Survey costs
The auction pack contains a survey addressed to a previous bidder. Why can you not treat that report as your own instruction?
You cannot treat it as your own instruction because it is addressed to a previous bidder, not to you. You did not appoint the surveyor and you are not the named client. MoneyHelper describes a mortgage valuation as a check for the lender, not a structural survey. Whatever this pack contains, it is not a survey you instructed. Reading someone else's report does not make it yours. A survey in your name has not been commissioned by the fact the file was printed in the pack.
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?
A home survey is written for the person who commissioned it, on the date they agreed, with the limits of that instruction. A previous bidder's questions and the age of their visit may not match yours. You have no contract with that surveyor through the auction papers. Putting the file in the pack shares information. It does not transfer the instruction. The addressee is the point. If your name is not the client, it is not your report.
Instruct your own survey if you want a report addressed to you. Tell the solicitor you are not treating the bidder's copy as your instruction. A mortgage valuation in the same pack is still not a structural survey. Do not assume the earlier surveyor now acts for you. The pack copy stays a document written for someone else, on whatever date it bears.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Whose name is printed as the client?
- What date does that inspection carry?
- Have you instructed a surveyor of your own?
What are the typical next steps?
- Do not rely on the previous bidder's survey as your instruction.
- Commission your own report if you want one addressed to you.
- Keep any mortgage valuation separate from a home survey.
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
Is a mortgage valuation in the pack a structural survey?
No. MoneyHelper describes a mortgage valuation as a check on price or the loan for the lender. It is not a structural survey. A previous bidder's home survey is also not your instruction. Papers can share one auction pack and still not be a survey written for you. If you want that, you instruct it yourself.
Does their name on the report give you their contract?
No. Their name shows they were the client. It does not assign the instruction to you, and it does not make the surveyor answer to you. You may read the pack as information someone else was given. You cannot treat that reading as your own survey instruction or as a report prepared for this purchase.