This week all of our surveyors have been busy – hooray!  Although it’s holiday time and mean’t to be quiet we managed to do a building survey on 4 houses this week as well as prepare 3 schedules of condition for Party Wall Awards, survey a roof, get a DDA [...]

Our top ten roof inspection tips for those buying a house…

A really nice link and description of mathematical tiles.  These tiles were popularly used on the south and south east of England as alternatives to brick work, we had always understood that his was to save on “brick tax” but the article suggests that they may predate this.  We come [...]

For many people, buying a home is one of the biggest decisions they will ever make. However, by failing to commission a survey before purchase, home buyers are risking potential bills running into thousands of pounds.

Have you ever checked your title deeds for  a restrictive covenant ?  Basically a provision of sale of the land originally that restricts the then purchaser and usually his / her successors from using or doing something on the land.

This week we have been surveying a Laing Easi-Form house for a prospective purchaser, the Laing Easiform is one of a range of house types that are considered as “non traditional construction” and which were generally erected immediately post the first world war and up to the 1960’s or so.  [...]

The RPSA [Residential Property Surveyors Association] this week called upon the FSA to investigate the advice that lenders give borrowers about surveys:

The RICS Condition Report is now available from Collier Stevens, it slots in between the mortgage lenders valuation report and the RICS Homebuer Survey and Valuation.

Asbestos is present in many of the surveys we undertake, particularly those of properties that were built between say 1930 and 1980 or were otherwise worked on or converted into flats.  Care needs to be taken if you have or suspect you have asbestos in your home.  Asbestos can appear [...]

This post is primarily relevant to older buildings – say late victorian to mid sixties – earlier than this and all sorts of interesting timbers are often added and after this roofs are very often of prefabricated timber trusses. [oh and a quick rear end cover - this is not, [...]