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Choosing a survey level

An agent offers a HomeBuyer plus valuation. How many RICS products is that, and which level?

One product only: a Level 2. HomeBuyer Report is the old name for Level 2, and the valuation version of that level is the survey plus a market valuation and a reinstatement figure. The agent has not described two surveys stacked together. They have described, in old words, the single Level 2 option that includes those figures, if the firm is actually selling that RICS product.

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?

Count the products by the current name, not by the number of phrases in the agent's sentence. Survey, plus market valuation, plus reinstatement, is still one Level 2 when that is what was instructed. It is not a Level 2 glued to a separate Level 3, and it is not the lender's own mortgage valuation travelling under a friendlier label. Since 1 March 2021 the thing to ask for is a Level 2, and then which of the two Level 2 forms: survey only, or survey with those two figures.

Make the firm write that down before you pay. An agent's spoken offer is not the instruction. Reinstatement is not the market value and not a list of repair prices, so do not expect the valuation half of the product to price the defects. If the house is older, heavily altered, or you plan major work, say so, because that is when a Level 3 is the usual conversation rather than any version of Level 2. The agent does not choose the level by naming a retired title.

What should you ask your surveyor?

  • Will the engagement letter say Level 2, survey plus market valuation and reinstatement?
  • Are you providing the lender's valuation, or only the Level 2 figures?
  • Does anything about this house push the instruction toward Level 3 instead?

What are the typical next steps?

  1. Ask the firm, not the agent, to name one current level.
  2. Confirm whether the figures are included or the instruction is survey only.
  3. Do not pay for two products if only one Level 2 was described.

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 HomeBuyer plus valuation a Level 3 with a price attached?

No. The old HomeBuyer name points at Level 2. Building Survey is the old name for Level 3.

Will those figures be the ones the lender must accept?

Not necessarily. The lender can still instruct their own valuation. Ask them before you rely on yours as theirs.

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