Be aware that a mortgage valuation is not a survey.
For a valuation, your mortgage lender will make a brief inspection of the property to satisfy themselves that the property is worth the money they are lending you. Their report will include a few lines of general advice, but this is NOT a survey.
What is a RICS Home Survey Level 2
The RICS Home Survey Level 2 (formerly RICS HomeBuyer Report) was introduced by the RICS as a cost-effective method of minimising risk. It is suitable for a conventional house, flat or bungalow, built from common building materials and in reasonable condition.
It provides you with enough information to help you decide whether or not to proceed with the purchase, before you commit yourself. It highlights only urgent or significant defects in a property’s condition, and the need for repairs and/or replacements that you should be aware of before exchanging contracts.
What’s included in Home Survey Level 2
Although a summary of the survey will be present at the front of the report and a reminder of the urgent repairs will be at the end, it is always worth reading the report in full. The Home Survey is easily understood – written in plain English rather than technical jargon.
For easy reference, the report will give a condition rating for each element:
Condition rating 1 (green)
no repair is currently needed
Condition rating 2 (amber)
defects that need repairing or replacing but are not considered serious or urgent
Condition rating 3 (red)
defects that are serious and/or need to be repaired, replaced or investigated urgently
If you are buying a property, we offer three types of residential surveys:
Cost effective report that highlights only urgent or significant defects
A detailed inspection on the main structural elements of the property
A comprehensive report following a detailed inspection on all elements of the property
Ovolo Building Consultancy provides Residential Surveys throughout Yorkshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire and Greater Manchester.