The survey report lands a few weeks after your offer was accepted. You open it expecting reassurance and find a red 3 next to the roof, another next to the damp in the back bedroom, and a paragraph telling you to get quotes. You've already paid for the survey, the searches and a chunk of legal work. The seller thinks the deal is done.

It isn't done. Here's how to use the report without blowing the purchase up.

Where you actually stand

In England and Wales, an accepted offer isn't a contract. You're legally committed at exchange of contracts, and not before. GOV.UK's own home buying guide is plain about it: "A verbal offer can be renegotiated at any time up to exchange, but you should think carefully before renegotiating and only do so when a change is justified."

Two things follow from that.

You can go back to the seller. A survey that turns up serious defects is exactly the kind of justification that guide has in mind. You aren't breaking any rule by asking.

So can they. The same freedom runs the other way. Until exchange, the seller can refuse, push back, or accept someone else's offer. Your leverage is real but it isn't unlimited, and it shrinks if the seller has other interest or you're the one in a hurry.

GOV.UK also warns that trying to renegotiate "when a sale nears completion may cause delays and could risk the sale falling through". Timing matters. Raise it as soon as you have the evidence, not the week before exchange.

If you're buying in Scotland, very little of this post applies. You're expected to have read the seller's Home Report before you offer, and once missives are concluded you have a binding contract. mygov.scot warns that pulling out after that can leave you liable for "thousands of pounds in damages". Take Scottish legal advice.

What the report is really telling you

Most of a survey report is noise for negotiating purposes. The condition ratings are what separate the noise from the signal, so it's worth reading them exactly as RICS defines them:

Condition rating 1: "No repair is currently needed."
Condition rating 2: "Defects that need repairing or replacing but are not considered to be either serious or urgent."
Condition rating 3: "Defects that are serious and/or need to be repaired, replaced or investigated urgently." RICS adds: "Written quotations for repairs should be obtained prior to legal commitment to purchase."

That last sentence is the whole method. The surveyor's own standard is telling you to get a number before you exchange. If the report has 3s on it, you have a professional reason to pause and a professional reason to ask.

A report full of 2s is different. On an older house a long list of 2s is normal, and a seller will reasonably say the asking price already reflected a house of that age. You can mention them. You usually can't win on them.

It also matters which survey you had. A Level 3 can include "an estimate of costs and likely timescale for identified repairs", where practicable and agreed, and it tries to propose "the most probable cause" of a defect. A Level 2 doesn't do either. So a Level 2 tells you there's a problem, and you have to go and find out what it costs. If you're still choosing a survey, which level you actually need covers the difference properly.

Turn ratings into numbers

"The surveyor mentioned damp" isn't a negotiating position. It's an opinion, and the seller's agent has heard it before. A written quote from a contractor who has been to the property is a number, and numbers are much harder to argue with.

So before you say anything to the seller:

Get quotes for every 3. Ideally two for each, from people who've actually looked at it. The seller may need to let a builder or roofer in, which is a normal request at this stage.

Get the cause diagnosed before you get a price for the cure. This matters most for damp and cracks, where the obvious diagnosis is often the wrong one and the people quoting to fix it are also the people selling the fix. A "rising damp" quote for a chemical injection is worth very little if the real problem is a blocked gutter. Our posts on damp and cracks and subsidence go through what to check first.

Sort everything into three piles.

Serious, urgent or structural. The 3s, with quotes. This is what you're really negotiating over, and it's reasonable to ask for the quoted cost.
Real but ordinary. Worn-out things that need doing in the next few years. You can argue some of this, but expect the seller to say it's what an older house looks like.
Cosmetic. Tired kitchens, dated bathrooms, decoration. Leave it out. Asking for it weakens everything else in the letter.

Keep the pile-one list short. Three well-evidenced items land better than fifteen mixed ones.

When your case is strongest

Some findings carry more weight than others, and it isn't only about cost.

Something wasn't disclosed. If the report finds a problem the seller clearly knew about and didn't mention, you're no longer asking them to share the cost of age. You're asking them to price in something they left out.

The listing oversold it. If the property was marketed as "recently renovated" or "in excellent condition" and the survey says otherwise, that gap is your argument. The price was set on a description that turned out not to be true. It's worth reading what agents' words actually mean with that in mind.

Your case is weakest when the problem was obvious at the viewing. A visibly sagging ceiling you walked under twice is hard to present as a surprise.

Price cut, repairs, or walk away

There are really three outcomes, and a price reduction isn't automatically the best one.

A lower price. Clean and simple, and you stay in control of who does the work and to what standard. The catch is that the money you save stays in the property and the cash for repairs has to come from you after completion.

The seller does the work before exchange. This can suit a seller who'd rather not cut the headline price. The risk is that you have no control over who they hire or how well it's done, and they're motivated to do it as cheaply as possible. If you go this way, ask for the paperwork: invoices, any guarantees, and ideally a re-inspection by your surveyor before you exchange.

Walking away. Painful after the money you've spent, but survey fees and legal costs are sunk either way. They aren't a reason to buy a house with a £20,000 roof problem you can't afford. Sometimes the report did exactly its job.

How to put it to the seller

Do it in writing, through the estate agent, with the evidence attached. The agent has to pass it on: under the Estate Agents (Undesirable Practices) (No. 2) Order 1991, an agent is at fault if they fail to forward "promptly and in writing accurate details" of any offer they receive. A revised offer is an offer.

Keep the tone flat and factual. You aren't accusing anyone of anything. You're saying the survey found X, here are the quotes, and on that basis you'd like to proceed at a revised figure. Give the seller the relevant pages of the report as well as the quotes, because the agent will be asked "says who?" and you want them to have the answer.

Then let the seller think. They may come back with a counter-offer somewhere in between, and that's usually how these end.

What to do about it

Read the ratings first. Pull out every 3. Those are your agenda. Most 2s aren't.
Ask your surveyor anything you don't understand. They've already been paid, and a quick call about how serious something is will cost you nothing and may save you a lot.
Get the cause diagnosed, then get quotes. Two quotes per serious item, in writing, from people who've been to the property.
Sort into serious, ordinary and cosmetic. Negotiate on the first pile, mention the second if it's significant, drop the third.
Check the listing and the seller's disclosures against what the survey found. Anything undisclosed or oversold is your strongest point.
Tell your solicitor and your mortgage broker what the survey found before you negotiate, so nothing about the revised deal surprises either of them.
Put a revised offer in writing through the agent, with quotes and report pages attached. Do it promptly, not near exchange.
Decide your walk-away figure before they reply. Knowing it in advance is what stops sunk costs making the decision for you.

The honest summary

Until exchange, a bad survey is a legitimate reason to reopen the price, and the RICS wording on a condition rating 3 is on your side. What actually moves the seller is quotes, not ratings, and a short list of serious problems, not a long list of everything. Remember the seller is just as free to say no as you are to ask. The best outcome isn't always a discount. Sometimes the report was worth its fee because it told you to leave.

This is general information, not legal, financial or structural advice. It describes the process in England and Wales, as at September 2026; Scotland and Northern Ireland differ. Speak to your solicitor before changing your offer or withdrawing, and to a qualified professional about the condition of a specific property.