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Seller-side surveys

Should a seller in England choose the surveyor the buyer will rely on?

No. In England and Wales the buyer’s home survey is instructed by the buyer, and RICS’s consumer material treats it as that buyer’s report. A seller can commission their own survey. They should not appoint themselves as the person who picks the buyer’s inspector and then call the result independent. A Scottish Home Report is the exception people confuse with this, and it is a different legal product.

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?

Agents sometimes offer a surveyor they know. You may use that firm if you appoint them yourself and you are the client. If the seller is the client, ask who may rely on the report before you skip your own. RICS does not publish a rule that a seller’s PDF binds the next buyer. In Scotland the seller must provide a Home Report where the law requires one, and a purchaser can rely on that pack. Do not recreate that by stapling an English invoice.

There is no national fee either way. Pay the firm whose duty is to you if you want a duty to you. Do not let a seller sit in the loft and tell the surveyor what not to photograph. That interference is not an inspection.

What should you ask your surveyor?

  • Who is the client on this instruction?
  • May anyone else rely on it?
  • Is this being described as a Home Report? It should not be, outside Scotland.

What are the typical next steps?

  1. Appoint your own surveyor if you want the report written for you.
  2. If you are the seller, hand over information. Do not edit the buyer’s brief.
  3. In Scotland, provide the Home Report. Do not invent an English substitute with the same name.

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 a seller give the buyer an old report?

They can hand over paper. The buyer should read who the client was and whether they may rely on it. Old is not the same as instructed for you.

Does the seller have to be out of the house?

They must allow the inspection they agreed. Hovering over every comment is how things get missed. Access matters more than small talk.

Sources