Mortgage requires a "tree report from an Aboriculture Assoc member"

How many people have had this problem ? ! ?

You`re buying a house, the building society leaves it till late in the process to undertake the survey, then, in the mortgage offer, they have a condition that a tree report is required, which must be done by a registered Aboriculture Association member....

I`d have thought that 99% of the time it`s completely unnecessary, a waste of money (for the person who is buying the house*) and a load of extra stress just at time when you need it the least. That is particularly the case if you`re up against a deadline. Surely the root of the problem (pun intended......) is that surveyors should know a bit more about tree roots ! They`re supposed to be highly skilled professional people, how much extra research would it take for them to know enough about tree roots to avoid all this wasted time, money and stress ! In the case of the house we were buying two previous surveys had been done and neither surveyor mentioned the (non existent) tree problem. I`d almost go so far as to say that the surveyor who did flag up a non existent problem should pay for the soddin` tree report (once it was proved he was wrong) !

* And that`s a whole can of worms. I thought we should pay for the tree report rather than the seller of the house, after all it`s our building society asking for something which is almost certainly not required. In fact, when the report was done (at £200 plus VAT = £240), the surveyor confirmed the tree posed no problem to the house. But I`m sure there are house sales where cheeky buyers would try and get the seller to pay for the report, thus creating a load of extra friction between the buyer and seller.

I don't think it's your surveyors fault. It's simply down to your mortgage lender being, erm, 'overcautious'...on a remortgage just 2 years after we bought our place, we needed a brand new mining report done. How utterly pointless. Thankfully it was organised and paid for by the lender so didn't affect us, but lots of people would have been charged for this worthless piece of paper.

Have you contacted the mortgage lender and told them where to shove it?

They might back down if you kick up a stink?

I don't think it's your surveyors fault. It's simply down to your mortgage lender being, erm, 'overcautious'...on a remortgage just 2 years after we bought our place, we needed a brand new mining report done. How utterly pointless. Thankfully it was organised and paid for by the lender so didn't affect us, but lots of people would have been charged for this worthless piece of paper.

My point is that surely a surveyor should know a bit about tree roots, that`s his job, or should be ! Basically the surveyor had flagged up a problem which isn`t a problem and which nobody (I showed a picture of the "offending" tree to) thought would be a problem. As I said before 2 other surveyors had apparently done surveys previously and didn`t think it was a problem either. So I`d have thought, by definition, the surveyor who thought it might be a problem didn`t do his job properly. Thus, in my view, it is the surveyors fault, but they`re not bothered because there`s no come back on them. It`s the poor buyer who gets the problem landed on their lap.......

---------- Post added 22-03-2016 at 10:44 ----------

Have you contacted the mortgage lender and told them where to shove it?

 

They might back down if you kick up a stink?

I did, and they didn`t......

My point is that surely a surveyor should know a bit about tree roots, that`s his job, or should be ! Basically the surveyor had flagged up a problem which isn`t a problem and which nobody (I showed a picture of the "offending" tree to) thought would be a problem. As I said before 2 other surveyors had apparently done surveys previously and didn`t think it was a problem either. So I`d have thought, by definition, the surveyor who thought it might be a problem didn`t do his job properly. Thus, in my view, it is the surveyors fault, but they`re not bothered because there`s no come back on them. It`s the poor buyer who gets the problem landed on their lap....

Apologies, I misread your post. I thought that lender was asking for this for some reason, but actually the surveyor had recommended it. Then it is the surveyors fault but then surveyor has to report all issues they see otherwise I guess they are leaving themselves liable to being sued by the lender.

How many people have had this problem ? ! ?

You`re buying a house, the building society leaves it till late in the process to undertake the survey, then, in the mortgage offer, they have a condition that a tree report is required, which must be done by a registered Aboriculture Association member....

I`d have thought that 99% of the time it`s completely unnecessary, a waste of money (for the person who is buying the house*) and a load of extra stress just at time when you need it the least. That is particularly the case if you`re up against a deadline. Surely the root of the problem (pun intended......) is that surveyors should know a bit more about tree roots ! They`re supposed to be highly skilled professional people, how much extra research would it take for them to know enough about tree roots to avoid all this wasted time, money and stress ! In the case of the house we were buying two previous surveys had been done and neither surveyor mentioned the (non existent) tree problem. I`d almost go so far as to say that the surveyor who did flag up a non existent problem should pay for the soddin` tree report (once it was proved he was wrong) !

 

* And that`s a whole can of worms. I thought we should pay for the tree report rather than the seller of the house, after all it`s our building society asking for something which is almost certainly not required. In fact, when the report was done (at £200 plus VAT = £240), the surveyor confirmed the tree posed no problem to the house. But I`m sure there are house sales where cheeky buyers would try and get the seller to pay for the report, thus creating a load of extra friction between the buyer and seller.

This sounds like Nationwide to me.

This sounds like Nationwide to me.

It was the Nottingham, but to be fair I don`t really blame them. If they get a report from a surveyor saying he thinks a tree in the garden may cause damage to the house they`re then put in an awkward position. To me it`s the surveyor who is in the wrong. If you`re in that kind of job then "being on the safe side" is not an acceptable attitude, anyone could do that. It`s a surveyors job to know what the safe side is !

However, even a competent Chartered Surveyor may require specialist reports. These can be about any feature of the property causing concern- e.g. electrical installations/circuitry, gas/water services, drainage, or- as here- tree roots etc.

However, even a competent Chartered Surveyor may require specialist reports. These can be about any feature of the property causing concern- e.g. electrical installations/circuitry, gas/water services, drainage, or- as here- tree roots etc.

My point is a chartered surveyor should know a fair amount about all those subjects, and certainly enough to satisfy a basic building society report, which, let`s face it, is only concerned with whether the house will be worth the mortgage.

There`s a further point, what come back is there on a surveyor for reporting that, say, a tree needs an expensive survey, when it doesn`t ? Surely it`s grossly unfair that any comeback falls not on the surveyor (who, let`s face it hasn`t done his job right, at the most positive he`s admitting he doesn`t know) but on the buyer ! A buyer who hasn`t even ordered the survey.

In the case of the house we`re buying a total of three surveyors did reports, and only one said he thought the tree needed a specialist report. It`s just our bad luck that we get the surveyor who, apparently, knows sod all about trees, yet it`s us who suffers for that !

A buyer who hasn`t even ordered the survey.

Surely that's wrong. If the purchaser did not commission the survey, why is it being done?

Surely that's wrong. If the purchaser did not commission the survey, why is it being done?

The building society ordered the report, and that`s why we had to pay for the (not) required tree report. That`s what`s so unfair....... If I`d have had a survey done and the surveyor had asked for a tree report at that property I`d obviously not have bothered.

The building society ordered the report

Aha- so it was a mortgage valuation, not a survey at all.