Choosing a survey level
Only the mortgage valuation mentions a retention. Does your Level 2 have to repeat that sum?
It does not have to. A retention written only on the mortgage valuation is the lender's point, on the lender's document. MoneyHelper describes that valuation as their check for the loan, not as your structural survey, so the sum does not have to be copied into the Level 2. A retention is not cash you can spend, and it is not a down-valuation.
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?
Your Level 2 describes condition. If you bought it as survey only, it has no market value and no reinstatement figure at all, and still no duty to reprint a lender's retention. If you bought the version with those two figures, they are a market valuation and a reinstatement figure, not the lender's retention and not a repair budget. The retention lives where the lender put it. Forcing the surveyor to type the same pounds into the Level 2 would mix two instructions.
Use each paper for what it is. Ask the lender what the retention means for the loan, and ask the surveyor what condition they actually found. Do not add the retention to the price, do not subtract it and call the result a down-valuation, and do not treat it as money in your account waiting for builders. If the Level 2 never mentions the figure, that omission is consistent with a survey that was not the valuation. It is not a hole in the ratings.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did your Level 2 instruction include any valuation figures at all?
- Are you able to confirm you were not asked to copy a lender's retention?
- Which defects are yours to describe, whether or not a retention exists?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the retention on the valuation only.
- Do not ask the Level 2 to repeat the lender's sum.
- Keep retention, down-valuation and condition ratings as three different ideas.
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 Level 2 later mentions the same figure, has it become the valuation?
No. A mention would still not make the survey the lender's decision, and a retention would still not be cash you can spend.
Is a retention proof the house failed the survey?
No. It is a lending point. Your Level 2 ratings, if you have them, are the condition record.