Property types

What is different about a survey of a bungalow?

A bungalow puts the rooms on one level, so the roof, ground-floor damp-proofing and loft are a larger share of daily life. A survey only reports what it could inspect. It does not value a loft you have not converted, and the word bungalow is not a defect. Read the roof and damp notes first.

Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless a source says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.

Why does the roof dominate a bungalow survey?

In a two-storey house a leak can show in a spare bedroom or a loft you rarely enter. In a bungalow the ceiling over the living room is often the underside of the roof. Staining, a flat-roofed dormer, and valley gutters between a hipped roof and an extension are the notes that matter. The roof guide explains what can be seen from the ground and from a hatch.

A large roof is not a defective roof. Size is not a rating. Condition is.

What damp notes matter when every room is on the ground?

Outside ground levels, paths, render taken below the damp-proof course, and flower beds against the wall. Approved Document C is the moisture guidance for building work; it is not a score for the bungalow. The survey records what it saw at the floor and the wall base. Because you will live on that floor, a rating 2 you might have tolerated in a spare cellar is in your bedroom. That is a judgement about your use, not a change in the RICS definition.

Solid floors and timber floors fail differently. Ask which floor they are describing. A bungalow can have both.

What if there are already rooms in the roof?

Then it is not an empty loft, whatever the agent calls it. The survey looks at the dormers, the junctions, the stairs that are there, and whether the roof structure appears to have been altered. Papers for the conversion are for your solicitor. Fire doors and escape are not fully tested by a visual survey. If the report is unsure the floor was designed for rooms, believe the uncertainty.

A ‘chalet bungalow’ is a label. The elements are what get ratings.

Do services get a different inspection?

No. Electrics, gas, heating and drains are still not tested the way a specialist tests them. In a bungalow the consumer unit, the boiler and the manholes are sometimes easier to reach, which means fewer excuses for NI, not a more thorough test. Easy access is not an EICR. The services guides set out that line so this one does not have to pretend otherwise.

A long bungalow can have a long drainage run. Slow gullies still mean what they mean on the drainage page.

Common questions

Is a bungalow automatically a Level 2?

If it is conventional and looks in reasonable condition, that is the RICS description of where Level 2 sits. A thatched, listed, system-built or heavily altered bungalow is a different conversation. Tell the firm what the roof is made of.

The bungalow has a flat-roofed extension. Should that worry you?

It should be read as its own element. Flat roofs are a common place for a rating 3 because they fail at outlets and upstands. They are also sometimes fine. Use the flat-roof guide, and the sentence in your report, not the word extension.

Can the survey say the loft is suitable for conversion?

It can say what it could see: the timber sizes it measured or did not, the water tanks, the party wall, the access. Suitability is a design. Headroom rules and stair rules live in building regulations, and they are not applied by a condition rating. If conversion is why you are buying, appoint someone to design it, and do not exchange on a hope.

Does a bigger garden mean the drains were inspected?

No. Drains are inspected to the limit of the level you bought, which is not a full camera survey unless you agreed one. Garden size does not add a CCTV van.

You are buying a bungalow for one level. Will the survey comment on access?

Only if something affects access and they choose to note it, such as steps at every door. A home survey is not an occupational therapist’s report and not an Approved Document M assessment. Steps are not a defect because someone would prefer a ramp. They might still matter to you. That is your brief, and you can ask the surveyor to look.

Are bungalow walls the same cavity question as a semi?

Yes if they are cavity walls of the same era. A 1930s bungalow can have the same tie question as a 1930s semi. A new bungalow should not inherit that history. Read the construction note, then the wall-tie guide only if it applies.

There are several valleys on the roof. Is that bad?

Valleys collect water. They are a place surveys look, not a defect by existing. A valley that overflows into the loft is a defect. A valley that is simply there is a feature. Ask which.

Are bungalows harder to insure?

Not as a class, on any figure this page is willing to invent, because it will not invent one. Insurers price construction, roof covering, flood, subsidence and the lock you fit. Give them the survey’s construction and roof notes rather than the word bungalow.

Sources

House surveys: the costs, types and benefits of an RICS home survey — RICS
Description of the RICS Home Survey Level 3 (condition rating definitions) — RICS
Scope of inspection: Home Survey Level One — RICS
Site preparation and resistance to contaminants and moisture: Approved Document C — GOV.UK
Building regulations approval — GOV.UK

Key facts

Not a construction type: Bungalows are brick, timber, system-built, thatched and listed. The form is one storey. The fabric is whatever the survey finds.
Roof proportion: More of the enclosure is roof. A defect in the covering or the loft affects bedrooms directly, because there is often no empty storey above them.
Ground levels: Every habitable room is at or near ground level, so bridging of the damp-proof course and outside levels show up in the rooms you will actually use.
Loft conversion: Whether the loft can be converted is structure, headroom, stairs, fire, and planning or permitted development. A home survey does not design that project or grant it.
Chalet bungalows: Rooms in the roof are a different building from an empty loft. The survey inspects the rooms that are there, including dormers and their junctions.