Survey costs
Is the lender’s valuation fee the same invoice as your home survey?
No. MoneyHelper describes the mortgage valuation as something done for the lender, and it is not a structural survey. Your home survey is an invoice between you and the survey firm. Sometimes one visit produces both, and you should still see two scopes. Sometimes you pay the lender and the surveyor separately.
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?
A broker’s illustration can list a valuation fee and say nothing about a Level 2. That silence is not a discount. Ask what document you will receive and whose name will be on the instruction. If you only pay the valuation, assume you only get a valuation until someone shows you a survey in writing. RICS does not set either fee.
If the lender retains part of the loan because of condition, that retention is not a refund of the valuation fee and not a cap on the repair. Read it with the survey if you have one. If you do not have a survey, you are negotiating from the lender’s document alone, which was not written to advise you.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- If you attend for both jobs, what will I be billed for each?
- Which report will I be allowed to see?
- What does the valuation fee not buy?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask the lender for the valuation fee in writing.
- Instruct a survey separately if the valuation is all that is included.
- Do not subtract the valuation fee from a repair quote. They are not the same kind of money.
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 valuation is free, is the survey free?
No. Ask. A free valuation is still a valuation.
Can you use the seller’s valuation?
Only if the lender and the instructions allow it, which is uncommon in England. In Scotland the Home Report includes a valuation the purchaser can use. Do not mix the two countries up.