Spray foam and lenders
The lender has asked whether spray foam is present and the survey says the rafters were covered. What question is still for the lender, not for a condition rating alone?
The question still for the lender is whether this roof, with the rafters covered, is acceptable to them as security. The survey says the rafters were covered, which is a condition observation about spray foam or a similar coating hiding the timber. A condition rating, if one is given, records the surveyor's view of that covering. It does not answer the lender's criteria, and it does not apply for the mortgage. The lender asked whether spray foam is present. The survey has described covered rafters. The lending decision remains the lender's.
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?
Spray foam can prevent a surveyor seeing the rafters, the felt and the underside of the covering, which is why the sentence matters. RICS publishes consumer guidance on spray foam insulation. That guidance does not set a particular lender's rule, and this report should not invent one. Covered timber is a limit on the inspection as well as a material fact. Say what could not be seen. Then let the lender, shown that description, decide what they will or will not lend on.
Send the survey wording to the lender or the broker and ask them, in terms, whether covered rafters of this kind meet their requirement. Ask the seller what product was used, when, and whether any guarantee exists, and pass that on without pretending it is a structural clearance. Do not argue that a condition rating has already answered the lender. It has not. The open question is their acceptance, and only they close it.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What did you see on the rafters, and what could you no longer see because of it?
- Have you left the lender's acceptance question unanswered by any rating?
- What product name, if any, were you actually given?
What are the typical next steps?
- Tell the lender the survey found the rafters covered.
- Ask the lender whether that is acceptable to them.
- Do not treat a condition rating as the lender's answer.
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 foam is only at the eaves, does the lender's question fall away?
Not automatically. Limited foam is still foam the survey should describe, and the lender asked whether it is present. How much they will tolerate is their question, not something a rating alone decides. The lender still has to say yes or no.
Does a guarantee in the drawer answer the lender?
A guarantee is a paper from an installer, if it is genuine. It is not the lender's decision, and it does not let the surveyor see the rafters that were covered. Pass it to the lender rather than treating it as their answer.