In 1975, a firm of valuers was instructed by a building society to inspect and report on a modest Victorian house, which was being purchased for £15,000. The valuers were held liable to the purchaser (who did not see their report) for negligently failing to discover a serious subsidence problem. The court reached this decision despite the presence of clear warnings in the building society's standard loan documentation to the effect that purchasers should not rely on the mortgage valuation but should commission their own survey. This was because the evidence showed that 90% of house purchasers (at least at the lower end of the housing market) routinely ignored such warnings.
