Amber on Your Homebuyer Report (Condition Rating 2): What Now?
Your homebuyer report has landed and most of it is amber. That is normal. Condition Rating 2 is the rating a surveyor gives to defects that need repairing or replacing but are not serious or urgent, and on a lived-in house most of the report will be 2s. It is the ordinary condition of a building people have lived in, not a warning that something is about to fail.
The hard part is that the rating doesn't tell you which ambers you can forget about and which ones you can't.
Does an amber rating tell you what the repair will cost?
No. Condition Rating 2 describes the condition of one element, and the scale has no money axis. A worn bit of pointing and a roof covering near the end of its life can sit in the same amber box. You need the findings priced before you can judge what the ambers add up to.
The rating describes the condition of one element. It has no money axis. A worn bit of pointing and a roof covering near the end of its life can both sit in the same amber box, and the report won't tell you whether either one is a £300 job or a £10,000 one.
So don't count the ambers. A report with thirty of them can be a perfectly good house. Rating 2 findings are what a normal house looks like, and most of them can be spread across years of ordinary maintenance rather than done in year one.
If you want a rough number for the common findings, our free survey repair cost calculator carries cost ranges for the findings that come up most often.
Which amber items should I look at before exchange?
Two kinds. An amber with further investigation recommended, which is a quiet flag that the surveyor wasn't comfortable with what they could see, and anything expensive marked NI, meaning not inspected. Both belong on your list of things to get looked at before you exchange, after any Condition Rating 3 items.
Two things can turn an ordinary-looking amber into something worth acting on before exchange:
- "Further investigation" attached to a Rating 2. That is a quiet flag that the surveyor wasn't comfortable with what they could see. It is a separate instruction from the rating, and it should go on your list of things to get looked at before you exchange. Our guide to further investigation recommended explains each one.
- NI (not inspected) on something expensive. NI isn't a rating at all. It means the surveyor couldn't get to it. An NI on the roof space or the drains can deserve more attention than an amber on a gutter.
The red items still come first. If your report has any Condition Rating 3s, start with what a Condition Rating 3 means, then come back to the ambers.
Can I renegotiate the price on amber items?
Rarely on their own. Sellers respond to a short, costed list of work that genuinely needs doing now, not to general wear or a dated kitchen that was visible when you offered. Lead with the Condition Rating 3 items and anything with further investigation recommended, with a cost against each one.
Don't take the whole amber list to the agent. Sellers respond to a short, costed list of work that genuinely needs doing, not to a dated kitchen or general wear, which was visible when you offered. Our guide to negotiating after a survey covers what to put in front of the agent and how.
Get a builder to sort the ambers for you
That's what the £59 survey review is for. You send the report, and a working builder goes through every finding and tells you which are genuinely urgent, which are normal wear for a house of that age, and what each one realistically costs, plus a view on what's worth taking back to the agent. Written review plus a call within 24 hours.
Written by Ben Murrell, a builder for nearly 30 years who started as an apprentice in the late 1990s. FMB member and public liability insured. He never quotes for or carries out the work he reviews, and takes no commission.
Related: Survey found damp? · Survey mentions movement? · RICS survey levels explained · How to read a RICS survey report · Worried about your survey results? · Survey red flags ranked by repair cost · Survey jargon decoder
Frequently asked questions
What does amber mean on a homebuyer report?
Amber is Condition Rating 2: a defect that needs repairing or replacing but is not serious or urgent. Most of a report on a lived-in house will be Condition Rating 2.
Should I worry about a lot of Condition Rating 2 items?
Usually not. The rating says nothing about cost, and Rating 2 findings are what a normal house looks like. Look harder at any amber with further investigation recommended, and at anything expensive marked NI (not inspected).
Can I renegotiate on amber items?
Sellers respond to a short, costed list of work that genuinely needs doing, not to general wear that was visible when you offered. Most ambers are maintenance, so they rarely move the price on their own.
Work it out yourself
Free tools built on real 2026 builder rates. No sign-up, no email.