Be Safe, Be Sure, Get a Survey!

RICS, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, recently released the shocking results of a survey that show a quarter of house-buyers in the UK do not commission a full survey of the property they intend to buy. This had led to many people ‘living in a time bomb’, where unnoticed defects such as rising damp, penetrating damp, wet rot, dry rot, invasive plants (such as the notorious Japanese knotweed), cavity wall tie failure and inadequate lintel support cause an average of £5,750 in repair and renovation costs.

The survey questioned more than 1,000 property buyers around the UK, of whom over 250 admitted to not bothering with an official survey before purchasing their home. Of the remainder who did commission a survey, 73% said it gave them some degree of ‘peace of mind’ though only around 50% considered the survey to provide good ‘value for money’.

Valuation Manager Leslie-Anne Milson notes that: “Many defects are not obvious to the untrained eye or may even be hidden within the fabric of the building, behind furniture (and) under carpets.” She goes on to point out the differences between a Home Survey and a Mortgage Valuation, saying that home surveys ‘are carried out on your behalf’ whereas a mortgage valuation is ‘considered from the bank or building society’s own lending criteria’.

Anyone who has been caught out in this way will obviously be upset and unhappy about it and will need to be treated with sympathy and professionalism as the necessary repairs are completed. Twistfix are dedicated to ensuring that our network of registered contractors have instant, unrestricted, reliable and cost-effective access to our comprehensive collection of crack repair, cavity wall tie, mould removal, grounds maintenance and lateral support systems and solutions, meaning that repairs can be carried out swiftly, professionally and effectively.