Can you sell a survey to another buyer?

You're looking to buy a property but, with limited funds, you're looking for ways to restrict the expenditure on what is going to be your biggest purchase.

There's so much that you have to budget for, whether it's the deposit for the mortgage (and the subsequent repayments) or the cost of removals, there is always something that you need to dig deep into your pockets for.

It's for this reason that many people make the unwise choice of not ordering a structural survey on the property in the belief that they are saving a few hundred pounds from the final bill for moving, without weighing up therisks of skipping a survey. Property professionals will always advise you to take out a survey so that you are in no doubt about the condition and structural integrity of the home you are planning to buy.

Because it's not a legal requirement (in England and Wales) to have a survey, it's very easy to be seduced into thinking that it's only nice to have rather than a necessity.

But can you save a bit of money at least by buying a survey from someone who has declined the property purchase previously? After all, the work has been done and the report produced; wouldn't that be a saving not only of money but also time?

Unfortunately, tempting though the idea is, the answer to that question is that you cannot purchase a survey from anyone other than a surveying company.

When someone takes out a survey with a chartered surveyor, the stipulation between the client and the surveyor means that they only have a legal liability that is strictly limited to them as the client. So, from a legal standpoint, the prior survey can't be used without the surveyor's formal permission and acceptance of any terms that would come with it.

That's not to say that they can't have visibility of the previous survey, if you, as the person who ordered it, are willing to provide it. However, whoever is requesting that visibility will have no legal recourse without the permission of the surveyor, meaning that in the event of any mistakes within the report or any defects that surface and were missed in the assessment, they cannot sue the chartered surveyor.

As you have the survey and are no longer interested in buying the property, you have a few choices to consider: you could bin it or file it (and then forget about it), you could offer visibility of the report to another prospective buyer of the property as a courtesy to them, or you could offer them visibility at some sort of transactional cost as you might want to recoup some of the cost of what is now a dead report to you, but that transaction has no legal transference of commitment for the surveyor who created the document.

Because of these limitations, it is quite likely that, in the event of them considering the condition before buying, the next buyer will want to carry out their own survey. However, they might be interested in visibility of your report, but it is up to them to ask the question through the estate agents.

If you still have the document but you are at all concerned about the request and the legal implications, it might be simplest to deny access to the document.

Similarly, if you are in a position where you are planning to buy a property that has come back onto the market after the transaction fell through for the previous buyers, you can ask the question as to whether they ordered a survey and whether you can have a look at it if they have. If the request is denied, it is almost certainly not because they are being obstructive.

If they are willing to provide the report (for free or for an agreed cost), it should be treated as useful additional information about the property but nothing more. You should then order your own survey.

Whatever your plans for moving home and buying your next property, make sure that your budget includes the all-important survey.

Surveyor Local connects you to a nationwide panel of chartered surveyors, all RICS members, who work hard to identify problems with a property, including the impact of any prior flooding on its structure.

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