Renegotiating or walking away
What should you ask if the seller offers to “sort the roof” before completion?
Ask who will do it, to what specification, by when, and what happens if it is late. A promise to sort the roof is not a quote and not a building-regulations application. Get it in the contract if you are going to rely on it. Your solicitor writes that. A text to the agent is not the contract.
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?
Work done in a hurry before completion can hide the defect the survey described. You may lose the chance to see the timbers. Sometimes a price reduction is cleaner than a seller’s contractor you did not choose. Sometimes the work is simple and worth taking. The survey does not choose. You do, with the solicitor.
If they repair, ask whether you may reinspect. A reinspection is often a new fee. RICS does not include it in the original price by default. Agree it before you exchange. Do not expect the original surveyor to certify a repair they have not been paid to see.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What would “sorted” mean for this defect, in a way a contractor can price?
- Would you need to see it again, and is that a new fee?
- Are you able to certify someone else’s repair? Only if instructed.
What are the typical next steps?
- Put any agreed work in the contract with a standard and a date.
- Prefer money off if you do not trust a rushed repair. Say so explicitly.
- Do not exchange on a handshake about the roof.
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
Should you withhold the key until the work is done?
Completion and keys follow the contract. Ask the solicitor. Do not invent a retention unless it is documented. A lender’s retention is not yours to copy.
Is a guarantee from the seller’s roofer worth having?
Only if you can enforce it and it covers this roof. Read it. A guarantee is not a new survey.