Age and type of house
The seller has put the site licence in the survey envelope. Why is that licence not a condition rating of the home?
The site licence in the survey envelope is not a condition rating of the home. A licence is a site document the seller has supplied. It is not a mark on the shell, the chassis or the damp, and the survey does not issue licences or replace them. GOV.UK's how-to-buy guidance treats park homes as a special case and says to take specific advice. The licence stays with the solicitor. It does not set a pitch fee, and the unit must not be called a bungalow because the papers arrived together.
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?
People staple extra documents to a report and then treat the bundle as one opinion. The surveyor did not write the licence, and the licence does not describe cracks, floors or a chassis. Putting it in the same envelope does not promote it into the ratings. The written agreement is a further document the survey also does not replace.
Read the licence with your solicitor, as part of the specific advice this purchase needs. Do not ask the survey firm to score it, and do not summarise the legislation in order to guess what the licence means. If the unit is a static caravan, keep that description. Condition, if it is inspected, remains a separate comment from the piece of paper in the envelope.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you read the site licence as a site document, or only see that it was enclosed?
- Will you keep that licence out of the condition ratings?
- Are you leaving what the licence allows to the solicitor's advice?
What are the typical next steps?
- Give the site licence to the solicitor, not to the condition ratings.
- Do not treat the envelope as proof the licence has been checked by the survey.
- Take specific advice, as GOV.UK's how-to-buy guidance says for this special case.
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
If the licence is current, is the unit in good condition?
No. A current licence is not a condition rating. It says nothing about the shell or the chassis the survey may or may not have seen.
Does enclosing the licence mean the survey adopted it?
No. The seller put it in the envelope. The survey does not replace the licence and does not turn it into a rating of the home.