All being well we are buying a new house. The house is from the 1920s and we know that it will need major refurbishment including a full rewire (my father is a builder and has seen the property) which we are planning for. The mortgage company is commissioning its own valuation, however I am also considering further options independent of the mortgage company. I've had home buyers reports in the past and they have been rather pointless full of statements of the obvious and caveats. I've had a quote for a structural survey and at £1300 this is significantly more than I anticipated. What are other peoples' experience of these types of reports - pointless or invaluable?