Choosing a survey level
There is a self-contained annexe. What should you ask, before you instruct, about whether the fee includes it?
Ask, before you instruct, whether the fee includes the self-contained annexe or only the main house. Put the question in writing and get the answer into the terms. An annexe with its own entrance can be a second set of rooms the quote never priced. If it is excluded, the report will not describe it. The thing to ask is whether this building is inside the instruction, and what of it the fee covers.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Quotes are often built from the main house: bedrooms, a roof, a rough size. A self-contained annexe can sit in the grounds and be left off that plan, especially if the agent folded it into the bedroom count. The surveyor cannot inspect, by implication, a dwelling the terms do not name. Asking before you instruct lets the firm include it or exclude it cleanly. Asking on the day produces a rushed decision, or a gap where you thought you had bought advice.
Send a plan or a photograph and the question: please confirm the annexe is included, and say what level of inspection the fee covers there. If the answer is no, decide whether to add it before you accept the quote. Tell your solicitor what the terms include so the annexe is not assumed later. Do not rely on the listing description to drag the annexe into the survey. The fee and the terms are the instruction. The question belongs before you sign them.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Does the fee include the self-contained annexe, or only the main house?
- What of the annexe will be inspected if it is included?
- If it is excluded, what would a later addition cost in time and money as a new instruction?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask in writing whether the annexe is inside the fee.
- Get the answer into the terms before you instruct.
- Do not assume the agent's particulars have included it.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the annexe is mentioned in the estate agent's brochure, is it in the survey?
Not unless the survey terms say so. The brochure describes the sale. The fee describes the inspection. Ask, before you instruct, whether the self-contained annexe is included. A mention in the particulars is not an instruction to the firm, and it does not put the annexe into the report.
Can you add the annexe verbally on the morning of the visit?
You can ask, and the firm can refuse or reprice. That is a poor moment to discover the gap. The useful question is the one asked before you instruct, with the answer written into the terms. A morning conversation is not a substitute for that.