Homebuyers Survey and Valuation

Buying a property or new home is the most important and biggest investment the vast majority of us will make. Before you decide to go ahead and commit yourselves legally you can minimise the risk by obtaining an RICS homebuyers survey and valuation on the property you intend to buy. A homebuyers survey and valuation will provide you with the required information on the property's condition and market value prior to legal commitment to purchase.

A homebuyers survey and valuation will tell you:-

• Is purchase price reasonable?
• In what type of locality is the property situated?
• Are there any structural problems/issues with the building?
• The overall condition of each building element?
• The need for further specialist investigations?
• Relevant environmental factors, eg, flooding, mining, Japanese Knotweed, etc?
• Health & safety issues, eg, fire escape, asbestos, etc?
• Legal issues, eg, building regulations, planning permission, rights of way, etc?
• The presence of any guarantees?
• Is the property affected by dampness, wood boring insect attack or timber decay?
• Other general information, eg, type, age, construction.
• Any other significant drawbacks you were not previously aware of.

An RICS homebuyers survey and valuation is a detailed inspection of all accessible areas of the building also including roof space, sub-floor area, drains, gardens and outbuildings. The report is designed to avoid the over use of technical jargon and terms and breaks the building down into its component parts, eg, internally, roof space, ceilings, walls, floors, chimney breasts, joinery, kitchen fittings, bathroom fittings, services, heating, etc. Each section of the report will provide you with the following details for each of the property’s individual elements. These are the construction, the condition, advice as to remedial works required together with a condition rating.

Condition Ratings are 1, 2 or 3 as follows

Condition Rating 1

No repair currently needed. The property must be maintained in the normal way.

Condition Rating 2

Defects that need repairing or replacing but are not considered to be either serious or urgent. The property must be maintained in the normal way.

Condition Rating 3

Defects that are serious and/or need to be repaired or investigated urgently.

An RICS homebuyers survey and valuation can only be undertaken by a qualified RICS Member who is also an RICS Registered Valuer.

Request a survey and valuation