Age and type of house
The report places the skirting around a park home, a closed vent and the chassis the skirt is hiding in one paragraph. Which of those were inspected, and which were merely named?
The skirting and a closed vent were inspected from the outside. The chassis the skirt is hiding was largely named, because the skirt stands in front of it. Skirting is the panel run around the base of a park home. A vent in that run should let air under the floor, and a closed vent is one that was shut. GOV.UK treats park homes as a special case when buying. This unit survey does not set the pitch fee or replace the written agreement. The paragraph does not clear the hidden steel, and it does not rewrite the pitch terms.
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?
Air under a park home is there to keep the floor timbers and the chassis from sitting in trapped damp. A closed vent blocks that path at the point you can see. The skirting can also hide corrosion, pipe runs and the supports. Naming the chassis because you know it is behind the skirt is not the same as inspecting it. Unless a panel was lifted, which this note does not claim, the steel stays concealed. The closed vent is the part that was actually seen to be shut.
Tell the solicitor the vent was closed and the chassis was hidden by the skirting. A specialist in these units can look under the skirt if you agree access, which the survey has not already done. The pitch agreement still needs reading, because GOV.UK treats park homes as a special case and this report does not replace that written agreement or set the pitch fee. Do not describe the hidden frame as sound. Describe it as unseen.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Was the vent seen to be closed, or only said to be there?
- How much of the chassis was hidden by the skirting?
- Did you lift any skirt panel, or leave the frame unnamed in detail?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the closed vent as seen and the chassis as mostly hidden.
- Tell the solicitor the skirt was not opened.
- Keep the pitch agreement as a document the survey does not replace.
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 closed vent mean the floor has already rotted?
No. A closed vent is a limit on air under the park home, seen from the outside. It does not prove rot in the floor, and the chassis behind the skirting was not inspected. The survey has not opened the skirt. The vent finding is a prompt to look further, not a completed diagnosis of the hidden timber or steel.
Can the site owner rely on this paragraph instead of the written agreement?
No. GOV.UK treats park homes as a special case when buying. A note about skirting, a closed vent and a hidden chassis does not replace the written agreement and does not set the pitch fee. The survey inspected the outside of the unit. The contract remains with the solicitor. Condition and site terms stay apart.