Why Upfront Information Isn’t a Threat to Surveyors: It’s a Real Opportunity

Nov 25, 2025

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had more messages from surveyors than I’ve had in years. Some were reassuring (“I’m glad someone has explained this properly”), some were worried, and many said the same thing in different ways: “ I don’t really understand what MI is, but it feels like the start of a condition survey.”

I completely understand that. When four consultations land at almost the same time - the RICS Home Survey Standard and Registration Scheme proposals and the Government’s Home Buying and Selling Reform and Material Information guidance. It's no surprise people feel overwhelmed. It’s a confusing process, and it has collided with a profession that carries a lot of collective memories: HIPs, PI pressure, panels, regulation changes, and a general sense that “change” often means “more risk without support.”

But Material Information sits in a totally different part of the process. It isn’t a survey. It isn’t a condition report. And it isn’t an attempt to recreate Scotland’s single survey model.

MI comes from something much older and simpler: the Consumer Protection Regulations.

Agents and sellers already have a legal duty to disclose anything that might influence a buyer’s decision. The problem is that compliance has been patchy, and buyers have been paying the price in the form of wasted surveys, collapsed chains and late-stage discoveries that should never have been a surprise.

So MI isn’t trying to change what surveyors do. It’s trying to change when buyers are told the basic facts.

And this is where I believe surveyors have misunderstood the opportunity.

Why Material Information Is Being Misunderstood

The MI consultation landed almost at the same moment as the Home Survey Standard consultation, and the two were quickly blended together in people’s minds. One felt big, loud, and close to home. The other felt quiet and technical. But they are completely separate.

MI sits before surveying. It determines what a buyer should know at the point of listing - the moment when expectations are shaped and emotional commitments begin to form.

And the Government’s motivation for MI has nothing to do with building safety or Grenfell, and everything to do with something far more fundamental:
consumer protection.

MI is about reducing fall-throughs, reducing wasted money, reducing surprises, and improving consistency in how estate agents meet their legal obligations.

It is not about turning agents into surveyors.
It is not a condition report in disguise.
It is not laying the foundations for mandatory seller surveys.

It is simply an attempt to fix long-standing transparency issues.

Material Information Is Not a Survey

This is where a lot of worry comes from. Some of the MI examples look like things surveyors frequently identify:

damp staining
septic tanks
solar panels
extensions
fire safety information

But MI stops at what exists. Surveyors explain what it means.

MI says: “There is an extension. Paperwork is or isn’t available.”

Surveyors say: “Here is the significance of that extension for structure, safety, future costs, and regulation.”

MI says: “Damp staining observed.”

Surveyors say: “Here’s the likely cause, the risk, and what you can do about it.”

That interpretative layer - context, proportion, judgment - remains firmly with us.

A Simple, Clearer Approach to Upfront Information

A lot of the anxiety I’ve seen comes from the idea that improving upfront information means agents, sellers or EPC assessors will be expected to “check for” defects. But that is neither safe nor realistic, and it is completely beyond the scope of MI.

The alternative - and the approach I believe aligns best with both MI and real-world practice - is to focus on factual indicators, not defects. These are things that can be stated without judgment or technical interpretation. They might be:

something visible, such as staining on a wall
something known, such as a past roof leak
something documented, such as EPCs, warranties or planning approvals
something already on record in data, such as flood zones or broadband availability

These are simply facts. They don’t drift into condition assessment, don’t create liability for agents or sellers, and they don’t mislead buyers.

To make this manageable and clear, these factual indicators fall into six broad categories — covering property basics, utilities, practicalities, restrictions, construction and alterations, and environmental or building-safety information. It’s not a defect list; it’s a structure that makes early information easy to understand.

This approach works because it respects everyone’s professional boundaries. It doesn’t ask agents to diagnose anything, but it may help estate agents meet their legal responsibilities safely. It doesn’t push sellers into technical judgments. And it keeps condition assessment exactly where it belongs - with surveyors.

It surfaces the presence of something, but not the meaning. And the meaning is where we come in.

The Opportunity for Surveyors

This is the part I really want surveyors to hear. Factual information moving earlier doesn’t reduce the need for surveys - it increases the visibility of when a surveyor is needed.

When buyers see early indicators, the first thing they ask is:

Is this serious?
Does this affect me personally?
What survey do I need?
Do I need specialist advice?

And we know that only surveyors can answer those questions properly. Early visibility of factual information leads to:

Buyers contacting surveyors earlier
More complex homes being directed to more detailed building surveys
Fewer inappropriate Level 2 bookings
Clearer expectations
Fewer complaints
More specialist opportunities (retrofit, moisture, traditional buildings, non-standard construction)
A stronger emphasis on interpretation and professional judgement

Surveyors aren’t being pushed out - they’re being pulled in sooner, at the point where their advice is most useful and most valued. Reform always feels uncomfortable before it feels useful. But when you strip away the noise, MI isn’t asking surveyors to do less - it’s asking the system to give us better-informed clients, fewer surprises, and clearer conversations from the very start. And in a profession that has spent years firefighting unrealistic expectations, that is an opportunity worth paying attention to.

A Personal Note

These thoughts come from my experience of over 20 years in surveying and supporting both consumers and surveyors. They’re simply my perspective - shared to open up discussion and encourage more voices to feed into the consultation. The Government consultations on Home Buying and Selling Reform and Material Information are open until December 29th 2025.