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Seller-side surveys

mygov.scot's exemption for a seasonal holiday home does not cover a second home you can use all year. What should the seller still confirm?

The seller should still confirm with their solicitor whether this property is exempt at all. A second home you can use all year is not the seasonal holiday exemption. That exemption is for a home that can only be used at certain times of year. Do not widen it because the house is sometimes empty. If the sale is exempt, an EPC is still required. If a Home Report is required, provide it within nine days of being asked.

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 seasonal wording is narrow on purpose. mygov.scot lists exemptions that include a seasonal holiday home usable only at certain times of year, alongside other cases such as property marketed since before 1 December 2008, some new and newly converted homes, and dual use. A cottage you can occupy in January as easily as in July is a second home, not that seasonal case. Emptiness while you are away is not a restriction on use. If you tell buyers you are exempt, you need the solicitor's confirmation, not a hopeful reading of the word holiday.

Exemption, where it truly applies, does not wipe out the energy document. The seller must still provide an EPC. It also says nothing about condition. There is no rating hidden in an exemption. Where a Home Report is required, the three parts still matter: single survey and valuation, property questionnaire of 16 categories, and energy report. Urgent items and future-attention items still lead a buyer to consider cost and get estimates. Your task is to confirm the status, then supply what that status requires, without borrowing a neighbouring exemption that does not fit.

What should you ask your surveyor?

  • Can this house be used all year, or only at certain times?
  • Who has told you it is exempt: a solicitor, or a description you prefer?
  • If it is exempt, have you still arranged the EPC?

What are the typical next steps?

  1. Ask the solicitor whether any Home Report exemption applies.
  2. Do not use the seasonal exemption for an all-year second home.
  3. Provide an EPC even if the sale is exempt from 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 sometimes leaving the house empty make it seasonal?

No. The exemption is for a home that can only be used at certain times of year, not for a second home usable all year.

Does an exemption remove the need for an energy document?

No. If the sale is exempt, an EPC is still required.

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