Is a homebuyers report neccessary (or even worth it)

[MassiveJim]

I am buying a late 90s built house that was last bought in 2018.

I have just had the home buyers report done on our house and the guy just walked around for an hour.

Is it really worth £600 for this service ?

Given that I have already walked around the house myself and seen the condition, and the bank has ordered a valuation inspection I really don't see how its worth £600 for this service, especially as they always have clauses in there that indemnify them in the case that deeper problems are discovered further down the line.

 

[ci_newman]

Short answer, no. Especially if it was only done 3 years ago anyway, why not ask your vendor for a copy of any reports done when it was last sold?

 

[Peerzy]

On the balance of probabilities the £600 or so (which is expensive, we paid about £400 for our last one) isn't going to be good value for money.

On a previous purchase where I had a homebuyers survey done they failed to notice the windows didn't all close properly (house was around 40 years old, windows much newer though and the hinges had gone so closing the window left a small gap) so we claimed around £700 from them (nearly twice the cost of the report) as in the report it showed all windows and fittings were fine and working.

 

[Showboat]

Got one for my current house and anything they thought may be out of place they would say 'get an expert to investigate'.
They wont look at the roof in great details, cant get under the floors, cant check the plumbing or electrics... So what are they really doing?
You may be able to use some of the stuff in the report to negotiate the price down further though! So not a complete waste!

 

[Semple]

Got one for my current house and anything they thought may be out of place they would say 'get an expert to investigate'.
They wont look at the roof in great details, cant get under the floors, cant check the plumbing or electrics... So what are they really doing?
You may be able to use some of the stuff in the report to negotiate the price down further though! So not a complete waste!

Yeah this seems to be the general consensus. It's a lot of ass covering to just tell you what would appear to be obvious if you had a good look around the property. But can certainly work in your favour as Peerzy has mentioned with claiming back some repair costs for things not correctly addressed as that would have likely caused a reduction in your offer - or negotiated with the vendor to have them repaired/replaced.

I think that price was a little steep, for that sort of price i'd have been expecting a structural survey.

 

[Bounce]

Got one for my current house and anything they thought may be out of place they would say 'get an expert to investigate'.
They wont look at the roof in great details, cant get under the floors, cant check the plumbing or electrics... So what are they really doing?
You may be able to use some of the stuff in the report to negotiate the price down further though! So not a complete waste!

EICR is what you need for the electricity .

 

[dlockers]

Short answer, no. Especially if it was only done 3 years ago anyway, why not ask your vendor for a copy of any reports done when it was last sold?

This. I wish it was more common, especially in hot property areas, to just buy the previous owners home-buyers report.

Infact a house listed for a while were freely giving it away with any enquiries. Turns out that was because it had subsidence lol.

 

[Peerzy]

Buying another report is pretty pointless though (in England). In this case the report would be 3 years old so not accurate anymore, it would offer no insurance or assurances and would be coming from someone who didn't write it so could easily have been changed, had parts omitted etc...

 

[dlockers]

Buying another report is pretty pointless though (in England). In this case the report would be 3 years old so not accurate anymore, it would offer no insurance or assurances and would be coming from someone who didn't write it so could easily have been changed, had parts omitted etc...

It would also be a fiver versus the 600 quid some "qualified" person charges to go around with a clip board saying that the paint is flaking and "this could be this" or "could be that".

My entire house was all but condemned despite it being sold for ~50-70k increments 4 times in the last 10 years.

 

[Molep]

Our homebuyer report was complete waste of time.-
Just mentioned stupid things - like the bath panel has a crack in it, there's some weeds around down gutter downpipe, shop down the road.

Only had it done to appease mortgage provider - ie - is this house in a state that can be lived in - does it have a kitchen -check, does it have a bathroom - check.

No mention of damp in kitchen floor, dodgy diy electrics, dry rot, taps not working/overflows not connected, and on and on and on.

 

[dlockers]

Our homebuyer report was complete waste of time.-
Just mentioned stupid things - like the bath panel has a crack in it, there's some weeds around down gutter downpipe, shop down the road.

Only had it done to appease mortgage provider - ie - is this house in a state that can be lived in - does it have a kitchen -check, does it have a bathroom - check.

No mention of damp in kitchen floor, dodgy diy electrics, dry rot, taps not working/overflows not connected, and on and on and on.

Yep.

"Sorry the chimney was inaccessible because there were a couple of Argos books stacked up against it"

 

[Peerzy]

It would also be a fiver versus the 600 quid some "qualified" person charges to go around with a clip board saying that the paint is flaking and "this could be this" or "could be that".

My entire house was all but condemned despite it being sold for ~50-70k increments 4 times in the last 10 years.

I would be amazed if you find someone willing to sell a survey for £5. The only time I've heard of it happening recently the vendor wanted £250 for a report they paid £550 around 18 months before. The seller isn't going to let it go cheaply - they paid a lot of money for it and it's not like you can get another second hand one, so they know your option is their half price second hand report or a new one for £500-£600.

As you've highlighted, the report itself is largely pointless. It's only uses are really for the insurance and liability aspect which your second hand report doesn't provide.

 

[ci_newman]

I would be amazed if you find someone willing to sell a survey for £5. The only time I've heard of it happening recently the vendor wanted £250 for a report they paid £550 around 18 months before. The seller isn't going to let it go cheaply - they paid a lot of money for it and it's not like you can get another second hand one, so they know your option is their half price second hand report or a new one for £500-£600.

As you've highlighted, the report itself is largely pointless. It's only uses are really for the insurance and liability aspect which your second hand report doesn't provide.

Don't tar all vendors with the same brush I considered that my homebuyer had no intrinsic value and I provided a copy to my buyer for free

 

[dlockers]

I would be amazed if you find someone willing to sell a survey for £5. The only time I've heard of it happening recently the vendor wanted £250 for a report they paid £550 around 18 months before. The seller isn't going to let it go cheaply - they paid a lot of money for it and it's not like you can get another second hand one, so they know your option is their half price second hand report or a new one for £500-£600.

As you've highlighted, the report itself is largely pointless. It's only uses are really for the insurance and liability aspect which your second hand report doesn't provide.

I guess that's what made me think fiver versus £250. At £250 you are so close to £550 which you would be tempted by as it would give you a level of assurance/insurance.

 

[ik9000]

Generally I would always say get a full building survey but for something so young? much less important than making sure the sale includes transfer of warranties, NHBC insurances etc as it's still within the defects period where you can get the builder to put it right if something is awry.

I've seen FBS do a great job of helping a buyer spot things they'd missed. I've also seen ones fail to spot structural cracking and signs of building movements etc, so like anything it depends on the experience and performance of the person doing it, not just the title of the report itself.

 

[ci_newman]

Absolutely a full building survey can be worth it, but the Homebuyers is not.

 

[MassiveJim]

So the seller has sent me a copy of his report from 3 years ago (June 2018)

There were pictures and reports of leaks in 3 separate downstairs rooms and 1 upstairs bedroom. none of this is evident now, all rooms in the pictures have been decorated and it doesn't appear to me to be recent decoration, the property has been on the market since this time last year and the walls are all the same when we viewed as they are in the pictures
both exterior doors were mentioned in the report, both replaced in 2018 with composite/plastic

lots of "minor movement" reported around the property inside and out.

Mention of movement of 2 windows at front of property and also 2 units with condensation in them,
a few verges in need of pointing, flashing needing reattaching in a few places, soffit and facia boards needing reattaching/replacing,
loose coping stones on the garden wall.
Boiler needing replacement (has been replaced recently)
part of the garden fence was leaning a bit, 1 or 2 panels, looks to me like they have replaced the entire fence (10 panels)

[EDIT]
One other thing that was given a "red" rating was this

There is evidence of microbore piping to radiators around the property which can leak when exposed
to pressurised boiler systems. You are advised to replace this piping with at least 15mm copper tubing
instead if changing to a combination boiler. Please consult with a qualified plumber before undertaking
any works to the heating system.

Have the regs changed ? my house was built in 2013 and apart form the 1st 1.5m from the boiler then entire house is plumbed with speedfit piping so this sounds like BS to me as well.


The seller said in his email

We have dealt with many of the issues raised in the report such as roof tiling, flashing, roof verges, windows, doors, fences, garden walls and steps.

So as far as i can tell, no major issues with the property and the current owner does indeed seem to have resolved most of these issues and tidied up a lot of the unsightly ones as well.

 

[Peerzy]

The seller said in his email

Ask them to prove that (with invoices / receipts), 'dealt with issues' could mean a bodge to get the house through a sale or a professional who is providing a warranty for the work which you may need to claim on in the future.

All sounds fairly standard and normal, but definitely worth enquiring about what work has been completed specifically with proof. Boiler should come with a long warranty for example.

 

[Slade2]

I believe I have commented on why surveys are important before but if you are interested then maybe check out Hart vs Large, its a case where a surveyor should have probably carried out a full building survey and only did a homebuyers survey and promptly missed some issues and ended up going to court. I would urge anyone who contemplates not having one that you don't know what you don't know and £600 is a small price to pay for peace of mind when its what is a life changing amount of money involved. Although in reference to the OP I would have probably been there longer than an hour carrying out the survey so would be interested to see what the report looks like!

 

[shredgodxp]

We paid for a homebuyers report when we bought our 1st house (built in the 50s).

Overall the report was ok but they only commented on the stuff that they could see. In the end, their report ended up costing me £2400 (and a huge headache claiming back these costs) as they made no mention of a Brown Asbestos ceiling in the integral garage (which had since been converted to an office/utility room) that was in very poor condition & had to be removed (the previous owner had converted half of the garage by bricking up the middle and sticking polystyrene insulation panels to the ceiling).

Would I get a homebuyers report if I was to ever move? Probably not - i'd pay a bit more for a proper survey