What's in a Home Report: the three parts explained

The three parts, in reading order

1. 1

   The Single Survey

   The heart of the report: a RICS surveyor's inspection rating every element - roof, walls, damp, timber, services - as 1 (no action), 2 (repair or maintenance needed) or 3 (urgent or serious), plus a market valuation and an accessibility audit. Broadly a Level 2 survey in depth: thorough on what's visible, not invasive.

2. 2

   The Energy Report

   The EPC rating (A to G) with estimated running costs and the upgrades that would improve them. In older stone stock, treat it as a heat-loss to-do list priced in future bills - and increasingly, in mortgage products that reward efficiency.

3. 3

   The Property Questionnaire

   The seller's own declarations: council tax band, alterations and their consents, notices, flooding history, factoring arrangements for flats, parking, guarantees. Legally the seller's answers, not the surveyor's - read it for what has paperwork and what conspicuously doesn't.

What it isn't

The Single Survey is standardised and surface-level by design: no lifted floorboards, no opened electrics, no drain tests. On an extended Victorian tenement flat or a house with visible alterations, a buyer can and sometimes should add their own deeper survey or specialist checks on top. The valuation inside is also a single professional's figure, and when the market disagrees with it, the low-valuation guide covers what happens next. What the report certainly is: the shared factual floor every offer in a Scottish sale is built on - which is why getting it done well matters more than getting it done cheap.