Solicitors attack 'flawed' single seller survey

"It is naive to expect purchasers to accept a seller's survey as their sole guide to the value of the house. Most purchasers will want to commission their own surveys after their offers have been accepted, in order to get their own independent view on condition and value." - EDINBURGH CONVEYANCERS FORUM

Story in full SINGLE seller surveys will lead to extra, needless expense for house buyers and could depress the property market, some of Scotland's most influential solicitors will warn today.

Ministers intend to launch their final plans for single seller surveys tomorrow. But the Edinburgh Conveyancers' Forum, representing 60 top property firms in Edinburgh and the Lothians, has mounted a final, determined bid to stop the proposals, which it claims are "flawed and not necessary".

Under the Scottish Executive plans, everybody selling a house from the middle of next year will have to provide a "purchase information pack". This will include a report on the energy efficiency rating of the house being offered for sale and, controversially, a full survey of the property, commissioned and paid for by the seller.

The aim of the single seller survey is to stop potential buyers from wasting hundreds of pounds on surveys for houses they fail to buy. It is also designed to stop surveyors from making thousands of pounds producing identical surveys for different customers who want to buy the same house.

Ministers ran a series of pilot projects to test the scheme two years ago, but these were not at all successful. It had been hoped that 1,200 seller surveys would be commissioned in the trials but, in seven months, there were only 74 instructed - 65 in Glasgow, five in Inverness, three in Dundee and only one in Edinburgh.

The Edinburgh Conveyancers Forum said it will use the 12-week consultation process to try to persuade ministers to drop plans for a single seller survey. The forum said most people looking for property put in bids "subject to survey" which saves them from the expense of commissioning a survey until they have won the bidding process.

The forum also warned that house buyers would be reluctant to accept a survey prepared by the seller and most would commission their own survey before concluding missives, making the seller survey system redundant.

A spokesman for the forum warned of the effects on the housing market and the expense for purchasers who would have to pay for their own survey and cover the costs of the seller's survey.

He said: "There is a real concern that stagnation of the system caused by the seller's survey and the lack of independent advice could result in a slump in property values."

And he added: "It is naive to expect purchasers to accept a seller's survey as their sole guide to the value of the house. Most purchasers will want to commission their own surveys after their offers have been accepted, in order to get their own independent view on condition and value."

But a spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive said ministers were determined to push ahead with the plan. She said the scheme had been designed to "suit the distinct circumstances of the Scottish housing market".