Martin Ralph Chartered Surveyors

The importance of a property survey

When purchasing a residential property, especially when it is a new or ‘recently refurbished’ property, some Estate Agents often wrongly advise the purchaser that they do not require a survey.  The various reasons they give include:

-Properties under 10 years old would have the residue of a warranty such as NHBC.

-A builders own guarantee exists for a speculatively modernised, old house.

-A survey was previously carried out on the property and all was Ok then.

- or simply that the property looks Ok to them!.

In our view, this is misguided advice for various reasons.

a)         In the early years of the warranty some elements of the warranty are covered by the developer and if this firm goes into liquidation then those elements are not covered.

b)         After a period of two years certain elements of the property are not covered by the warranty.

c)         Even with the warranty in place it does not cover fare ware and tare and even on a property two or three years old there will be a number of items requiring attention, which may incur unforeseen expenses on the purchaser.

d)         Builder modernised properties are rarely fully modernised, and the workmanship, sadly, is often found lacking in some way.

e)         In any negligence claim there would only be a buyer’s word against the estate agents, in the event of suing the agent for damages if defects were then found.

The purchaser should satisfy themselves that the agent does not simply have a vested interest in the sale proceeding smoothly, with no surveyors report.

Consequently we consider it is always prudent to speak to a Chartered Surveyor to advise on the property and if necessary provide a report on any property being purchased even when that property is covered by a warranty.

As a practice, Martin Ralph have identified significant issues with new properties not only in construction elements but also in peripheral aspects such as boundary positioning, rights of way and other aspects not covered by a warrantee.

Should you wish to discuss the benefits of a property survey on your proposed property purchase contact one of our surveyors on 02392 257711 or e-mail us on info @martinralph.co.uk

 

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