How useful is a survey before buying ?

[Mshuster]

Hi,

It seems to be the received wisdom that one should always get a survey done before buying a house. I am wondering what protection exactly this actually gives the buyer? Obviously if the survey finds a serious defect you would be very glad you didn't go ahead and buy but what about the case where the survey says everything is fine and after buying you find there is in fact a serious defect?
So, my question is, is a survey a well defined set of checks which gives the buyer some legal recourse if they find serious defects that were missed in the survey ? Or is it more like some hit-or-miss ritual that you can't do without but doesn't really guarantee you any protection ?

Thanks,

M

 

[Black_Adder]

Mshuster - from a particularly recent situation - the first thing I would do is get my engineer to do my survey. It is not any engineer or surveyor I would use. You do not want to get into a position of finding subsidence that might have been detected by a good engineer.

Relying on professional negligence is all very well - unless you find that you are outside statutory periods or that your guy followed generally accepted practice etc...