Seller-side surveys
The buyer has sent the seller one page of ratings and not the paragraphs. Why is a number without the paragraph a poor basis for a reply?
A number without the paragraph is a poor basis for a reply because the number is only the label. The paragraph says what was seen, where, what was not inspected, and what the surveyor recommends. The buyer has sent one page of ratings and kept the prose. Replying to the bare number means arguing with a digit. You cannot tell a gutter from a roof, or a limit of inspection from a defect, until the paragraph is there.
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?
Ratings are a shorthand printed so a reader can scan. They are not free-standing. Two items can carry the same number for wholly different reasons, and the reason is the sentence underneath. A seller who answers the page alone may agree a reduction for the wrong thing, or refuse a real one. Asking for the paragraphs is not stalling. It is asking for the finding the number points at. Without it, any reply is a guess about the buyer's summary.
Ask, through the solicitor, for the sections that belong to the ratings before you comment on price or repairs. Keep your reply tied to those paragraphs once they arrive. Do not reconstruct the defect from the buyer's covering note. The survey, if it is to be answered, is the whole relevant extract, not a column of figures. A number on its own is a poor basis, and treating it as the report will make a poor answer.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which paragraph belongs to each rating the buyer has sent?
- What was seen, and what was not inspected, in that paragraph?
- Can you reply to the number before the prose arrives?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask for the paragraphs that sit with the ratings.
- Do not reply to a bare number as if it were the finding.
- Tie any price or repair comment to the wording once you have 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 buyer reads a rating out over the phone, is that enough?
No. A spoken number is even thinner than the page. You still lack the paragraph that says what was seen and what is recommended. A reply based on a phone call about a digit is a reply to a summary of a label. Ask for the written paragraphs before you commit to a repair or a price move.
Can identical numbers be answered with one sentence?
Not safely. The same number can sit on different defects with different limits. The paragraph is what distinguishes them. One sentence answering the page would treat those findings as a single blob. Wait for the wording, and answer each finding the wording actually describes.