Renegotiating or walking away
You agreed a reduction by email, and the engineer's letter that arrives next is worse. Is that email the final contract?
No. An email agreeing a reduction is not yet the contract. The engineer's letter that arrives next is worse than the news you had when you wrote, so do not treat that message as the last word. Ask the solicitor what has actually been written into the contract, and whether the new letter can still be raised before exchange. What to do now advises you and does not bill the seller. It does not freeze a price that is not yet in the contract.
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?
Email feels binding because both sides replied. In a purchase the solicitor needs to tell you whether the price in the draft contract has changed, whether a special condition records the reduction, and what you are free to raise while exchange has not happened. The engineer's letter is new information. If it describes the same element as the rating 3, it belongs with the written quotations you were already advised to obtain before legal commitment. If it describes something the email never mentioned, the email cannot have settled it.
Do not send the agent a second number until the solicitor has read the letter. What to do now is advice to the buyer. It does not invoice the seller for the engineer's findings, and it does not say an earlier courtesy reduction survives every later report. Nor does a worse letter automatically delete a reduction the solicitor has already put into the contract. That is why the question goes to the solicitor first. Keep the email, the letter and the survey paragraph together so nobody is negotiating from memory.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Does the engineer's letter address the same element as the email reduction?
- What in the letter is worse than the survey wording you relied on?
- Which written quotation, if any, still needs to be obtained before commitment?
What are the typical next steps?
- Forward the email and the engineer's letter to the solicitor together.
- Ask whether the contract price already includes the reduction.
- Do not send a new figure to the agent until you have that answer.
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 both sides replied by email, has exchange happened?
No. Exchange is a formal step. Ask the solicitor. A thread of emails is not that step.
Must you leave because the engineer's letter is worse?
No. The rating does not order you to withdraw. Decide after the solicitor has read the letter.