Choosing a survey level
The Home Report includes photographs of the roof taken from the ground. What of the rear slope has a ground-level photograph not inspected from above?
The rear slope has not been inspected from above. The Home Report includes photographs of the roof taken from the ground, so those frames show what a camera at ground level could catch. A ground-level photograph has not walked the rear slope, has not lifted a covering, and has not seen what a ridge or a neighbour hides. The Home Report is the Scottish product a purchaser is pointed to. It is not an English Level 2 you instruct yourself.
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?
In Scotland the purchaser is pointed to the Home Report rather than commissioning the English form of survey. Photographs in it are part of that product. A picture from the ground can show a slipped slate, a dipped ridge or a chimney the camera faces. It cannot inspect the hidden side of a ridge as someone on the slope could, and it cannot turn a distant frame into a close look at flashings. Nothing here adds a life to the Home Report. No period of that kind is stated.
Read the roof section against the photographs and note which slopes the camera actually faced. If the rear slope matters and the pictures are only from the ground, ask what further look from height is still possible. Do not treat a ground-level frame as a view from the ridge. The Home Report is not an English Level 2 you instruct yourself, and these photographs have not inspected the rear slope from above.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which roof slopes do the ground-level photographs actually show?
- Has the rear slope been left uninspected from above?
- Is this Home Report a different product from an English Level 2?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the photographs as ground-level views only.
- Note which slope the camera could not see from above.
- Do not treat the Home Report as an English Level 2 you instruct.
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 a neighbour's window overlooks the rear slope, has it been inspected?
No. A neighbour's view is not the Home Report, and it is not an inspection from the roof. The photographs included are from the ground. They have not inspected the rear slope from above. What someone might see from next door is gossip unless it is a proper inspection, which this product has not provided.
Can you instruct an English Level 2 instead and ignore the Home Report?
The Home Report is the Scottish product a purchaser is pointed to. It is not an English Level 2 you instruct yourself, and swapping the names does not change these photographs. They remain ground-level pictures. They have not inspected the rear slope from above, whatever other survey you might later discuss.