That’s the whole point of it. It’s there to help you buy with your eyes open, not to talk you out of a good house. If you’re buying a brand‑new house, the main issue usually isn’t “is it falling down?” but “what have they not finished properly?”, and that’s where a snagging list comes in.
A snagging inspection by a Chartered Building Surveyor will go through the property with a fine‑tooth comb, pick up poor workmanship, missing items and things that just aren’t right, and give you a clear list you can hand straight back to the builder.
The idea is simple: get the builder to put it right while they’re still on site and still answering the phone – not five years later when they’ve moved on to the next development.
Now let’s flip it. Say you’re buying a Victorian or 1850s terraced house. Unless it’s been fully refurbished under proper supervision, with completion certificates from a Chartered Building Surveyor (or similar professional), you absolutely should get a survey.
On an older terrace, a good survey will almost always find some defects, and typical ones include roof repairs, chimney or gutter repairs, dampness and timber infestation, and sometimes structural cracks. This is normal – if a 150–200 year‑old house had no defects at all; most surveyors would start raising an eyebrow.
Here’s the bit buyers often forget: all of those defects are usually fixable. As Chartered Surveyors, we’ve spent years helping people diagnose and repair exactly these issues.
The key steps are to get proper quotations for the repair work (including VAT), compare the total cost of repairs with the agreed purchase price, and use that information to help you decide whether to renegotiate the price or proceed as is.
One of the golden rules when buying is this: condition equals value. The worse the condition, the more scope there often is to negotiate – unless you’re in a completely overheated, crazy rising market where 20 people are bidding on the same doer‑upper. Once you know what’s wrong and what it will cost to fix, you’re no longer blindly panicking at the phrase “damp” or “structural movement”. Instead, you’re having a grown‑up conversation that sounds more like this: “The survey has identified around £10,000 of essential works including VAT. In light of this, we’d like to revisit the price.” Sometimes you’ll get a reduction, sometimes a contribution, sometimes just the peace of mind of knowing what you’re taking on, but either way, you’re making an informed decision, not walking away in shock because a 150‑year‑old house needs some repairs. To put it in context, imagine buying a 200‑year‑old grandfather clock. You get it home and discover a bit of rust on the mechanism, it doesn’t keep perfect time, and there’s some woodworm in the case. Would you really be surprised? Of course, not – you’d expect some work. Yet with houses, people see exactly the same thing – age, wear, and tear – and suddenly there’s a sharp intake of breath at the repair costs.
The reality is: for an older property, needing repairs is normal. Take comfort in expecting that some repairs will be required; that way, your survey becomes a useful checklist and negotiation tool, not a horror story. Because of all this, it really does pay to involve a professional early on: you get a clear, plain‑English explanation of what’s wrong, you get realistic guidance on what’s urgent and what can wait, and you get help understanding costs and how they affect value, and if you’re buying in the Yorkshire area, that’s exactly what we do every day.
We are Chartered Building Surveyors at Charters‑Reid Surveyors Ltd, and we’ve been helping people buy houses sensibly – without losing their nerve unnecessarily – for many years. So: don’t let the survey put you off buying a good home. Let it help you buy the right home, at the right price, with your eyes wide open.
Jon Charters-Reid is the Yorkshire Surveyor with a plethora and over 29 years of experience and over 250 years collective experience in his practice. Jon used to be a carpenter and joiner and apart from going to university is also a member of the Institute of Carpenters and he’s a chartered builder as well. He’s an author of the book How To Be A Smart House Buyer