Renegotiating or walking away
What does mygov.scot tell you to do about a Home Report repair marked as needing future attention, not only one marked urgent?
The same practical things. The page says if repairs are marked urgent or as needing future attention, consider whether you can cope with the cost or inconvenience, and get estimates before you proceed if you think you can. Future attention is not a free pass, and it is not automatically an English condition rating 2.
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?
English rating 2 is RICS’s “needs repairing or replacing but is not serious or urgent”. Scottish wording on this mygov page is “urgent” and “needing future attention”. Do not translate one into the other without reading the paragraph. The single survey is still visual. An estimate is a contractor’s price, which the page tells you to get and which this page will not invent.
If you cannot cope, the same page says you can walk away at that stage without penalty. Ask your Scottish solicitor before you rely on that sentence against a missive you have already signed. An English buyer should not borrow it.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which items are future attention, and what do the words under them say?
- Are any of them actually marked urgent as well?
- What was not inspected, so no mark exists?
What are the typical next steps?
- Get estimates for the items you would have to live with, not only the urgent ones.
- Do not file future attention under “ignore”.
- Ask your solicitor how this sits with the offer you are about to make.
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
Does future attention mean next decade?
The page does not define a year. Read the surveyor’s words. Do not add a timetable they did not write.
Should you still walk away over future attention?
The page allows you to walk away if you do not want to buy. It does not say you must. That is your decision.