The Scottish Home Report - why we need a review?

by Professor Stewart Brymer

Professor Stewart Brymer makes the case for why a review of the Scottish Home Report is needed and how it will benefit the overall aim of delivering a better built environment in Scotland – which is itself integral to economic development

The Scottish Home Report consists of a single survey, an energy performance certificate and a property questionnaire – the latter being completed and signed by the selling home owner.

The single survey provides a comprehensive guide to the condition of the property, together with a valuation. In principle, therefore, it provides much more detailed information to both house buyers and sellers than is usually the case at present and avoids the need for competing house purchasers to commission separate surveys and valuations. It also ensures that there is an independent valuation of the property available so that potential buyers do not have to rely on the upset price or ‘offers over’ price to decide if it is likely to be affordable. In practice, there are variances in some locations on marketing techniques but in general, this has resulted in properties being marketed at or around 95% of the valuation in the single survey – the valuation being based on recent comparable evidence. The main point of negotiation with surveyors was the issue of liability. It was agreed that the surveyor’s duty of care would pass to the ultimate buyer.

Despite initial reservations, the Home Report has worked well in Scotland. However, it is not perfect. This paper discusses why a review is now required to support improvement.

About the Author

Professor Stewart Brymer graduated with First Class Honours in Law from the University of Dundee (1979).  He is a past-convenor of the Property Law Committee of The Law Society of Scotland and co-Founder of the Scottish Conveyancers Forum.

Stewart is a member of the Professorial Panel on Property law matters and is an Honorary Professor at the University of Dundee. 

He is also a prolific writer and is co-author of “Conveyancing in the Electronic Age” and “Leases” with Professor Robert Rennie and “Professor McDonald’s Conveyancing Manual” along with over 175 articles on Conveyancing and Leasing law.

 Why is DHI thinking about the Home Report?

There is much discussion about the quality of the housing stock in Scotland.  The need to retrofit ageing housing stock to cope with changing climate in the years ahead is a frequent subject of conversation.  In our previous work on the Scottish Land and Building Information System (ScotLIS), the potential for improvement in the Home Report came up in discussion but we were not able to fully explore the issue.  This discussion paper makes the case for why a review of the Home Report is needed and how it will benefit the overall aim of delivering a better built environment in Scotland – which is itself integral to economic development.