Survey costs
The firm says a revisit after the house is empty would be a further instruction. Why is that second visit not automatically included in the first fee?
The second visit is not in the first fee, because the firm has defined the empty-house revisit as a further instruction. The first fee paid for the inspection that was done, with furniture in place and the limits that creates. A return once the house is empty is another attendance. A mortgage valuation is not a structural survey, and neither product silently includes a second day the firm has said it will charge as a new instruction. The survey has not promised that return inside the original fee.
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?
Furniture hides floors, walls and the backs of cupboards. The first visit reports what could be seen around it. An empty house later shows different surfaces, and seeing them is time the first instruction did not buy. The firm has said the original fee stopped at the first attendance. A mortgage valuation is not a structural survey, and it does not include this revisit either. Do not invent a price for the second visit.
Ask the firm, in writing, what the further instruction covers and when it would happen, and do not assume the first fee stretches. Tell the solicitor the empty-house look is not part of the report you already have. If you need areas re-seen, instruct that second visit properly. The original survey remains the furnished inspection, with its limits left as they are.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Has the firm called the empty-house revisit a further instruction?
- Did the first fee stop at the inspection already carried out?
- Is a mortgage valuation a different product that also excludes this revisit?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the first fee as payment for the visit already done.
- Ask the firm to confirm the revisit is a separate instruction.
- Do not assume empty-house access was included.
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 surveyor offered to pop back, is that inside the fee?
Only if the firm says so. A friendly remark is not the instruction. The firm has called a revisit after the house is empty a further instruction, so it is not automatically inside the first fee. The original fee stopped at the first visit.
Does a mortgage valuation include the empty-house return instead?
No. A mortgage valuation is not a structural survey, and it is not this home survey's second visit. The empty-house look remains a further instruction unless the firm puts it in the original fee in writing. The valuation does not absorb it.