Condition ratings
The garage is not inspected and the house roof is rating 2. Can you borrow the house rating for the garage?
No. You cannot borrow the house roof's condition rating 2 and give it to the garage. The garage is not inspected. The house roof is a different element, seen and rated on its own. Not inspected is a blank, not a twin of the nearest number. The garage roof, walls and door were not given the house's rating, and you should not give it to them in the email to the agent. Say the garage was not inspected. Say the house roof is rating 2.
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?
It is tempting to colour in gaps with the nearest fact. The nearest fact is about the house. A garage can be a different age, a different covering and a different state of repair, which is why it is rated separately when it is seen. When it is not seen, you have no rating to move. Copying the 2 across pretends an inspection happened in a building the surveyor did not enter or could not see. That pretence is not a finding.
Ask why the garage was not inspected: locked, no access, unsafe, or outside the instruction. The reason belongs in the report. If you need a rating, arrange access and a look. Until then, keep the house roof's rating 2 on the house roof, with whatever repair that note actually describes. Do not let a lender's form, or your own summary, show one number for both. Two buildings do not share a mark the survey only gave to one.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Why was the garage not inspected?
- Which rating applies only to the house roof?
- What would need to happen before the garage had a rating of its own?
What are the typical next steps?
- Do not copy the house roof's rating 2 onto the garage.
- Report the garage as not inspected.
- Arrange access if you need the garage 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
If the garage is attached, does it share the house rating?
No. Attached is not inspected. The house roof's rating 2 stays on the house roof. The garage does not borrow it from the house.
If the garage looks similar from the road, is that enough?
No. A distant likeness is not an inspection. Not inspected means the garage was not given the house rating, and you should not invent one.