You know where we are if needed.

If there are issues now evident which should have been uncovered by your surveyor had the survey been conducted competently, presumably you will have recourse to compensation from them?

Thanks Amber. Nearest neighbour is now coming home on Thursday - 3 weeks early - as she has had food poisoning and has no strength to go on. Very sad for her.

Tim - yes, we did that at Coven Sud 25 years ago, when we found a gable end in the loft moving/rocking due to dried out pointing. Sadly, these days, they cover their arses with phrases such as 'it appears,' 'further investigation is required in order to...' and 'if you are in any doubt about my advice, please contact a specialist in this area who can advise you further.' Not a hope of challenging I think, although, when I get time, I shall forensically go through his weighty tome of a 'stream of consciousness' report to find any possible points of weakness. I think the thing is that we moved up here to get away from hassle, conflict and stress, and now have to balance what should happen to someone who has missed lots of things, with what it is sensible to take on, with no guarantee of winning. Sometimes the time and mental space needed to take something on is just not worth the mental and time cost cf the £££ cost to just get on and put it right.

Seems like quite a high proportion of folk don't bother with any survey these days knowing that they're almost worthless.
We did have one done here but, as you say, there's so many pages of covering bollocks it probably wasn't worth it. Nothing has been found structurally wrong since we moved here but several of his statements were we now know factually incorrect.

We didn't bother when we bought the holiday let and my MIL didn't bother on either of her last purchases....though she did get an architect friend to have a look.

I think it stems from the standardisation which the government put on surveys x years ago.

Even some mortgage reliant purchases no longer require a survey in many areas.

As I say to BW, without her organisation we wouldn't have the things delivered that I then put up. Without her research we wouldn't have found the builders for the greenhouse, the window suppliers or the AGA to warm the house up and make it feel like our home. Without her knowledge and creativity we wouldn't already have the beginnings of a lovely garden. Without her time management we wouldn't have all these trades coming at the right time to get us where we are after only 6 months. Without her originally finding Northumberland we wouldn't have found the place of our dreams for the rest of our lives

Oh and without her financial management we wouldn't have been able to do this at all.
Thank you BW and see you back at home in time for JW on Sunday. Have the sherry ready.

NiC - not just us then! That's reassuring, if frightening.