§ 7. Mr. Parkasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will introduce legislation to ensure that when 243 prospective house purchasers pay a fee to a building society for a surveyor's report on the property the contents of the report should be made available to them.
§ The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (Mr. Robert Mellish)My right hon. Friend does not consider this to be an appropriate matter for legislation but he is in touch with the Building Societies Association on the suggestion.
§ Mr. ParkI thank my hon. Friend for that reply. Should not people who wish to purchase houses have a full right of access to surveyors' reports? Would it not be perfectly possible for the building societies themselves freely to give this access if it was so wished?
§ Mr. MellishI understand that many building societies already arrange to pass on to the purchaser any relevant information included in their valuer's report—and hon. Members should remember that this is a valuer's report.
§ Mr. GrantIs the hon. Gentleman aware that there is a danger in this in that building societies' surveys are designed solely to cover the security and that if purchasers relied on this method they might very well be misled about the value of their property as a whole?
§ Mr. MellishI quite agree. The requirements of the purchaser and of the building society are not necessarily the same. The idea that this is somehow a special surveyor's report is not correct. It is really a valuer's report.