Buying a derelict house - any need for survey?

PaulieC

Looking at a buying a house that has been empty for about 10 years. It needs total renovation and extending - drop existing single storey extension and build double extension, has no heating so needs full heating system, rewiring, plumbing, new ceilings, slabbing/plastering, etc. The full monty. There is no damp and the house is in good structural nick, mid terrace, ex council house.

Any point in getting a surveyor in to tell me all of this ? Looking at some of their services online, I can't see anything that they would be able to tell me that I don't know needs to be done.

If you're willing to just assume that everything needs to be done, then there's probably no point.

From reading that post you made, you seem to have, at the very least, a vague idea of the construction of a house, which should be sufficient to see you through what a new purchase may need doing.

Surveys are good for people buying newer or lived in houses, where they just want someone more experience than them to have a look, as he might pick up on things they wouldn't. Your average Joe Soap, prior to ever owning a house, has likely never dealt with a roof in any respect whatsoever, so a tile being out of place, for example, is something they'd never think to look for (not a great example, but you get the idea).


You're obviously not mortgaging this, so it's not like you need a surveyor as a box-ticking exercise either, so I'd say you're safe enough.

PaulieC

Thanks KKV. I know they'll come in and tell me that the place is in bits, which we know

BryanF

If you’re asking this question, you need to know all the risks, therefore you need a survey, arguably an invasive survey.

Alkers

I would agree, most of the property survey reports I've seen have been a complete waste of money. Structural survey by a structural engineer if your concerned about any particular element of the building itself but in your case this sounds like it wouldn't even be relevant!

PaulieC

PaulieC wrote: »

Thanks KKV. I know they'll come in and tell me that the place is in bits, which we know

My issue with surveyors is that a lot of the time they quite literally look at the house, take a walk through, and write down what they seen, or they have a form they fill in with the various aspects of the house (roof, kitchen walls, kitchen units etc.) and a few boxes ranging from "good" to "bad" condition, and they just tick what's appropriate.



In many cases it really is just someone describing the house to you.


The places I've really seen surveyors be useful is for urban dwellers moving to rural areas, and the surveyor can explain things to them like septic tanks, wells, water schemes etc. (and the condition of same), and this is very useful to people not familiar with that sorta thing.

BryanF

Personally when I was buying a 70 year old house, I paid a senior (director level) engineer for an hour of his time, to talk me through what he saw and any pitfalls. Didn’t bother with the report.

But for your piece of mind surely some form a core of the concrete floor, for example, would be money well spent before you put more money into an abandoned house - assume no paper work is available?