Selling
Should a seller in England or Wales get a survey?
In England and Wales a seller does not have to commission a RICS Home Survey before marketing. In Scotland a Home Report, including a Single Survey, is required. RICS says a purchaser can rely on that Scottish report. A survey you commission in England or Wales is written for you. A later buyer cannot assume they may rely on it.
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.
Is there a seller’s survey duty in England and Wales?
No statute makes a RICS Level 1, 2 or 3 part of marketing a home in England or Wales. You may still choose one. RICS’s consumer material talks about surveys helping a sale because you understand the building you are selling. That is a reason, not an obligation.
Buyers in those countries usually instruct their own survey after an offer. Your report, if you have one, might be shown as information. Showing it is not the same as the buyer being able to sue your surveyor if they relied on it. The terms decide.
What does Scotland require instead?
mygov.scot sets out the Home Report a seller obtains before marketing. RICS describes it as a prescribed pack: a Single Survey with valuation, an EPC, and a property questionnaire. The same consumer guide says the purchaser can rely on the Home Report. That is a different legal product from an English Level 2 you commissioned for yourself.
Do not hand an English buyer a Scottish explanation, or tell a Scottish seller that a Level 3 replaces the Home Report. If you are not sure which country the house is in, you are not ready to instruct.
Should you show your survey to a buyer?
If you show it, show the whole report, including the limits, not the rating 1s with the rating 3s cropped out. A buyer’s solicitor will notice the missing pages, and so will their surveyor. You are not obliged to disclose a report you never commissioned. You are in different territory if you answer a direct question untruthfully. That is legal advice this page will not give. Ask your solicitor before you write the words ‘no survey has mentioned damp’.
A buyer who wants reliance instructs their own firm. Offer the access. Do not offer your surveyor’s insurance.
Which level is useful if you do choose one?
The same RICS descriptions apply. Level 1 if you want a visual overview of a conventional home and you do not need repair advice. Level 2 if you want advice on a straightforward house. Level 3 if the building is older, altered or unusual, or you want to know the consequences before a buyer points them out. The fee is whatever the firm quotes. This page does not have a seller’s discount.
Fixing things before marketing is your choice after you have read the report. A rating 2 does not compel you to repair. A rating 3 you leave in place will be in the buyer’s survey too, if they look.
Common questions
Can you agree the buyer will rely on your survey and split the fee?
Only if the surveying firm agrees in writing. Reliance is their professional risk. Two names on a handshake do not amend their terms. Ask the firm. If they refuse, the buyer instructs separately.
Will commissioning a survey make the house harder to sell?
It will tell you things a buyer’s surveyor might later tell them. That can change your asking price, or it can let you repair first. It does not create the defect. This page will not pretend there is a statistic for ‘surveys that sink sales’.
Is the EPC enough to show the condition?
No. An EPC is an energy rating. Sellers in England and Wales do have EPC duties, described on the EPC page. Those duties are not a home survey.
Should you do every repair the survey mentions?
No. Rating 1 is ordinary maintenance. Rating 2 is not, in RICS’s words, serious or urgent. Rating 3 is the list RICS tells a buyer to price before commitment. You might still leave a rating 3 and negotiate. Do it with the sentence visible, not with a tin of paint.
The agent offered a valuation. Is that the survey?
An estate agent’s market appraisal is not a RICS Home Survey, even if the agent is also a valuer. If you want condition ratings, instruct a survey. If you want a price opinion, say that. They are different products. Our valuation guide draws the same line for buyers.
You are selling a flat. Does a survey cover the block?
Only the parts the surveyor could see, which is the same limit as for a buyer. The lease and the service charge are not in the ratings. Read the leasehold guide before you describe the roof as ‘not your problem’ in the listing.
Can you reuse a survey from when you bought?
It described the house on that date, for that client. Years of wear, leaks and alterations sit outside it. A buyer should not be asked to rely on it. You can reread it for your own memory. It is not a current report.
In Scotland, can a buyer still get another survey?
Yes. Reliance on the Home Report does not ban a further instruction. People commission more when the Single Survey is silent on something they care about. The legal pack is still the seller’s Home Report. mygov.scot is the place to read the duty.
Sources
- Home surveys consumer guide (including Scotland Home Reports, which a purchaser can rely on) — RICS
- House surveys: the costs, types and benefits of an RICS home survey — RICS
- Buying a home: Home Report — mygov.scot
- RICS Home Surveys (Home Survey Standard) — RICS
- Selling a home: Energy Performance Certificates (A to G, valid for 10 years) — GOV.UK
Key facts
- England and Wales
- No legal requirement to obtain a RICS Home Survey before you market. An EPC is a separate duty, explained on the EPC page.
- Scotland
- mygov.scot describes the Home Report a seller must obtain. RICS’s consumer guide says the Home Report includes a Single Survey, and that the purchaser can rely on it. That reliance does not copy across the border.
- Reliance
- Read the terms of engagement. If they name you as the client, a buyer who later wants their own reliance needs their own instruction, or a written extension the firm agrees.
- What a seller’s survey is for
- Knowing the condition before you agree a price, and avoiding a surprise you could have described. It is not a guarantee the buyer will not instruct their own survey.