Choosing a survey level
If you are buying in Scotland, do you still choose a Level 2 the English way?
Not as the default pack. The seller provides a Home Report in most sales: a single survey and valuation, a property questionnaire and an energy report. mygov.scot describes that pack. You can still commission your own inspection if you want one. An English Level 2 quote does not replace the Home Report the seller must give you.
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?
The single survey is a visual inspection by a chartered surveyor. It is not your English Level 3, and it is not “nothing”. Read it. If repairs are marked urgent or needing future attention, mygov.scot says to consider whether you can cope with the cost. It does not publish those costs. Get estimates.
Exceptions exist, including some new homes sold off-plan. Do not assume a Home Report is missing unlawfully until you have read the exceptions. England and Wales do not use this system. Do not demand a Home Report from a seller in Manchester.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Is a Home Report already available, and is this sale one of the exceptions?
- If I commission extra, what will it add that the single survey did not do?
- Are you writing for Scotland or recycling an English template?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the single survey before you pay for a second survey out of habit.
- Commission extra only for a gap: a test, a roof void they could not enter, a specialist.
- Get repair estimates if the single survey marks repairs. Do not invent them.
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 the valuation in the Home Report bind you?
It is part of the pack buyers are given. Your offer is still your offer. Ask your solicitor how the Scottish process treats it. It is not an English mortgage valuation.
Can the seller hide the Home Report?
mygov.scot says it should be provided within nine days of being asked, in the sales that need one. Chase it through the agent and your solicitor.