A P Herbert & Associates
Chartered Surveyors
Hertfordshire, AL5 1HX
Tel/Fax 01582 764645
surveys@apherbert.co.uk
RESIDENTIAL SURVEYS
Why have a survey? | Full Building Surveys | Mid-Level Reports - HBR and HCS
What's the difference? | Which to choose | What's the cost? | Pre-Sale Surveys - HCR
Foundation movement, cracks in
walls, broken rendering, bad pointing
Roof movement, weak timbers, bad tiles. Leaking flat
roofs. Perforated flashings. Ineffective gutters.
Rising damp, penetrating damp, leaking plumbing. Wet rot,
dry rot, beetle infestation.
Weak internal walls. Dodgy ceilings, bad plaster
Heating, drains, sanitaryware, electrics.
So, you've agreed to buy a house and the mortgage lenders are doing an inspection in order that you can actually afford to buy the place!
You know that probably they will send a competent person to the house but are you sure how detailed the inspection is going to be?
The big question is - do you have a survey of your own?
If you ask your friends, they may tell you that all a surveyor does is confirm that the house is as good as you already thought and, therefore, you have wasted your money! But, supposing your surveyor notices something that the lender's inspector failed to spot or, from his point of view, wasn't important enough to affect the value? After all, if you think about the time that the mortgage valuer is expected to spend in a house, it's surprising what he does see. He may only be there for about 20 minutes or so and he is certainly not going to spend that time crawling round the loft. A full survey will take at least 3 hours and sometimes much longer.font>
When you instruct A.P. Herbert & Associates, you will find someone who is sympathetic to the fears and worries that you may have about buying a property for a sum of money which few but the most fortunate have ever seen! font>
There are two types of survey which can be undertaken for you, the Full Building Survey and the mid-level report. This second report also leaves you with a choice, between the RICS Homebuyer Survey and Valuation and the SAVA Home Condition Survey, about which more later.THE FULL SURVEY
To describe this as a "full" survey is, probably, a bit of a misnomer. It is never possible to inspect every single part of the fabric of the house without pulling it apart completely and then rebuilding it. (A situation that the vendor may not be too keen on and you may feel you could spend the money a bit more wisely!) However, the training and experience which a surveyor undergoes gives him the advantage of seeing signs of deterioration which may be easily missed by others.
The external inspection which is carried out involves a detailed look at the walls and the roof. The survey will include the guttering, downpipes, windows, doors and double glazing. Any one of these areas can tell the surveyor that something is amiss in another part of the structure. Internally, every visible part is inspected and even door-frames are capable of telling a surveyor a lot about the house, its stability and the way it has been maintained in the past.
Services are inspected from the point of view of their operation. The testing of services is a complicated matter involving specialist equipment. Any surveyor is just like your doctor in that he can see the straightforward things and diagnose them but, occasionally, a specialist opinion is needed.
THE MID-LEVEL INSPECTIONS
The inspection which is carried out and the limitations are generally similar to the Full Building Survey, although less attention is given to the services and screwed down hatches are not removed.
SO WHAT DIFFERENCE IN THE REPORTS DO YOU SEE?
Each surveyor has his own way of reporting to you. So what is special about the way that A.P. Herbert & Associates deals with the property you wish to buy?
Tony Herbert, the principal, has been practising as a surveyor in the area for nearly 30 years and realises that the last thing anybody wants to be told is not to buy the home they have selected. The need that you have, as the purchaser, is to be informed, as reasonably fully as possible, of the likely expenses that you are going to have to meet within the foreseeable future. Occasionally, but rarely, this information will result in you not going ahead and, even more rarely, you may even be advised not to proceed.font>
The FULL BUILDING SURVEY REPORT which is produced for you is a detailed description of the method of construction and faults which have been found, plus the methods of repair or treatment.
The important thing is that you understand what is talked about in the report and to assist with this we provide a brief description at the beginning of the report of what the various parts of the house do.
The report also includes a selection of photographs and then finishes with a summary in order, again, to help you understand the problems which have been discovered.
The MID-LEVEL REPORTS do not go into the detail of the FULL BUILDING SURVEY REPORT but do provide a description of the construction and general condition of the property and identify the most important defects. You will not find the written advice as to how to surmount a particular problem nor advice as to the significance of a defect unless it is extremely serious. There is, of course, no explanatory preface and only a few photographs of any severe problems which may have been encountered. Hence this type of report is cheaper.
The SAVA Home Condition Survey (HCS) is prepared to a standard format devised by SAVA (Surveyors and Valuers Accreditation) and is based on the much-maligned Home Condition Report (HCR) which the government dropped from the HIP legislation Defects in elements of the building are identified with a Condition Rating which should help you compare the importance of one defect to another. A Condition Rating 1 is a statement that the element is in satisfactory condition. A Condition Rating 2 is a statement that there is a defect but it is either not particularly serious or does not create a hazard and is not a Health and Safety issue. The last one is a Condition Rating 3 which is a statement from the surveyor that there is either a significant Health and Safety issue or there is a serious defect. (It is worth noting that a loose slate on the side of a house will probably warrant a CR2. However, the same slate hanging just above the front door would warrant a CR3 because there is a definite hazard to life and limb.) The report runs to about 20-25 pages plus any additional photographs (when necessary).
The RICS HomeBuyer Report is a modernised version of the older and popular HSV (HomeBuyer Survey and Valuation). It has been devised in the light of the development of the HCR, which it follows to a considerable degree and, like the SAVA Home Condition Survey, contains Condition Ratings. Unlike the SAVA Home Condition Survey, the HomeBuyer Report includes a valuation. Some people find this confusing. The estate agent has placed the property in the market at a certain figure having considered the likely selling price; the buyer has made an offer at what he considers the property to be worth; the mortgagee’s Valuer has inspected the property and made a third statement of value. If a fourth value is placed on the property it may be considered that it only serves to confuse the issue.
SO WHICH TO CHOOSE?
There is no doubt that you get more for your money with a full survey but it is more expensive and, with some houses, a little excessive.
Briefly, if the house has had no unusual extensions or alterations, is currently occupied, or reasonably capable of being so without too much work and is less than 140 years old, then the MID-LEVEL REPORT is adequate. At the other extreme, the house which is over 150 years old is a definite candidate for the "full job" particularly if there is considerable work to be done. We can advise which to choose for something in-between or if the property is in need of considerable repair about which you feel you would like a more detailed report.
Choosing which mid-level report. The RICS HomeBuyer Report has been devised by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and is a revision of the previous HomeBuyer Survey and Valuation, and can only be undertaken by a member of that institution. The SAVA Home Condition Survey has been created by Surveyors and Valuers Accreditation (SAVA), part of National Energy Services, a leading energy conservation body, and these reports can only be provided by registered Home Inspectors who have satisfied and continue to satisfy the stringent requirements of SAVA. It might be difficult to find someone who can give an unbiased opinion as to which you should choose unless, like Tony Herbert, they are members of both organisations and can give an honest opinion as to which is appropriate for your needs.
AND FINALLY, ON COST?
A lot of people fear the fees which a surveyor might charge but if a comparison is made with the cost of car insurance, it is quite reasonable - around the cost of insuring a second-hand little "run-about" is probably a good comparison. We would be delighted to advise you which survey to commission and give you a quotation without any obligation. Simply telephone us on 01582 764645 or click surveys@apherbert.co.uk
PRE-SALE SURVEYS
It is common for home owners to decide to market their home without any idea as to whether it is in as good a condition as it might be. It is in the nature of things, that as soon as the house goes onto the market, or another house is found, it is believed that everything will proceed smoothly even though previous experience, first-hand or second-hand, may say otherwise. So it is that, some way down the line, a buyer is found who has a survey, or, at the least, his mortgagee arranges an inspection, and this turns up a number of defects which can instill a little uncertainty into the whole procedure.
The purpose of a Pre-Sale Survey is to identify those faults which may cause a little hiccup in proceedings, a reason to renegotiate an already agreed purchase price or, even worse, place the whole chain of transactions in jeopardy with even the loss of the sale and the consequent loss of the related purchase.
With prior knowledge of what might be observed by a surveyor on the purchaser's side, the owner has the ability to take a choice of actions:
The way ahead is for this procedure to be adopted as another way of reducing the uncertainty which is currently built into house selling in this country.
So what does the survey cover and what does it look like? A copy of the standard Terms of Engagement is available on request together with a sample report on an imaginary house, where it will be noted that the condition is judged to be in one of three categories with additional commentary.
Like the Mid-level Survey, this is not a Full Building Survey. When you instruct us to carry out this type of inspection please ask for information regarding the depth of the survey which is undertaken. The survey is a visual inspection of those parts of the property which are easily accessible and can be viewed from the public highway or from within the curtilage of the property.
House buying and selling is known to be a tremendously stressful time and, even though it may create a small additional expense at the outset, a Pre-Sale Survey and report is one way of reducing, by just a little, the stress which you are about to experience. The in recent new law which introduced Home Information Packs, it was originally proposed to include a pre-sale survey – a Home Condition Report – which would identify the defects in a property and give each of the elements a Condition Rating of 1, 2 or 3. Although it is not now a mandatory element of the Home Information Pack, a number of Home Inspectors became satisfactorily qualified after a rigorous training and assessment programme. As a result, the HCR is a voluntary element of the HIP and could prove a worthwhile selling tool, particularly when it is realised that, although the report may have been commissioned by the seller, the Home Inspector is liable to the buyer for any mistakes he might make for another 15 years.
Energy Performance Certificates
Residential Surveys: