Surveyor in Henley-on-Thames, United Kingdom

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WHAT IS A HOME REPORT IN SCOTLAND?

The Home Report was introduced in Scotland in December 2008. The purpose of the Home Report is to provide potential buyers with upfront information about the condition of the property which will enable them to make informed decisions prior to either viewing, or putting an offer on for the property.

The Home Report consists of 3 elements;
• Property Questionnaire,
• Survey
• Energy Performance Certificate (commonly known as an EPC).

The Property questionnaire is completed by the person selling the property and is contains the majority of information that is useful to potential buyers. It typical includes information about:

• The properties Council Tax Band
• Details of any alterations that have been made to the property
• Any parking arrangements
• Any additional charges that the buyer may incur such as upkeep of communal areas

The Survey is carried out by a Chartered Surveyor who is RICS regulated (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors). The survey will help potential buyers find out about the condition of the building and, if there are problems, give them powerful ammunition for negotiating the buying price down or asking the seller to rectify the problems.

The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) can be compiled by anyone who is licensed to produce EPC’s. An Energy Performance Certificate is required for properties when constructed, sold or let and provides details on the energy performance of the property and advice on what can be done to improve it.

There are also certain types of home that don’t need a Home Report. These include:

• houses that have been on the market since before 1 December 2008
• new houses that are being sold off-plan or to the first occupier
• newly converted homes that haven’t been used in their converted state yet
• right-to-buy homes
• dual-use homes used for both residential and non-residential purposes
• seasonal holiday homes that can only be used at certain times of the year (not second or holiday homes you could use all year if you wanted)

If a home doesn’t need a Home Report, the seller must still give you an Energy Performance Certificate.

The majority of larger firms of Chartered Surveyors including ourselves, produce Home Reports. They’ll provide both Survey and EPC elements of the Home Report while the property seller inputs the relevant information for the Property Questionnaire.
Once the individual documents are complete, the surveyors then produce one document that contains all elements of the Home Report. Some non-RICS registered companies will produce Home Reports but they have to obtain the three required elements from different parties before packaging them together into an all-in-one report.