Age and type of house
What should you ask if a former school is now a house and still has one very large hall?
Ask how that hall is roofed and heated, and which parts the surveyor could not reach. A school conversion keeps long spans, high windows and a volume a normal house survey does not assume. The inspection is still visual. It does not prove the change of use was signed off, and it does not test the heating of a hall that tall.
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?
Papers for the conversion are for the solicitor. Condition is for the survey: the roof structure you can see, glazed walls, damp at a high cill, a floor designed for a corridor. RICS levels differ in how much they describe. None of them issues planning permission. A large hall can make a fee higher because it takes longer. There is still no national tariff.
Do not price the heating from the EPC’s average. That model is not a quote to keep a hall warm. Do not assume a gallery is a structural floor because it has a sofa on it. If the survey could not see the roof, say so before you buy the furniture.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which high parts were out of reach?
- What did you see of the roof structure over the hall?
- Which approvals are outside the inspection?
What are the typical next steps?
- Tell the firm it is a former school before they quote.
- Ask the solicitor for the conversion consents.
- Get a heating view from someone who can see the system, not from the energy graph.
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
Is a church conversion the same hall?
It is another tall conversion. The limits depend on this roof and this access. Do not copy one report onto the other.
Does a big room mean non-standard construction?
No. Size is not a concrete system. Name the structure if you can see it.