Selling in Scotland: the Home Report explained

If you’re selling a home in Scotland, you usually need a Home Report before you put it on the market, whether you use an agent or sell it yourself.

What’s in a Home Report

A Home Report has three parts:

• Single survey and valuation by a chartered surveyor, covering condition, accessibility and a valuation.
• Energy report, which includes the home’s energy-efficiency rating.
• Property questionnaire, completed by you, covering things like council tax band, alterations, guarantees and notices affecting the property.

The time limits

• The Home Report must be no more than 12 weeks old when the property is put on the market.
• You must give a copy to a prospective buyer within nine days of them asking.
• You may make a reasonable charge to cover copying and postage, but not for the report itself.
• You can take the home off the market for up to 28 days at a time and relist without a new report.

Trading Standards enforces these rules and can issue penalty charges.

Who doesn’t need one

Exemptions include new-build and newly converted homes not previously used in their converted state, right-to-buy sales, some seasonal holiday homes, properties unsafe for occupation and due for demolition, mixed residential and non-residential sales (such as a farmhouse sold with farmland), and portfolios of two or more homes sold together. An exempt home that is a dwelling still needs an EPC.

How selling works in Scotland

The process differs from England and Wales:

• Buyers often register a note of interest through their solicitor.
• If several people are interested, you can set a closing date by which formal offers must arrive.
• Offers are made formally by solicitors. Your solicitor and the buyer’s solicitor then exchange letters called missives.
• Once missives are concluded, the contract is legally binding, usually earlier in the process than in England.

Selling privately in Scotland

You can advertise and show the home yourself, but instruct a Scottish solicitor early: they handle offers, missives and settlement. On OpenSell, Scottish listings must confirm a Home Report is available or that the property is exempt.

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Sources

• mygov.scot: Home report
• Business Companion: Home Reports (Scotland)
• Citizens Advice Scotland: Selling a home

Last reviewed 7 October 2026. This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. Rules differ across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and can change; check with a solicitor or conveyancer about your own sale.