The short answer
Usually the person who orders it. If you commission a roof survey as a buyer, you pay for it, and the report is yours. A seller can also order one and share it. Either way the survey itself costs the same, and what makes it worth paying for is what you do with the findings when you talk about the price.
The bill goes to whoever books the visit. What matters more is who owns the report and how it is used once it is on the table.
The person who books pays
There is no automatic rule that a seller covers a buyer's roof survey. If you book a roofer to go up on a house you want to buy, you agree the fee with them and you pay it. A seller who books a survey pays for that one in the same way.
What does a roof survey cost?
MyJobQuote gives an average of around £300 for a roof survey, with a drone survey at £200 to £350, as typical UK ranges (Oct 2026). A particular visit may differ, because access, roof size and the number of details to check all matter.
The cost is small beside a roof repair bill, and it buys something a general survey cannot give: a close look at the covering, the valleys and the loft, with pictures to prove it. A homebuyer's surveyor looks at the whole house and often views the roof from the ground. A roofer goes up, photographs the covering and checks the details close up. If the sale depends on the roof, that extra information is the part worth buying.
Buyer-commissioned reports and who owns them
A report you pay for belongs to you. The seller has no automatic right to read it, and you decide whether to share it. That matters, because the findings may strengthen your hand in the negotiation or tell you to walk away.
Can a seller refuse access for a survey?
A seller has to agree to a visit, since the roofer needs to go on the property and into the loft, and the estate agent usually arranges a time that suits everyone. Ask through the agent, and give a sensible window. Sellers often agree, especially when a clean report may help the sale along. Access is a request, not a right, and a polite one tends to work.
If the seller already has a report, ask to see it, and check its date and who wrote it. A seller's report is useful, but it was written for the seller. A buyer who is worried about a particular spot can still commission a second look and decide which version to trust.
Our answer on the roof in a homebuyer survey explains what a general surveyor will and will not tell you.
Using the findings to talk about price
A survey report with photos turns a worry into a number. If the roof needs work, you can ask the seller to reduce the price, to pay for the repair or to carry it out before completion. Each of those starts from the same place: evidence you can show.
How do you ask for a reduction fairly?
Send the report and the photos, along with a written price for the repair, and keep the request specific. A buyer who says the ridge needs rebedding, shows the pictures and attaches a price is easier to answer than one who says the roof looks old.
Not every fault justifies a renegotiation. A few loose tiles are routine upkeep, whereas a failed valley or a sagging slope is a larger matter. The written price tells you which is which. The seller may disagree, and then a second opinion from another roofer settles it on the facts.
Your solicitor handles the contract side, so pass the report to them early. Our guide to the roof inspection report shows what a buyer's side should expect to receive.
When the seller should pay for the work
Surveys and repairs are separate costs. Paying for the survey does not make you responsible for the work it uncovers. If the report finds a fault, the question is who pays for the repair, and that is a matter for the sale terms.
Should you pay for repairs on a house you do not own?
Rarely, and not before you have completed. Paying for work at a house that is not yet yours is a risk if the sale falls through. Agreeing a price reduction or a seller-funded repair in writing, through the solicitors, is cleaner.
If you are the seller and want to keep control, getting your own survey first, as our page on roof inspection before selling explains, lets you fix a known fault at your own pace. For either side, the useful step is the same. Get the roof checked by a person who climbs up, keep the photos and ask for a single total for any work.
To book a survey on a house you are buying, give us the address and the agent's contact through the form, and we arrange access with them. The roof inspections page explains what the visit includes.
Paying for a survey
Does my mortgage lender's valuation count as a roof survey?
No. A lender's valuation is made to decide how much the lender will lend, not to check the roof in detail. A valuer may note a visible roof problem, but they do not go up and photograph it. A roofer's survey is the one that looks at the covering and loft closely.
Can I ask the seller to share the cost of a roof survey?
You can ask, but a seller has no duty to agree. It is more usual to treat the survey as your own cost and use the findings in the price talk. If the report shows a real fault, the repair cost is the bigger conversation to have.
The full picture: Roof inspections in Taunton · More short answers