You — the buyer — organise and pay for the survey. Not the estate agent, not the seller, and separate from your lender's mortgage valuation. You arrange it once your offer has been accepted and before exchange of contracts, by instructing a surveyor of your choice directly. It is your report, booked by you, for your benefit.
It is an easy thing to get wrong, because so much of the buying process seems to happen to you rather than through you. The agent, the seller and the lender all have their own people. The survey is the one part that is genuinely yours to arrange — and that is a good thing.
Who arranges it — and why it is you
The survey is commissioned by the buyer, full stop. The estate agent works for the seller and is paid by the seller, so arranging your survey is not their role; at most they will pass on a name. Your lender arranges its own valuation for its own purposes, which is a separate matter. That leaves you, and it should — the report is written for whoever pays for it, so having it commissioned by you keeps it firmly on your side of the table.
Crucially, you are not tied to anyone's panel or preferred list. You can instruct any independent surveyor you like, and choosing one yourself is part of what makes the report impartial. If you are still weighing up whether to bother at all, is a house survey worth it sets out the cost-versus-risk case in full.
When to book it
The timing is straightforward: after your offer is accepted, and before exchange of contracts. That window is when a survey does its real work. Up to exchange you can still renegotiate or walk away without penalty, so the whole point is to have the surveyor's findings in your hands while you can still act on them.
Book early within that window rather than late. The surveyor needs time to inspect and write up the report, and you need time to digest it — to get quotes on anything flagged, to go back to the seller on price, or simply to reassure yourself. Leaving it until the week of exchange squeezes out exactly the room the report is meant to give you.
Who pays
You do. Because the report is yours, the fee is yours — it is one of the buyer's costs, alongside conveyancing and searches. With us that starts at £325 for a Level 1, £395 for a Level 2 and £495 for a Level 3, with reports typically returned within five working days. You can see how much a survey costs across the range before you commit.
It is not the same as the mortgage valuation
This is where most of the confusion sits. When you take out a mortgage, your lender arranges a valuation — but that is for the lender, to confirm the property is adequate security for the loan. It is not an inspection of the building's condition on your behalf, and it is not a survey. A clean valuation tells you the bank is happy to lend; it tells you very little about the roof, the damp or the drains.
A survey is the piece that looks at the property for you. The two run alongside each other and neither replaces the other. We explain the distinction more fully in survey vs mortgage valuation, because assuming the valuation "counts" as a survey is one of the more expensive mistakes a buyer can make.
How to choose and book one
The sensible approach is to instruct an independent, RPSA-certified surveyor and match the level of survey to the property. A conventional, reasonably modern home is usually well served by a Level 2 Home Survey from £395, while an older, altered or non-standard property tends to warrant the closer inspection of a Level 3 Building Survey from £495.
For buyers across Altrincham, Greater Manchester and Cheshire, that is all it takes: pick the right level, instruct directly, and book in good time before exchange. Anslow is an independent practice — Chris Anslow is a member of the Residential Property Surveyors Association with around twenty years' experience — and if you are not sure which level a particular property needs, ask us before you book.