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Choosing a survey level

If an estate agent offers a HomeBuyer Report, which RICS level are they describing?

Ask them to say Level 2 in writing. HomeBuyer Report is the old name. RICS now calls that product a Home Survey Level 2. Building Survey is the old name for Level 3. The current three-level Home Survey was introduced on 1 March 2021. The word on the brochure is not the instruction.

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?

A quote that says “HomeBuyer” can mean survey only, or survey plus valuation. Those are different jobs. MoneyHelper is clear that a mortgage valuation is not a structural survey. Pin down which documents you will receive, who they are for, and which standard applies.

A report written before March 2021 may genuinely be an old HomeBuyer Report. Read it as the product it was. Do not assume it uses today’s condition-rating definitions until you see them in the text. RICS does not publish one national fee for either old or new names.

What should you ask your surveyor?

  • Do you mean an RICS Home Survey Level 2, and is a valuation included?
  • Which edition of the standard will you follow?
  • What will the cover of the report actually say?

What are the typical next steps?

  1. Get the level and the valuation question in the quote before you pay.
  2. Do not compare a HomeBuyer-plus-valuation fee with a Level 3 survey-only fee as if they were one product.
  3. If the report is pre-2021, read the definitions printed in it, not the ones you wish it used.

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

Is a “full structural survey” a Level 3?

Only if the firm confirms it is an RICS Home Survey Level 3. “Full” and “structural” are not levels.

Does the old name change what was inspected?

The product that was instructed changes it. The nickname does not.

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