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Which survey is right for me?

What’s the difference between a mortgage valuation and a home survey?

Valuations for lenders

When you apply for a mortgage, your lender may ask for the expert advice of a RICS Valuer to help them decide whether the property you are buying is worth the money they are lending to you.

At SDL, we inspect properties on behalf of a range of national lending organisations for this purpose.

Find out more >

Surveys for buyers

A mortgage valuation is not detailed enough to inform you about the condition of the property you are purchasing.

We recommend that you should always commission your own independent home survey. A survey will help you to understand the property’s state of repair and budget for any needed repair work.

Why pay for a property survey?

A mortgage valuation is not a survey and is for the lender’s purposes only. A valuation report won’t point out structural problems that you may have to pay to fix further down the line.

Home surveys go into detail about the condition of a property, lists its defects, and tells you how to fix them. The level of detail is dependent on the type of property survey that you choose.

80%

of homebuyers don’t bother to purchase a home survey

20%

of those who don’t bother later uncover faults

Our survey products

Homescore Report

Homescore Report

Level 1 Survey

When you find your dream home you deserve to know exactly what you’re buying.

Homescore reports use a numeric scoring system of 1-10 to rate all key areas of the property in a simple way.

See product

RICS HomeBuyer Report

Level 2 Survey

A RICS HomeBuyer report is a more extensive visual inspection of the property.

It highlights significant problems with straightforward ‘traffic light’ ratings.

See product

RICS Building Survey

Level 3 Survey

An RICS Building Survey is the most in-depth and comprehensive report available.

It provides a detailed picture of the property’s construction and condition. This includes roof, chimney, wall, floor, ceiling, door, and window.

See product
Products

Additional products

Private Valuation

We specialise in valuing residential property for specific purposes such as Help To Buy repayment.

Please get in touch with our team below to discuss your requirements further.

See product

Specialist Reports

Sometimes an initial survey will identify the need for further specialist reports.

These are usually about specific issues such as damp, drainage, or structural problems.

See product
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SDL Surveying IconSDL Surveying

Chetwynd Business Park, 3 – 4 Regan Way, Nottingham

4.4 746 reviews

  • Avatar Nicola Francis ★★★★☆ 4 weeks ago
    Very professional, courteous and followed the Covid protocol that had been sent to … read more us prior to the appointment. Only reason for dropping a star was that the surveyor arrived 15 minutes later than the two hour window. Understand that these things happen but would have appreciated a call.
  • Avatar Paul Wilcox ★★★★★ a month ago
    I had the displeasure of entertaining Countrywide surveyors at my property whilst … read more in the process of a sale. This was not by choice... They managed to down value my property from £478k to £400k.
    Well, what a difference SDL were!
    The gent that came round was Covid secure, polite, warm and talkative.
    Whilst valuing this character property he asked all the right questions (Countrywide asked nothing and were in the property a max of 5 minutes), he did a thorough check of the house inside and out and surprise surprise concluded that the agreed sale price was accurate.
    100% a professional reputable business and I will be certainly be using them again in the future!
    Thank you SDL!
  • Avatar Ranjit Singh Bhogal ★★★★★ a month ago
    The surveyor arrived promptly, was very professional and polite! He had a very good … read more knowledge of the local area so was able to provide a good and accurate valuation of our property. Would recommend them