Renegotiating or walking away
The lender asks for a specialist report on the drains. Why is that request not satisfied by rereading the home survey?
Because the lender has asked for a specialist report on the drains, rereading the home survey does not satisfy that request. The home survey is the inspection you already have. The lender has asked for a different report, from a specialist. Reading the same PDF again does not appoint that person and does not produce their findings. A sentence in the survey that says further investigation is needed does not name the specialist, and it does not stand in for the report the lender wants.
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?
Lenders ask for specialist reports when their valuation or their conditions are not met by the home survey alone. Drains are a common example, because a visual inspection is not a camera and not a drainage engineer's opinion. What to do now, in RICS wording for buyers, is advice to you. It does not convert your survey into the extra report a lender has listed. If you only reread, highlight and forward the same pages, you have not done the thing that was asked.
Ask the lender, through your adviser, what kind of drains report they will accept and from whom. Instruct that, not a second reading of the home survey. When it comes back, send that report, not a longer email about the old one. Do not tell the lender the specialist's work is unnecessary because the surveyor already mentioned drains. Mentioning them is why further investigation was flagged. It is not the investigation.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did your report recommend further investigation rather than complete a drains specialist's survey?
- Which comments should be passed to the specialist, not offered as their report?
- Are you able to say the lender's request is still unmet?
What are the typical next steps?
- Obtain the specialist drains report the lender has asked for.
- Do not offer a rereading of the home survey in its place.
- Send the specialist's report, once it exists, rather than the same PDF.
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 the survey already says the drains look old, is that enough?
No. A comment that drains look old is not a specialist report. The lender asked for the specialist, and rereading does not produce one.
Does 'further investigation' appoint the person?
No. Those words flag a gap in the home survey. They do not appoint a drains specialist or satisfy the lender's request for a separate report.