowners spend £5,750 repairing defects once they move in. A survey can flag these issues before you buy, which allows you to negotiate a lower price and makes getting a survey worthwhile.
Does your property need a Home Survey?
You are not legally required to have a survey when buying a house in England & Wales; however, we strongly recommend it.
While you may be tempted to skip a survey due to cost and time constraints, it is a vital step that can save you thousands of pounds in unexpected repair costs.
Your RICS surveyor is trained, qualified, and experienced to find things you might not be aware of.
While your mortgage lender will carry out a basic valuation, this is not a survey and won't give you any real insight into the property's condition.
In short, a survey is a small price to pay for peace of mind and financial protection.
In our recent survey, 16% of homeowners found defects; including 2% who were able to pull out of a bad purchase, 7% who were able to negotiate a better price, and sadly, 7% of homeowners who did not get a survey and discovered defects after the purchase.
12 of the 39 who remembered how much these defects cost to remedy spent over £5,000
Don't burn your money, book a survey.
Why you need a Home Survey
A current market valuation confirms the property's value for the mortgage lender's security; it offers no insight into its condition.
A professional inspection by a qualified RICS surveyor could identify issues you might not be aware of, which can save you thousands of pounds in unexpected repair costs.
According to RICS, homebuyers who do not get a survey spend an average of £5,750 on repairs once they move in.
A survey is an investment that provides a safety net. If it flags defects, you have two clear options: you can either use the report as evidence to negotiate a lower purchase price or, if the issues are too severe, you can pull out of the purchase before it's too late. This makes getting a survey worthwhile, as the cost is often recouped many times over.
Which survey is right for you?
The better question is not: "Do I need a property survey?" but "which property survey is worth getting?" Your choice will depend on the age, condition, and type of property you are buying. Most homes should have a Level 2 or Level 3 survey.
A Level 1 survey is the most basic option, providing only a summary of the property's condition and a traffic light rating. It is the least detailed of the three reports, and we do not recommend it or offer it to our clients as it lacks sufficient detail to be a worthwhile investment.
RICS Level 3 Home Survey (Building Survey)
A Level 3 survey, previously known as a Building Survey, is a more detailed and extensive inspection, better suited for older, larger, or unusual properties.
You should consider a Building Survey if the property is over 80 years old, in poor condition, or if you are planning to carry out major renovations.
The Level 3 report includes a more thorough and extensive visual inspection, including the roof space and underground drainage.
It describes how the property is built and outlines potential problems posed by hidden defects. It also provides a recommended repair plan, a timeline, and an explanation of the consequences of not acting.
Typical Cost: A Level 3 survey is more extensive, typically ranging from £600 - £1,500+, with our services starting from £499 EXC VAT.
When is a Home Survey NOT worth it?
Although a survey is recommended for most property purchases, there are a few specific circumstances where a full survey may not be the most appropriate or cost-effective choice.
New Build Properties
If you are buying a brand-new home, a standard Home Survey is generally not necessary. Instead, you should consider getting a snagging survey.
This is a specialist inspection that focuses on identifying cosmetic and minor defects that may have been missed by the developer. These issues can then be used to get the developer to fix any snags before you complete the purchase.
Valuation-Only Transactions
If you are not buying or selling the property but need a valuation for a specific purpose, a full condition report may not be required.
Examples of this include staircasing a shared ownership property, repaying a Help to Buy loan, or buying out a joint owner. In these cases, a current market valuation without a condition report will suffice.
What to do after your survey report arrives
Once you receive your survey report, you will find that it uses a simple traffic light system to grade the condition of different parts of the property.
- Red - Condition Rating 3: Defects that are serious and/or need to be repaired, replaced, or investigated urgently. This is a red flag that you should not ignore. You should get a specialist to investigate and provide a quote for the necessary work.
- Amber - Condition Rating 2: Defects that need repairing or replacing but are not considered to be either serious or urgent. These issues should be budgeted for and addressed in the future.
- Green - Condition Rating 1: No repair is currently needed. The element should simply be maintained in the normal way.
Armed with this information, you can decide whether to proceed with the purchase, renegotiate the price based on the cost of the necessary repairs, or pull out of the sale entirely. Always consult with your solicitor to understand your legal options at this stage.
Call or send us a message to request a callback or an email answering your queries about our surveys. Our UK-based survey team can help you choose the right level home survey for your property, at no extra charge.
There's no obligation to instruct. We'll make sure you understand your options and provide a free, fixed-fee quote for our best-value survey to meet your needs. No robots, no call centres. Property challenges solved.
Andrew started his career in 2000 working within conveyancing solicitor firms and grew hands-on knowledge of a wide variety of conveyancing challenges and solutions. After helping in excess of 50,000 clients in his career, he uses all this experience within his article writing for SAM, mainstream media and his self published book How to Buy a House Without Killing Anyone.
Caragh is an excellent writer and copy editor of books, news articles and editorials. She has written extensively for SAM for a variety of conveyancing, survey, property law and mortgage-related articles.
