Q: I am buying an apartment that was built in 1992. And the end of the Victorian terrace house, ground floor flat. (The owner owns a plot of ground at the end of the terrace and had a house similar to the building terrace)

So you would hope it would be in good condition, but hey, Im not a builder. I chose the basic survey, which u0026 G C, and the mortgage broker told me that they see the report did.

Yesterday, after hunting for 10 days, he said that they did not give me a copy of the report and that The way these things work. He said you only one copy when observations, ie problems.

Im not happy buying a flat without seeing fellow and advice! He thinks if I ask for a G C u0026 survey, they will send me the report, and will not even bother to visit again the hosue, and that if I really want to get one I should get someone else or are a waste of money.

￡ 400 is a lot of money if C G u0026 no problems found. I know that the report is for their protection, but certainly it represents as the house collapsed in 6 months thats not my problem?

Is their research through a survey? I

Should a full survey done? Or just assume its ok? How to find someone good in London?

Advice gratefully received .

---

A:Any tips on how to find a reasonably priced good company to do it in SE London?Certainly! Look on the RICS website – you'll be able to locate a fully qualified and insured surveyor in the area you're buying in

---

A:I ran survey offices for 12 years – the problem with doing a full survey (building survey) on a flat, is that unless the surveyor actually gains access into all other parts of the building, you won't get your money's worth – and the survey won't be complete. Surveyors try to avoid doing these because they're just not cost effective for the purchaser, and they don't like to feel they've done an incomplete survey for their client.

You can get a private homebuyer's report from an RICS qualified surveyor – it would be more suitable for your purposes, and it would be an awful lot cheaper. You could also supplement this by having other reports done – timber and damp, electrics, gas, drains etc for a fuller picture of the property as a whole. Basically everything you don't need access to other flats for

---

A:Thanks – I think you are right to be honest. Any tips on how to find a reasonably priced good company to do it in SE London?

---

A:I'd always get a full survey. The basic report is simply a valuation to confirm the bank/bs will get their money back if you default. It is up to you to keep somewhere in good repair, so the plumbing, electrics etc could be in a poor state and they'd still accept it.

As you paid for a valuation not a "survey" I guess they have nothing to show you other than the "OK for purpose of loan".

A full survey is always going be cheaper than almost any half decent problem it's paid to uncover and will therefore put you in a stronger position to negotiate the price you pay.

I bought an old semi from my step father to do up. He owned it for 10 years and I had been to the house many many times. I still opted for the full survey, this time to give me a good idea on where to prioritise spending renovation money. It revealed plenty of things wrong that he'd not noticed (like internally collapsed/blocked chimney that BG with it's annual contract had failed to spot and was a real hazard with the gas fire installed into that chimney).

￡400/500/900 is still cheap in the big scheme of house purchase. Almost guy a full survey revealed at fault would cost more than that to put right.

---

Related posts

• Who should sign the Deed of Variation . Seller or buyer ? [deed of variation] [buying a flat] (0)
• Urgent Advice needed !Urgent”,[5],1,0,905,0,1,0],["Advice needed",[6],1,0,740,1,3,0],["!",[7],0,0,809,3,4,0]],[["Dringend",5,[["Urgent",905,1,0],["Urgently",59,1,0],["Urgency",0,1,0]],[[13,21]],”Advies nodig Dringend !”],["Advies nodig",6,[["Advice needed",740,1,0],["need advice",67,1,0],["advice",22,1,0],["Need advice on",0,1,0],["require advice",0,1,0]],[[0,12]],”"],["!",7,[["!",809,0,0]],[[22,23]],”"]],,,[["af [buying a flat] [fixed rate] (0)
• Thinking of buying a flat – long lease expires in 54yrs – advice! [buying a flat] [leasehold] (0)
• some questions about buying a flat in a larger house [buying a flat] [resposibility] (0)
• Share of Freehold . [buying a flat] [share certificate] (0)