Survey costs
One quote mentions the cellar and the other is silent. What inspection has the silent quote not promised?
The silent quote has not promised an inspection of the cellar. The other quote mentions it, so that firm has put the cellar into what you are buying. Silence is not the same sentence. You cannot read a cellar inspection into a fee that never names one. MoneyHelper makes a different point that is easy to mix in here: a mortgage valuation is not a structural survey. Neither quote becomes that valuation, and the quiet one has not promised the below-ground look.
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?
Cellars are dark, sometimes locked, and often where damp and structure actually show. A firm that writes the cellar into the quote is telling you it expects to go there and to report on it, subject to access. A firm that says nothing may still go, or may treat it as outside the usual rooms. You will not know from the silence. Comparing the two figures as if they bought the same inspection is the mistake. The missing promise is the cellar, not a mysterious discount.
Ask the silent firm, before you accept, whether the cellar is included and what they will do if it is locked. Keep both quotes, with that answer, for the solicitor if the report later skips the space. Do not invent a price difference as a judgement of quality. Do not treat either home-survey quote as the lender's mortgage valuation, which is a different product and not a structural survey.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Does the silent quote mention the cellar anywhere in the inclusions?
- What will that firm do if the cellar is locked on the day?
- Have you compared like with like, or only the two fees?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the silent quote as not having promised a cellar inspection.
- Ask that firm to confirm in writing whether the cellar is in.
- Do not confuse either quote with a mortgage valuation.
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 both fees look similar, have you bought the same survey?
Not on the fees alone. One quote mentions the cellar and the other does not, so the silent quote has not promised that inspection. Similar money is not similar scope. A mortgage valuation is a different product again and is not a structural survey. Compare what each document says will be inspected, including the rooms below ground.
Can you assume the cheaper quote forgot to type the word cellar?
No. An omission is not a typo you are entitled to read in. The silent quote has not promised the cellar. Ask the firm to add it expressly if you want it. Until they do, you have a quote that does not mention the space. Do not invent a reason for the gap, and do not invent what the fee would have been.