The homebuyer report is the mid level RICS survey, sold under a trade name that has outlived several rebrandings. It exists because most buyers of a conventional house need more than a lender's valuation and less than a full building survey, and it is written in a structured format so that two reports on two houses can be compared.
The format
Condition ratings against each element, a summary of the items that matter, commentary on defects and their implications, and advice on maintenance. Photographs are referenced to the text. The structure is what makes it quick to read.
What it adds over a valuation
A valuation is a figure for a lender. The homebuyer report is a description of the building for you, with ratings, explanations and recommendations. They answer different questions and only one of them is addressed to you.
The optional valuation
Many firms will add a market valuation and a reinstatement cost for insurance. Ask for it at the point of instruction if you want it, because adding it later can mean a second visit. Where a lender has already valued the property, a second opinion of value is often unnecessary and the fee is better spent on the level above.
Where it runs out
It does not investigate, so where a defect needs a cause rather than a rating, it will recommend a further report. On an old or altered building that recommendation arrives often enough that the level above is usually the better buy.
A building survey report example, and how to read one before you pay
Ask the surveyor for a sample of the report you are buying, not a brochure, and read three parts of it. The condition ratings, which flag each element as no repair needed, needing attention or serious and urgent, and which are the spine of the document: count how many threes there are and whether each one is explained. The limitations, which say what was not inspected, and on almost every survey that includes under floors, inside walls, behind fitted units and anything requiring a ladder above a certain height. And the further investigation recommendations, which are where a report either helps you or passes the problem back: a useful one says who should investigate and roughly what it involves, a weak one recommends a specialist for everything it saw. A sample also tells you the report's length and tone, which is worth knowing before you commission the most detailed level of survey and discover it is thirty pages of standard text with four sentences about your house.
Questions people ask about homebuyer report survey
Is a homebuyer report the same as a home buyers survey?
Yes. They are two names for the mid level RICS survey, and firms use them interchangeably.
Does the homebuyer report include a valuation?
Only if you ask for it. It is an option on the mid level report rather than part of it.
What does a surveyor's home buyers report cost?
It is priced on the property's size, age and location and on whether a valuation is included. Give three firms the same details and the range answers it for your house.
What is the house buyers survey cost driven by?
Floor area, the number of storeys and whether a valuation is added, not the asking price. A large bungalow can cost more to survey than a small townhouse worth twice as much.
How much does a property survey cost against a valuation?
More, because a valuation is a figure for a lender and a survey is an inspection with a report. The two are different products and a low quote is often the first sold as the second.
Is a survey report example worth reading before instructing?
Yes, and for one specific reason: it shows you the condition rating system and how much the report hedges. Most reports use a three level rating per element, and reading a sample teaches you what a rating two actually means and how often the phrase further investigation is recommended appears, which is the phrase that decides whether you need a specialist before exchange. What a sample cannot tell you is anything about your house. Ask the surveyor for a redacted example of their own work at the level you are buying rather than a template from a trade body, because the difference between two surveyors at the same level is the detail they put in.