Choosing a survey level
Why does a Scottish single survey include a valuation when an English Level 2 usually does not?
Because they are different products. mygov.scot says the single survey, inside the Home Report, gives a valuation: an opinion of what the home is worth, based on a visual inspection. A typical Level 2 in England is a condition survey you commission. MoneyHelper’s warning still applies in England: a mortgage valuation is not a structural survey. Do not swap the names.
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 Home Report is the seller’s pack: single survey and valuation, property questionnaire, and energy report, where one is required. You may still pay for a further survey if you want a closer look. That second instruction is not the valuation in the Home Report, and the Home Report is not an English Level 2 that happens to have been written in Scotland.
Lenders in Scotland may use the Home Report valuation or they may want their own. Ask the lender. Do not treat the figure in the single survey as a promise your mortgage will match it. In England, if you want a valuation and a condition survey, the quote should say both. Paying one does not buy the other.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Is the document in front of me a single survey with a valuation, or a Level 2 without one?
- Which limits in the inspection apply to both the condition comments and the valuation?
- If I want a deeper look, what extra instruction is possible in Scotland?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the valuation paragraph and the condition comments as two parts of the same visual inspection.
- Ask your lender whether they will use this valuation.
- Do not brief an English Level 2 firm as if they were producing a Home Report.
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 bind the lender?
No. It is an opinion in the single survey. The lender decides what it will advance.
Is an energy report in the Home Report the same as the valuation?
No. mygov.scot lists them as separate parts. The energy report is not the opinion of value.