James McGregor director of Mesa Financial Consultants had not anticipated any problems with the remortgage for a two-bedroom terraced house on a “normal residental road” in Kent.

But after the surveyor’s shock conclusion, he said lenders needed to have a “serious look” at the partners they were using.

He declined to mention the conveyancer or lender involved in the case.

The broker told Mortgage Solutions: “I’ve never had this before and hope we never get it again, to be honest. Lenders tend to lean too much on surveyors’ professional opinion.”

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He added: “We have seen a few lazy, incompetent reports recently with no rationale or proof of decisions and it makes the whole industry look amateur.”

There is “no point” trying to contest the case in question, as it would likely “waste a lot of time” and there would be no resolution, McGregor said.

Instead, the case will likely go to another lender, with the brokerage “double checking” the surveyor panel before submitting the mortgage.