Category 3 in a Home Report: What It Means and What to Do Before You Offer

If you're buying in Scotland, the order of things is different from England and Wales. The seller has to provide a Home Report before the property is marketed, so the survey is in your hands before you offer. That's a real advantage, but it changes when you need to act. A Category 3 is something to understand and price before your offer goes in, not afterwards.

What's in a Home Report

Three documents, provided by the seller:

• The Single Survey, by a chartered surveyor, with a valuation and a condition rating for each part of the property
• The Energy Report, which includes the EPC
• The Property Questionnaire, filled in by the seller: council tax band, alterations, past repairs, factor and common charges

The information must be no more than 12 weeks old when the property is first marketed. On a house that's been for sale for months, the survey describes it as it was when it was listed.

What the categories mean

• Category 1: no immediate action or repair needed
• Category 2: repairs or replacement requiring future attention. Estimates are advised.
• Category 3: urgent repairs or replacement needed now. Estimates should be obtained.

As with the RICS Condition Ratings in England, the category says nothing about cost. A Category 3 can be a £150 gutter joint or a £15,000 roof. Separating the two is the whole job.

Why timing matters more in Scotland

Once your offer is accepted and missives are concluded, you are legally committed. There's no stage like the gap before exchange in England where buyers routinely renegotiate on survey findings, and in any case the seller will point out you had the Home Report before you offered. So:

• Price the Category 3s before you offer. Your offer should already reflect them.
• Watch the closing date. If a closing date is set, everything has to happen before it. Ask the agent early.
• If something can't be priced in time, talk to your solicitor about whether an offer can be made subject to a condition, or offer at a level that leaves room for the worst case.

Tenements and flats: the common repairs

A lot of Category 3s in Scottish flats are on the common parts: the roof, the chimney stacks, the stonework, the close. You'll pay a share of those repairs, not the whole bill, but you'll pay it whoever owned the flat when the work was needed. Ask:

• Is there a factor, and are any common repairs already agreed or under way?
• What does the title say about how costs are shared? Where the titles don't say, the Tenement Management Scheme sets the default rules.
• Are there any outstanding bills or statutory notices from the council?

Your solicitor will check the titles. The questions to the factor are worth asking yourself, early.

Getting your own survey

The Home Report is a good general inspection, but it's broadly similar in depth to a Level 2 in England. For an older stone house, a heavily altered property, or one with several Category 3s, it can be worth commissioning a more detailed survey of your own before you offer, or asking a specialist to look at the specific items.

What to do, step by step

1. List every Category 3, plus any expensive Category 2s such as roof coverings and windows.
2. Separate your property from the common parts, and work out your likely share of the common items.
3. Get estimates or a builder's costed view before the closing date.
4. Check the Property Questionnaire against the survey: past repairs, alterations and any guarantees.
5. Set your offer with those costs in mind, and decide your top figure before you submit.

If you're comparing with how it works south of the border, see RICS survey levels explained and how to get quotes after a survey, before exchange. Local guides: Edinburgh · Glasgow · Aberdeen