Seller-side surveys
In a Scottish Home Report, what is the property questionnaire for, as against the single survey?
The questionnaire is the seller’s information about the property. The single survey is the chartered surveyor’s visual report on condition, with a valuation. mygov.scot describes the Home Report as those parts plus the energy report. The seller’s answers are not the surveyor’s findings, and the surveyor’s findings are not a promise the seller remembered every alteration.
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?
Read them against each other. If the questionnaire says the roof was renewed and the single survey says the covering looks older, ask for the invoice. If the survey says a chimney was not inspected and the questionnaire says nothing, you still have an uninspected chimney. RICS’s consumer guidance treats the Home Report as something a purchaser can rely on. Reliance does not fill in a page that was left blank.
In England there is no equivalent pack. The forms your solicitor uses are not a single survey. Do not ask an English seller for “the questionnaire part of the Home Report”. Ask your solicitor which forms this purchase uses, and instruct a survey for condition.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Where do the questionnaire and the single survey disagree?
- Which items are blank in both?
- What further inspection would answer a blank the seller cannot fill?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read all three parts before you offer.
- Ask for documents the questionnaire refers to.
- If you are the seller, answer the questionnaire from records, not from optimism.
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
Can the surveyor change the questionnaire?
No. They write the single survey. The seller writes the questionnaire. Corrections go through the seller.
Does a valuation in the single survey bind the lender?
It is the valuation in that report. A lender may still have its own requirements. Ask the lender if you need a mortgage.