Choosing a survey level
The mortgage valuation includes a photo of the roof and no column of condition ratings. Has the roof been rated?
No. The roof picture is only an image the valuer tucked into the mortgage valuation. MoneyHelper treats that valuation as the lender's check on the property as security for the loan, not as a home survey that grades elements. With no condition-rating column beside the photograph, the covering has not been given a survey rating, and the picture itself is not a substitute grade.
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?
Buyers often treat a clear shot of tiles as if it closed the roof question. It does not. The valuation exists so the lender can think about the loan. It is not the inspection you commission to understand defects, and it does not carry the traffic-light style of grading a home survey uses. A photo can show that someone looked toward the roof from wherever they stood. It cannot show that each slope was graded, and it cannot be read back as rating 1, 2 or 3.
If a separate home survey was booked, read the roof section of that report, including any line that says a slope was not seen. Do not paste the valuer's photograph into an email and call it a rating. The two paperwork trails stay apart: one is the lender's valuation, the other is the survey written for you. A shared subject, the roof, does not fuse them.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Does your home survey, if you have one, actually grade the roof slopes?
- Which slopes were photographed but not given a condition comment?
- Are you silent on ratings because this instruction was only the lender's valuation?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the valuation as the lender's document, not as a graded survey.
- Look for a condition-rating column before you say the roof was graded.
- Commission a home survey if you still need the roof described for you.
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 a caption under the photo count as a rating?
No. A caption is a label on a picture. It is not the survey's grading of that element.
If the photo shows a slipped tile, has the valuation ordered a repair?
No. Noticing a tile in a picture is not an instruction to repair, and it is not a condition rating.