Renegotiating or walking away
What are your options if the seller will not move on price and you have not exchanged?
You can proceed at the original price, with your eyes open and the quotes in the file, or you can walk away. Before exchange in England and Wales there is usually no binding contract forcing you to buy. The survey does not make that choice. RICS tells you to get quotes for rating 3 items before you commit. It does not tell you that any particular defect is a reason to withdraw.
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?
Walking away has costs you have already spent: survey, legal fees, searches. Those are not usually recoverable from the seller. Staying has costs you have been quoted for repairs. Compare those real numbers. A rating on its own is not one of the numbers. If a lender has also reduced the loan or asked for a retention, that is a third number, from the lender, not from the surveyor.
Ask your solicitor to confirm you are not yet bound, including by any lock-out or reservation agreement. If you are in Scotland, ask a Scottish solicitor. The Home Report process is not the English pre-exchange process. Do not copy a friend’s tactic from the other jurisdiction.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which defects would you still rate as urgent if we decide to proceed anyway?
- Which items are unknown because they were NI, so proceeding means accepting that unknown?
- What should the solicitor confirm about whether we are free to withdraw?
What are the typical next steps?
- Confirm with your solicitor that you can withdraw without a penalty.
- If you proceed, keep the quotes and do the urgent work after completion. Do not pretend the defects vanished.
- If you withdraw, say so cleanly. Do not leave the seller guessing while you reuse their papers.
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
Can the surveyor tell you to pull out?
They can tell you the consequences of a defect. The decision to withdraw is yours. The report is not an instruction to the agent.
If you stay, can you reopen the price after exchange?
Not unless the contract allows it. That is why the RICS timing is before legal commitment. Ask your solicitor.