Mortgage switch- is engineer required?

I'm just in the process of switching mortgage provider. My new solicitor now wants me to get an engineer to report on various aspects of the house. It is a pre- planning house ( so no plans required at the time) but not more than 100 years old. Nothing in the house has been altered. This is adding a considerable expense on to the switching cost. Is this required or can I ask my solicitor to proceed without it? There were no issues when I purchased.

It is normal to require a valuation during a mortgage switch.

A valuation is not the same as a survey.

Sometimes people confuse these.

Are you sure it's an engineer/survey that the sol requested? Or a valuation?

Thanks for your reply. Yes I have already had a valuation completed this month by a valuer/ auctioneer and have already received the report. This engineer specific report has been requested after the deeds were received. It's unexpected because I obviously own the house already and went through this process already. I'm just wondering if this has happened to anyone else and what I can do to rectify and avoid paying a lot of extra money?

TruffleShuffle said:

Thanks for your reply. Yes I have already had a valuation completed this month by a valuer/ auctioneer and have already received the report. This engineer specific report has been requested after the deeds were received. It's unexpected because I obviously own the house already and went through this process already. I'm just wondering if this has happened to anyone else and what I can do to rectify and avoid paying a lot of extra money?

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Switched mortgage twice, never asked for an engineers report

Have you tried giving them the engineers report you have ?

Very odd, did the valuation flag a need for an engineer's report? This can happen but normally if the property is in very poor condition etc

What are the various aspects of the house that the solicitor has asked the engineer to look at?

I would be wondering too what did the solicitor see that makes them want an engineers report? I know someone who switched many years ago and the new solicitor picked up on something in the deeds even though the house had been mortgaged already, anyway long story short turns out developer had squeezed in say 11 houses where there should 10 so everyone's boundary was a little out and in the next persons, took a long time to sort out!

When you say "new solicitor" I'm guessing that you mean a different solicitor to the one who acted for you when you first purchased. Your solicitor has to sign an undertaking for the lender confirming that they are unaware of anything that could potentially affect the lender's ability to sell on the house in the event of a default. I suspect Monbretia has hit the nail on the head. Your new solicitor may have spotted something in the paperwork that s/he is uncomfortable with, perhaps something that the original solicitor didn't spot.

Can you instruct your solicitor to proceed without the requested report? That's asking if the solicitor is willing to sign the undertaking. My guess is that if s/he has raised this as an issue, s/he's unlikely to sign any undertaking until the issue is resolved.

I think you need to have a good chat with your solicitor and ask them to explain exactly why they have requested this report, possible implications etc.

Thanks for your replies. The main issue seems to be coming from the fact that I had a builder carry out an inspection prior to purchasing the property and he could not furnish me with an engineer's report due to not being his official job. (Although a far more thorough job was done by him than what I have heard other engineers complete) My solicitor at the time was fine with this. This new one seems to want things ticked off on a list. There is nothing new that the new solicitor has spotted. I can guarantee there are no issues- it was an extremely straightforward purchase.

Alkers86 said:

Very odd, did the valuation flag a need for an engineer's report? This can happen but normally if the property is in very poor condition etc

What are the various aspects of the house that the solicitor has asked the engineer to look at?

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No the valuation was perfect. The property has been upgraded internally- insulation, boiler, wiring etc so no issues at all. The issues are they need an engineer to provide the following- confirmation that the boundaries are as meant to be, the year the house was built and that the use of the house hasn't changed.