How can Rightmove help confirm the HomeBuyers Survey Cost?
- Photos - poor condition, defects or extensions will mean the survey costs more and may require a Building Survey.
- Floor Plan - larger sized properties and extension will mean the survey costs more and may require a Building Survey
- Price History - to check if the property is being sold above or under previously sold properties. The higher the property's value the greater the home buyers survey price.
What you can do to help is provide your own experience of the property such as:
- Were there any smells? musty, damp, rotting.
- Was the property warm or cold?
- Did the hot water turn on quickly?
- Was there a loft hatch and was it accessible?
- Have any of the walls been removed?
- Are there any extensions?
- Did your searches flag flooding in the area
Does a RICS HomeBuyers Survey cost more?
RICS surveyors can be more expensive than differently qualified surveyors. They carry professional insurance, trained for in excess of 6 years before being qualified, regulated by The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and have a formal complaints mediator (CEDR). The additional protection and regulation comes at a higher survey cost.
The majority of surveys undertaken for home buyers are undertaken by qualified RICS surveyors and the Level 1-3 surveys described above can only be provided by a RICS surveyor. Non-RICS surveyors may offer a cheaper home buyers survey price however this won't be a RICS HomeBuyer Report; it'll be a similar version.
What is the average cost of a home buyers survey?
The cost of a home buyers survey varies depending on the factors listed above, however for our clients the average cost of home buyers survey is £400 excluding VAT. The average cost for a Building Survey is higher.
The cost of home buyers survey in 2018 was lower than in 2019 and now in 2020 because the average price of property has increased - higher property prices mean a higher home buyers survey price. The average prices through England:
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Location
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Average Property Price 2018
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Average Property Price 2019
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Find out more
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London
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£473,252
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£483,922
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Birmingham
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£188,896
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£190,195
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Manchester
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£179,408
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£185,809
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Reading
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£300,690
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£289,146
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Source: UK House Price Index
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Does a house survey cost more?
As a rule survey fees for buying a house are more expensive than those when buying a flat because a house is larger, it has more parts to it and you can inspect the full property. All in all it means that the time it takes to complete the service will be longer; including inspecting the property and writing up the report.
A flat, which you only need a HomeBuyer Report for, only has a set amount of area with the total property and whilst the surveyor will inspect the immediate communal area near the property they won't be inspecting every leasehold flat. The objective of the surveyor is to make sure the property you are buying is valued at the right economic value in the current market based on the property's condition.
There is less to inspect during a survey of a flat so the cost of the survey will be less than that of a house. What may influence this is a London HomeBuyers Survey where the value of the property makes the home buyers report cost more.
