Category: Surveyors
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Changes to the Planning Regulations – Permitted Development
Homeowners planning to add space to their property will have less red tape to negotiate now that planning regulations covering extensions and loft conversions have been relaxed. The changes are expected to affect around 80,000 homeowners a year and came in to affect on 1st October. Since the property market picked up in 1995 the…
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Re-negotiating after Survey
It is what all homebuyers fear. You have found the property that you want to buy only to get a survey report that reads more like a horror story. You have three options; pull out, proceed at the agreed price and accept the problems or try and renegotiate. The later option should always be tried…
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5 Expensive Defects to Look For
When you view a property what are you looking for? The state of the décor shouldn’t concern you too much as even if it is well decorated you will probably change it within the first couple of years. What you should be looking for are serious or expensive defects that could cost thousands of pounds…
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15 Potentially Serious Defects
Flat Roofs If the property has been extended it may well have a flat roof. The lifespan of a flat roof covering is much shorter than that of tiles or slates. You can often get a good view of the flat roof from the first floor windows. If it looks bare or is bulging up…
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5 Most Common Post Survey Reports
Surveyors are often criticised for passing the buck and recommending further reports by one white van man or another. There are often good reasons for this; surveyors cannot be experts in all aspects of a building and in many cases specialist equipment is required to test the services. They are also fearful of being sued…
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Choosing a Surveyor
If you decide to go for something more detailed than a mortgage valuation (and we recommend that you do) you will have two choices. You can pay the lender the additional fee to upgrade to the more expensive report or just pay for the valuation and go directly to a local firm of Chartered Surveyors,…
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What Type of Survey Should I Have?
When buying a property you will need to decide which type of survey you will have done. If you intend to take out a mortgage the lender will insist on carrying out a mortgage valuation. Although your lender will pass on the cost of the valuation to you it is primarily for their benefit. It…
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Collective Enfranchisement – Getting Started
It is becoming quite common for the leaseholders of blocks of flats to try to acquire the freehold interest in the building and in this article I will try to explain the basis of the legislation and the procedures that you need to follow to get started. The Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 gives the lessees…
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The Tenancy Agreement
Since 1998 The Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) Agreement has been the automatic or default form of tenancy for most residential tenancies. The most important aspect of this type of tenancy is that the Landlord has a right to get his property back at the end of the tenancy. Despite its name an AST does not…