Survey costs
Why should you not negotiate with a forum’s average survey price?
Because an average on a forum is not a quote for this house, and RICS does not publish the number the forum thinks it is recalling. The only figures you can compare are written quotes for this address, with the level, the VAT and the exclusions shown.
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?
Forums mix Level 1, 2 and 3, valuations, and old prices from other regions. Using that mix to beat a firm down often produces a thinner scope rather than the same survey for less. If a firm will match a price, ask what they will remove. If they will not, you have a choice between firms, not a right to a national rate.
The same habit is worse when it spreads from fees to repairs. A rating 3 does not have a forum price either. Get a contractor’s quote. This page will not fill the gap with a pretend average, because inventing one would be exactly the mistake it is warning you about.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Will you put the scope in writing so I can compare it with another firm’s scope, not with a forum?
- If I ask you to reduce the fee, what comes out of the inspection?
- What extras will people on the internet assume are included that are not?
What are the typical next steps?
- Compare like-for-like written quotes only.
- If you cannot afford the level the house needs, say so and change house or change level with your eyes open.
- Do not forward a forum thread to the surveyor as if it were a tariff.
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
Are London fees and rural fees the same average?
Do not pretend they are. Ask locally. Distance and the building are the inputs, not a national mean.
Can a broker tell you the going rate?
They can tell you what they have seen. It is still not a quote for this house until a firm issues one.