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Seller-side surveys

A purchaser can rely on a Scottish Home Report. Why does forwarding an English buyer's PDF not create the same reliance?

Only a Scottish Home Report carries that reliance. A purchaser can rely on a Home Report. Forwarding an English buyer's PDF does not create the same thing. The PDF is a private instruction for whoever commissioned it in England. Emailing it to a Scottish purchaser, or attaching it to a schedule, does not turn it into the pack mygov.scot describes, and it does not borrow the reliance that belongs to the Home Report. The file may be interesting. It is not the document the purchaser is entitled to rely on in that way.

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?

Reliance is not a compliment you pay to any long survey. It is a feature of the Scottish Home Report, which the RICS consumer guide states a purchaser can rely on. The English PDF was written for a different client, under a different instruction, about whatever that surveyor was asked to do. The buyer who paid for it can use it for their own decision. Passing the file on does not make later readers the client, and it does not recreate the Home Report relationship.

If a Home Report is already in the Scottish pack, that is the document to hand to a purchaser. The English PDF can sit beside it only as someone else's private report. Do not label the PDF as a Home Report, and do not tell a purchaser they may rely on it as if it were one. If they want a further inspection, that is an extra they choose. It is not a substitute pack, and forwarding it does not manufacture reliance.

What should you ask your surveyor?

  • Is the document you were given a Home Report, or a private English survey?
  • Who was the client for the English PDF you are being asked to forward?
  • Which repairs in the Home Report are urgent or needing future attention?

What are the typical next steps?

  1. Give a purchaser the Home Report when they need a document they can rely on.
  2. Do not describe an English buyer's PDF as creating that reliance.
  3. Keep any extra inspection clearly separate from the pack.

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 saving the English PDF into the sales pack make it a Home Report?

No. Reliance belongs to the Scottish Home Report. A forwarded private PDF does not become one, and emailing it does not create that reliance.

Can the purchaser still rely on the actual Home Report?

Yes. A purchaser can rely on a Scottish Home Report. The English file does not add or remove that, because it is someone else's private survey.

Sources