The Residential Property Surveyors Association (RPSA) recently hosted a conference where members saw presentations which covered key issues having an impact on the profession.
Global Residential Director at RICS, Peter Bolton-King, spoke about the key findings from a recent RICS survey into property survey options and the lack of awareness from home buyers.
According to the survey results the majority of home buyers are not aware of the differences between a mortgage valuation and an independent property survey.
RICS and RPSA were both in agreement that urgent steps should be taken to educate home buyers to reduce the risk of home buyers finding themselves liable for £1,000s in repairs.
What can Conveyancers and Solicitors do to mitigate consumer risk?
Part 1 of the CML Handbook says:
“We recommend that you should advise the borrower that there may be defects in the property which are not revealed by the inspection carried out by our valuer and there may be omissions or inaccuracies in the report which do not matter to us but which would matter to the borrower. We recommend that, if we send a copy of a valuation report that we have obtained, you should also advise the borrower that the borrower should not rely on the report in deciding whether to proceed with the purchase and that he obtains his own more detailed report on the condition and value of the property, based on a fuller inspection, to enable him to decide whether the property is suitable for his purposes.”
Perhaps firms need to think about adding a statement to their Terms of Business if they don’t already contain something similar?
Alan Milstein, Chairman of the Residential Property Surveyors Association (RPSA), commented: “The RICS presentation clearly highlighted a very urgent need for action to be taken to better inform consumers about the survey options available to them. We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with the RICS to raise the profile of this very important issue.”
