Building Surveyor

hi

We recently went sale agreed on a 90 year old cottage and have just engaged a BS to carry out a survey of the property. I am wondering what type of things are included and what type of questions/details should I be asking and expecting to receive as part of his report.
Also there may be extensions that were built without planning less than 10 years ago.if this is the case is the vendor responsible for applying for retention or can we ask for a reduction in the sale price.

Thanks in advance

You need to clarify that with your surveyor in advance of agreeing a price.

random2011 said:

hi

We recently went sale agreed on a 90 year old cottage and have just engaged a BS to carry out a survey of the property. I am wondering what type of things are included and what type of questions/details should I be asking and expecting to receive as part of his report.
Also there may be extensions that were built without planning less than 10 years ago.if this is the case is the vendor responsible for applying for retention or can we ask for a reduction in the sale price.

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

You are buying an old house - it will be pretty obvious to you from even looking at the property yourself what will need to be done and what problems the property presents.
The surveyor will do a report on the state of the property and what issues they see.

If you already know or suspect that there are unauthorised extensions on the property, you've sort of acknowledged that the price you've offered is at a level that accepts the planning flaws!

You need to talk to your solicitor who should ask for the formal Contracts to issue before the Surveyor goes out. The Contracts will indicate what, if any, the planning flaws are.
Estate Agents are always mad keen to get the survey done yesterday but it is better if the Surveyor can see from the Contract what the planning situation is before going out.

In general the view is if there is great interest in the property then the Vendor will sell to the highest bidder who accepts the flaws. If there is no other interest in the property the Vendor is unlikely to want to apply for retention ( if they are thick enough to put the property on the market knowing there are planning problems, they are unlikely to want to deal with it now!). They may agree to a reduction but, really, if the OP suspected there were issues they should not have gone sale agreed until they understood the extent of the problems.

mf

1: the survey will be non-invasive, will be a series of heavily caveated opinions, nothing more.
2: I take a different view to my clients than mf1 re unauthorised developments (UDs): don't buy without them being fixed.
3 In addition, no lender will mortgage a house with Uds.
4: Don't know the relevance of the 10 years in the OP's head, while there is a 7 year limit to LA enforcement of UDs, the problem doesn't go away after 7, retention or demolition is required.
5: Lastly, even if you are a cash buyer with a serious discount achieved, the UDs need to be resolved before you can apply for planning for anything else.
6: Retention fees are normally 3 times the normal planning fees so a substantial UD could cost a few shillings