What the Public Really Thinks of Surveyors

I recently stumbled across a discussion on social media about a man who bought a house in Melbourne and only found out that there was an extensive model train network beneath the floor after he moved in.

Writing an article around a tweet (technically a ‘skeet’) is a very MailOnline thing to do but a comment on the story by FT Associate Editor Stephen Bush triggered an interesting list of comments about peoples’ experience with their surveyors.

It’s unusual to see such unfiltered feedback on the service that we surveyors provide.

I suspect that, in most cases, they were describing an inspection by the valuer sent by the lender (as we know that most buyers still don’t commission a survey) but it’s concerning that, on the whole, the public don’t make a distinction. I suspect that was the issue here:

Some were just down on surveyors generally and unlikely to be persuaded that there was any value to the service:

While others offered a slightly more considered analysis:

At least one person stuck up for the surveyors:

Surveyors do appear to have a reputation problem. A large part of that is confusion around the purpose of the ‘survey’ being undertaken. As the professionals on the front line, estate agents could do more to help but they are conflicted – not many estate agents will encourage a buyer to commission a detailed survey when it could throw up something that scuppers the sale.

Surveyors obviously have a role to play but, in my experience, defensive report writing is more of an issue than incompetence and that has its roots in perpetually increasing insurance premiums.

The RICS could also do more to raise awareness of the distinction between the lender’s valuation inspection and a privately commissioned survey report by requiring the lender to prominently state the distinction on the buyer’s copy (or, even better, prevent a copy being sent to the buyer on the basis that it is not for their benefit).

Finally, someone that responded to the original story thought he knew what was really going on:

If you’re in the process of buying a property and want more information than a brief inspection by the lender’s valuer will provide, drop us a line or call us on 020 7183 2578 for some advice and a competitive quote today.