The cost of being a Chartered Surveyor has risen with expensive insurance premiums, high administration costs for producing the new HomeBuyer Report and having to pay for licenses to be registered as producing HomeBuyer Reports and for the impending Red Book Valuation regulation.
These costs though have been borne by the Surveyor not the consumer. In fact margins have been lowered further due to competition for work resulting in lower fees in many areas. Further pressure will mount next year if and when VAT rises are implemented.
The value of a building survey or a HomeBuyer Report should never be underestimated though. It is possibly one of the areas that home buyers think they can afford to cut out. Not true at all. The importance of a survey is vital now with Lenders concentrating their efforts on looking after their interests only. They are not interested in the specific elements of a property, just an overall opinion of whether it is worth an amount to cover the lending criteria. Any home buyer, would certainly be interested to know this example:
On a recent homebuyer report, a mortgage valuer was at the same property inspecting it for the lender. Whilst looking in the drainage inspection chamber, it was noted to be blocked and potential evidence of a significant problem. The mortgage valuer said he was unable to comment upon it in his Report, as he should not have seen it. Although, if I had not been doing a HomeBuyer Survey, the customer would have been faced with a big problem on the moving in day if the drains were overflowing.
So, the cost of a Survey is always justified, and the consumer is currently lucky enough to get them at very competitive levels. This will not last forever though and prices will eventually have to rise when the market picks up and the lack of good Chartered Surveyors in the industry is found.
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