Although many people use these terms interchangeably, the reality is that conveyancing searches and surveys tell you very different things about the property.

A survey will reveal any issues with the build quality and physical condition of the house. It will tell you if there are any structural defects with the house. For example, a survey would tell you if your property had a damp problem, or if the roof needed to be replaced. A basic survey (usually called a mortgage valuation) is used by mortgage lenders to assess if the property is worth the amount of money they are lending to you.

Searches are different, as they do not tend to look at the physical condition of the property. Searches tend to unearth legal issues with your property. For example, is part of your back garden a footpath, to which the public have right of access? Are there any public drains on your property, for which you will need permission to build over? Does the land on which the house is built suffer from subsidence, putting the house at risk in the future?

In short, a survey looks specifically at the physical condition of the house; searches will look at a broader range of planning, legal and environmental conditions surrounding the house. Both can give insight into how the property’s value could be affected in the future, and the results of either can affect your mortgage lender’s willingness to lend.