Selling a house with spray foam: what to tell buyers (including the TA6)

No question on the TA6 names spray foam^[1]. The form does ask about insulation in two places: question 5.1(h) asks whether building works including insulation have been carried out, and question 6.1(h) asks whether any warranty or similar promise for insulation is still running (6th edition specimen, October 2025)^[2]. So a seller who has had foam installed, or who holds warranty documents for it, is expected to say so there. The TA6 is the Law Society's Property Information Form, and its 6th edition is mandatory for CQS member firms on instructions from 30 March 2026^[1].

Your conveyancer will give you the current form; answer the questions as they are worded there, and where the foam is relevant, say so and attach the documents you have.

Every answer you give on the form must be true. The Law Society's notes say sellers must answer truthfully, and that a buyer may be able to claim compensation after completion if given misleading information^[1].

The Law Society publishes a page on the material information included in the TA6^[1]. The questions it added in the 5th edition (March 2024) cover topics such as council tax band, parking, building safety, flood risk, accessibility, solar panels, heat pumps, drainage and knotweed; none is about insulation^[1]. If you are unsure how to answer a question, ask your conveyancer. This guide is general information, not legal advice.

Expect questions about how the foam was installed and what it hides. RICS says a timber roof covered in spray foam cannot be fully seen or inspected, that foam may affect a surveyor's opinion of value, and that the surveyor may ask for an independent specialist report^[3].

The buyer's lender decides what it needs. In the BBC's survey of the 20 largest lenders (November 2024), five would not lend where spray foam is in the roof space and others decided case by case on the valuer's report^[4]. Some lenders now publish conditions: Nationwide's criteria (read 19 Oct 2026) reconsider on a full installation evidence pack or an invasive survey^[6], and the Co-operative Bank's criteria (2 Mar 2026) can consider open-cell foam with documents and a transferable insurance-backed warranty, but not foam sprayed directly under the tiles or slates^[7]. The dated list is on what lenders publish.

Problems can surface late. In one case study in Citizens Advice's June 2025 report, a homeowner's buyers were refused by their lender nearly three years after the foam was installed, and she could not find a lender^[8]. Finding out what is in the loft before listing gives you time to decide.

An independent inspection is evidence for your own decision: whether to keep the foam, remove it or adjust the price. It is not a report for a lender, and no one can promise what a lender will do.

Any of the three can be reasonable; which one fits depends on what is in your loft, and each needs evidence.

If you do remove it, the Energy Saving Trust says the structure the foam was applied to may need replacing^[14]. See do you need to remove spray foam? and what good looks like after removal.

Not without independent evidence first. Warwickshire Trading Standards advises getting an independent surveyor's report before agreeing to removal, which can cost thousands and may be unnecessary^[5]. The industry consumer guide says that "where there is little risk, removal may not be necessary", tells owners to consult a qualified surveyor first, and warns of removal companies using pressure selling^[15].

If you might later claim against the installer or under Section 75, removal can also make evidence hard to obtain. In several Financial Ombudsman decisions, reports from the firm that removed the foam were discounted as not independent or as giving no reason for removal, and removing the foam before an independent inspection left the claim without evidence^[16][17]. These are examples of how the ombudsman reasoned in those cases, not predictions.

A deadline set by a buyer's lender is still worth questioning: ask for the requirement in writing, and ask whether the lender would consider evidence instead of removal. If someone calls offering urgent removal, read how to check a caller.