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What do I need to know before buying a house?

There is a moment when buying a house in which it all becomes real: that is when you sit in the office of your solicitor to sign the exchange of contracts. That is the point when you are making a legal commitment to proceed with the purchase at the agreed price. So, what do I need to know before buying a house? You need a survey, carried out by a Chartered Surveyor, who is regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and you need legal advice from a solicitor registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Property Surveys

The main points of having a survey are:

To give you confidence to proceed based on professional knowledge and advice on what you are buying.

To understand any defects, and their implications.

To pick up any legal issues that your solicitor should investigate in addition to their standard searches.

To use this knowledge to renegotiate the price, if needed.

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Independent RICS Home Surveys
RICS Consumer Guide to Home surveys

What are the red flags in a survey?

All of these problems can be solved, they just require confirmation of how much they will cost to deal with and any ongoing risks.

Ongoing structural movement: Most cracks or bulges are not a serious concern. The skill of a surveyor is to spot any cracks or bulges, explain what is causing them and decide whether or not you should be concerned. If so, we recommend a structural engineer to carry out further investigation and specify remedial works.

Major damp and timber problems: Dampness to walls, and decay to structural timbers form part of our investigation. If we find problems, we will explain the likely cause or causes, recommend remedial works such as clearing gutters, repairing drains, improving ventilation, etc and suggest a timber and damp contractor to specify remedial works in line with our findings. Most dampness has an obvious cause such as leaking gutters, poor render or pointing, roof leaks, high ground levels, blocked wall cavities, or condensation. Once these problems have been fixed, dampness will generally be controlled.

Asbestos: Asbestos was used in construction until its use was banned in 1999. It may be present from original construction or from later DIY works. A surveyor will tell you whether it is likely to be present and will recommend sampling and either removal or encapsulation by a licensed asbestos contractor.

Japanese Knotweed: This is an invasive plant that can cause structural defects if it is too close to the building. If found, it requires a plan for treatment and removal.

Legal issues: These will be flagged by your surveyor and investigated by your solicitor. Examples include unclear boundaries, extensions or alterations carried out without planning permission or building regulations approvals, chancel repair liabilities (having to contribute to repair of a local church),

Standard legal searches

The solicitor will have carried out standard searches. These include:

Land registry search: This checks the legal title, that the vendor is the true owner and is able to sell it, any restrictions in the lease, and any charges on the property.

Local authority search: This checks for planning permission and building regulations approval, checks for listed buildings and conservation areas, checks for any major infrastructure works such as road or rail.

Water and drainage search: This checks mains water and sewer connections and whether there is a water meter.

Environmental search: This will check for environmental issues such as flood risk, contaminated land, and Radon gas.

What documents do I need to have seen before buying?

The title plan and title extract – this shows what you are buying and how you will own it (freehold or leasehold).

Gas or Oil safety certificates – these are needed to show that the installations are safe

Boiler or heat pump installation and service records – to show they are correctly installed and maintained.

Inspection and service records for private drainage systems – any private drainage system will need inspection by a specialist to make sure they are compliant.

Guarantees for previous works such as cavity wall insulation, damp proofing, cavity wall tie replacement, etc.

FENSA certificates for replacement windows and doors

Building regulation approval and planning permission for alterations and extensions.

Where applicable, listed building consent or conservation area consent for alterations or extensions.

This is not a complete list, but it does cover most situations.

Featured

Is my surveyor qualified?- 5 vital questions

Why do I need a survey?

You may have had a mortgage valuation but in many cases these are now done remotely as a desktop exercise and the surveyor may not have visited the property. For most people, buying a property is the biggest financial transaction they will make in their life. A survey can offer you peace of mind about your buying decision and give you advice about repairs and future maintenance allowing you have all the information you need to make the purchase decision.

There are lots of people to deal with including estate agents and solicitors. If you need a mortgage, you will also need to deal with a bank or mortgage broker. You may never have dealt with a Chartered Surveyor before so how do you go about choosing one to help you?

At Rickards Oliver Limited we offer personal service from a highly experienced Chartered Surveyor and our aim is to give you sound advice regarding your property so that you are in an informed position to proceed with confidence on your transaction. Part of the process of building that confidence is that we do recommend that you speak with other firms and shop around. We have listed below some questions that you should be asking to help you compare services.

Is the surveyor providing the survey or valuation qualified?

RICS has three levels of qualification and members at all levels should provide a good level of service:

AssocRICS (Associate member) is the entry level qualification and is a non-Chartered grade of membership. This qualification is generally held by those at the beginning of their surveying career but AssocRICS surveyors often have substantial experience gained from other roles or industry sectors.

MRICS (member) denotes a fully qualified Chartered Surveyor.

FRICS (Fellow) is the most senior grade of Chartered Surveyor and is held by those with substantial experience. I hold the FRICS designation.

You can check that your surveyor is qualified by checking the RICS website –

RICS find a member

Is the firm Regulated by RICS and what does that mean?

Rickards Oliver Limited is an RICS Regulated firm.

Most firms owned by or employing Chartered Surveyors to provide surveying services to the public should be regulated by RICS. There are some exceptions: for example, sole traders do not always have to register for regulation.

Holding RICS Regulated firm status means that both the firm and the member must act within strict rules of conduct and uphold high professional and ethical standards.

You can check that the firm is regulayted by using the RICS find a surveyor service and checking the name of the firm on the link below

RICS find a surveyor

Can you speak to the surveyor?

When paying for a service such as a survey or valuation, it is important that you have confidence in the person providing the service. At Rickards Oliver Limited, we will speak with all our clients to understand your requirements and provide the service you need. The points on which you need confidence are:

  1. Does the surveyor have good local knowledge of the area and asset type being valued?
  2. Does the surveyor take the time to understand your needs and explain the services available?
  3. Does your conversation with the surveyor give you confidence?

Price

The price will depend upon what service you require. The obvious tip is to shop around but price comparison websites, whilst they exist, are best avoided. They will generally yield a cheap price but we believe that quality is more important and have chosen not to use such sites.

A survey or valuation is not a service that should be bought on price alone. For a high value asset such as a home, it is vital that you are getting the level of service you deserve.

We hope that this is of some help in the process of finding a surveyor. If you would like to speak with us, please contact us.

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The survey that saved a client £40,000

Surveys can save you money. This is a property in Hale Barns that I looked at last year for an RICS Level 2 Home Survey. It was a modern bungalow built circa 1990. It had been empty for a while and condition was cosmetically dated but looked adequate overall.

It should have been a simple survey, but it did not work out that way. In the main bathroom, skirting boards around the shower cubicle were damp – bearing in mind the house had been empty for months and no one had used the shower, this was something to raise my surveyor’s sixth sense.

Skirting damp in shower

At the back of the shower, there was a cupboard accessed from the hall. The skirting here was also damp, and there was a stud wall separating this from the shower.

Skirting damp in hall cupboard (backing on to shower)

Next to the main bathroom, separated by a blockwork wall, there was an en suite shower room. The floor next to the toilet was damp.

Floor damp next to toilet

So, what was causing the dampness? The answer to this question takes us to the limit of an RICS Level 2 Home Survey because the inspection is non-invasive: that means that we cannot lift floor coverings or open up walls. This property needed an invasive inspection – removal of the shower tray, removal of the piping box in the en suite bathroom, lifting floorboards, and opening up the stud wall between the shower and the hall cupboard, and this was what we recommended to the client. The cause was most likely to be a small leak from a pipe buried in the wall.

What was the risk to the property? There were two separate risks. The first was that the floors were timber. Dampness to the skirtings suggested that dry rot to the skirtings, the stud wall, and to the timber floor was a serious possibility. The second risk was that removing parts of both bathrooms to investigate would mean needing to replace two bathrooms as they were quite dated anyway.

On the basis of the risks, the client was still willing to buy the property but managed to negotiate a reduction of £40,000 from the purchase price. This case, one amongst many, shows the value of having a survey before you make a purchase. Remember, surveys can save you money.

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Home Survey Insights for Old Trafford Buyers

Old Trafford is a vibrant and densely populated area characterised by streets of Victorian and Edwardian terraced housing. Much of the housing was improved by the council under group repair schemes in the 1990s and it is a great place for family homes.

Transport connections are good with bus services along Kings Road and Chester Road, and the Metrolink line at Old Trafford to take you into Manchester or Altrincham.

There is a range of primary schools locally and, being in Trafford, it is in catchment for Trafford’s superb grammar schools.

As Chartered Surveyors with extensive experience inspecting homes across Trafford and Greater Manchester, we regularly undertake RICS Home Surveys in Old Trafford. Every area has its own characteristic property types and recurring defects, and understanding these before you buy can save considerable expense.

Common defects to look out for when buying in Old Trafford are dampness and condensation, especially when the house has a cellar; failure of cavity wall ties, usually the front wall is cavity; chimney breasts that have been removed but not properly supported.

As an FRICS Chartered Surveyor with over 25 years of experience, I am well placed to provide advice and give you confidence as to the true condition of the house you want to buy so that you can make an informed choice. You can also use the knowledge of any defects to help you renegotiate the price.

I can provide valuations, RICS Level 2 Home Surveys, and RICS Level 3 Home Surveys.

Surveys in Old Trafford
Valuations in Old Trafford
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Photograph is copyright of Martin Hambleton Photography – https://www.commercialphotographynorthwestblog.co.uk/

Case Study – a valuation for capital gains tax dating back to 1994

Are RICS valuations accurate? As a Chartered Surveyor and RICS Registered Valuer, valuation forms a large part of my work. Valuation is very much an art and requires the correct approach for the particular circumstances to make sure that it is justified, robust, and can be presented to clients and third parties, such as HMRC, as being reliable.

This case study is an example of the valuation of a simple house in unusual circumstances for which the valuation process was key to getting the right result for the client and providing a valuation that would be accepted by HMRC. The client had inherited the house in 1994 but it had been occupied by members of their extended family for a long time before being sold in 2023. HMRC accepted the sale price in 2023 as being its current value but required our client to provide evidence of its value in 1994 for assessment of capital gains tax liability.

How do we approach a valuation of a property as it would have been almost 30 years ago? The key to this is taking a well thought through approach and being clear as to the limitations of the available information.

We started with Land Registry data. This is limited as it is available only from 1995 onwards which is after the date we needed to value at. The data gives the address and sale price but does not give size, condition, number of beds, etc. Suitable sales were identified and cross checked against google earth photos, including historic photos, to check that the houses had not been extended and could be safely assumed to be similar to the subject property at the relevant time.

The next step was a visit to the local library to check microfiche records of local newspapers for the relevant period in 1994. This gave us estate agents’ newspaper adverts of properties for sale. The limiting factors here were that the house numbers were not identified and there were few, or no photos. Also, these were asking prices and it could not be confirmed whether they had sold. What this information did give us was a general tone of values at the time.

The final step was to analyse the information in order to come to an opinion of value and to prepare a report for the client that explained how the information had been obtained, the limits of the information, and to provide a valuation that could be used by the client to provide to HMRC.

Canalside living in Altrincham

On the banks of the Bridgewater canal, in the north part of Altrincham, are two imposing blocks of modern flats and a converted factory building. These form the Budenberg Haus Projekte 2 &3 – built in 2007 and the first Foster and Partners designed development outside London. The converted factory section was refurbished and designed by Arkheion Architects. The photo is credited to Urban Splash.

I saw this development built and have lived close to it for many years – I can see it from the back of my house. When my children were small, every time I did a survey on the block I would wave to them from the roof or the stairs.

The modern blocks are designed to resemble an ocean liner and the apartments in the “prow” are cantilivered over the canal.

The original factory was built in 1913-14 for the Budenberg Gauge Company – amongst other items, pressure gauges were made here and were exported all over the world. In the stairwell of the converted factory is the largest steam gauge I have ever seen.

The development has a combined heat and power system which provides heat and electricity to the whole building. In recent months this has proved difficult as energy bills have risen significantly – see news article https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/i-thought-luxury-living-altrincham-26411105

More exciting developments for Altrincham

The long abandoned Grade II listed Bridgeworks warehouse on the banks of the Bridgewater canal is awaiting planning permission for redevelopment into 32 flats with a new office building to be constructed next door. Silverlane developments acquired the site earlier this year and have submitted a planning application to Trafford Council. https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/silverlane-lodges-10m-altrincham-resi-plans/

Altrincham – a great place to live and work

If you already live in Altrincham, Hale or Bowdon, you will know that it is a great place to live. If you are looking to move to the area you will have seen that property prices remain high relative to other parts of Greater Manchester and Cheshire.

Some of my family have lived in Altrincham going back to Victorian times and I have lived and worked here for over 20 years so I know the area well. What factors make it so attractive to live here and keep prices high?

One of the biggest benefits to living in Altrincham is the high quality of the schools: we have some of the best state schools in the country, especially with the boys’ and girls’ grammar schools, as well as a good selection of independent schools. These are attractive to families and keep demand for property high.

We have excellent transport links with the Metrolink and bus services into Manchester and the suburbs; there is also the cycle route along the Bridgewater canal towpath for those who want a more scenic commute.

Altrincham town centre has changed from being labelled a ghost town back in 2009/10 to being a vibrant town with a range of great shops, cafes and bars together with the iconic market.

In short, we have all the best features of living in the suburbs together with quick access to the city and the countryside. It is a great place to live and work.

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