Survey costs
The mortgage valuation never mentions the heat pump. Why has that silence not cleared the installation?
Silence in the mortgage valuation has not cleared the heat pump. MoneyHelper treats a mortgage valuation as distinct from a structural survey: it is the lender's figure for security, not a defect list and not a service of the heating. If the valuer never mentions the pump, the pump was not reported. That is an absence, not a test that was passed. The home survey is the condition report. The valuation's quiet line does not show the unit was inspected, still less that it works.
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 valuation visit is brief and aimed at the lender's security. It can ignore plant the valuer was not asked to describe. Heat pumps need their own look: the outdoor unit, the pipes, and any record of servicing. None of that is created by a blank in someone else's form. Do not read the omission as a pass, and do not tell a broker the installation was signed off because a valuation forgot it.
Keep the valuation and the home survey as two documents. Ask the surveyor, in the home survey, what of the pump was actually seen, and ask the solicitor for any commissioning sheet or warranty. A lender may still want its own comments later. The valuation figure is the lender's number. It is not a finding that the machine is sound, and it does not fill a gap the home survey has left open.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Does MoneyHelper treat a mortgage valuation as a structural survey?
- Does a missing mention of the pump mean the valuer tested it?
- Which document is meant to describe the condition of the installation?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the valuation and the home survey apart.
- Ask what the home survey actually saw of the pump.
- Do not tell a broker the valuation cleared the installation.
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 down-valuation be read as a list of heating defects?
No. A down-valuation is the lender's figure for the security, not a defect list written by the home survey. It may not mention the heat pump at all. Do not mine it for a verdict on the machine. Use the home survey for condition, and ask the broker what the lender's number means for the loan. The two papers answer different questions.
Who should comment on whether the pump was serviced?
The home survey can note a missing sticker or a missing sheet. It does not service the machine and it does not invent a maintenance log. Ask the solicitor for any service record or warranty in the pack. A valuation that is silent has not supplied that record either. Servicing remains a separate trade from both visits.