New research from Legal & General Surveying Services has found that the top three issues highlighted in its Digital Home Survey over the past six months were electrical – 14% (408 reported), space heating – 14% (389 reported) and water heating – 8% (237 reported).
In 2021, Legal & General Surveying Services performed 740 Digital Home Surveys. The survey highlights key issues to prospective homeowners and sorts them into ‘red’ and ‘amber’ categories according to severity and cost of repairs. A red issue is a severe problem which either poses a high risk to customers, or requires further investigation by a specialist and could be costly to address. By contrast, an amber issue only presents a moderate risk and will cost less to fix.
With electrical issues being the most common issue highlighted by the survey, prospective homeowners need to be vigilant when deciding to buy a home. These issues may include dated wiring and faulty fuse boxes.
According to Electrical Safety First, electrical issues cause more than 20,000 preventable house fires each year – 11% of which are caused by faults in installations. Fixing electrical hazards can be expensive. The average price to rewire a three-bedroom semi-detached house ranges between £3,000 to £6,000 and can take from six to ten days to finish.
Heating issues also present major health and financial risks. Surveyors would be alerted to leaking pipes, unlagged cylinders, asbestos risk and damaged boilers. A faulty boiler can cost more to run, leave vulnerable residents without heat in winter and, in the worst case scenario, leak harmful carbon monoxide gas. Replacing a boiler can set homeowners back as much as £5,000.
The top three Digital Home Survey amber issues were outside property problems – 12% (572), external walls – 9% (448), and roof issues – 8% (395).
External elements of a building are exposed and are more likely to weather quickly. Anything other than a new property is likely to attract an amber rating for these reasons. These minor defects may include perished brickwork, cracked tiles, or chipped walls. A typical three-bedroom home with around 90m2 of walling might cost between £2,835 – £5,670 to render with cement (not including scaffolding costs), taking up to two weeks to complete.
Kevin Webb, managing director of Legal & General Surveying Services, said: “At Legal & General, we’re committed to helping customers make informed decisions throughout their home buying journey. The Digital Home Survey is at the core of our offering at Legal & General Surveying Services.
“An effective and accurate survey provides peace of mind and confidence that the property they are buying does not have major issues and safety concerns waiting to be uncovered. In simple terms, the Digital Home Survey is doing its job – protecting our customers from risk in terms of finance and health.”
The Digital Home Survey was initially introduced under the brand name of SmartrSurvey by Legal & General in 2019, providing customers with a jargon free and fully visual home buyer report. A RICS-qualified surveyor checks the property from top to bottom before sending the customer a detailed report, usually in 48 hours from the inspection. The surveyor will discuss the process beforehand and provide feedback afterwards.