Guide
The lender's valuation is not a survey. A survey is for you, and it finds the property's problems before you've bought them.
People often confuse the lender's valuation with a survey. The valuation tells the lender the place is worth roughly what they're lending. A survey tells you what's wrong with it, and without one you won't know the condition of what you're buying.
A Level 1 condition report is the cheapest and least detailed, fine for a newish flat in good nick. A Level 2 homebuyer report is the usual choice for a standard house in reasonable shape, and picks up damp, movement, roof and timber trouble. A Level 3 building survey, the old "full structural", is the thorough one, for older, larger, altered or clearly tired properties. It costs more and tells you far more.
Older homes, anything extended or altered, listed buildings, and anything priced suspiciously low all justify a Level 3. The few hundred pounds extra is small next to the tens of thousands a hidden structural problem costs. If Nestfair flagged an unpermitted extension or a period property, consider a Level 3.
You can use what a survey finds when you negotiate. A quote for £8,000 of roof work is a reason to ask for £8,000 off, or to have the seller fix it before you complete.